Empowered women empower women

For the past three school years, Lakota High School's Women's Leadership Council has been working to positively change the school's culture and empower young women to be leaders in their everyday lives. By hosting events and activities like a feminine hygiene product drive, a World Kindness Day celebration, and fostering positivity through school announcements and signs, the 15 members of the council are making a difference one day at a time. The council was born in Spring 2019 by a group of female students and the first advisor, Nancy Slotterbeck. Now, two more advisors have joined: Cassie Velazquez and Tera Fortener. "It's sort of a service organization, sort of a support group, and sort of a female empowerment group," Slotterbeck said. Each year, Slotterbeck brings a group of students to the Women's Leadership Forum at Terra State Community College. The event takes place in March for women's history month, and allows students and community members to hear from female community leaders. Then, after the forum, Slotterbeck holds a discussion with the girls to reflect on what they learned. That spring, the students who participated had so much to say about the event that they ran out of time. They chose to continue the discussion the next day during lunch period. "We chatted about so many things, some of which were about how sometimes, females are not very supportive of each other and how this impacts lives," Slotterbeck said. "Venting and talking turned into challenges of taking action, and the Women's Leadership Council was born." Despite being a leadership-focused organization, there are no officers of the council, just committee members and committee chairpersons. Slotterbeck describes leadership as an action, not a position- she wants to show the girls that they don't need to be an officer to make a difference. The students brainstormed a list of goals for the council on their own terms; there were no rules or preconceived notions of what the group was going to be. Some of the goals include identifying female relational aggression, fostering mutual respect between all genders, and giving young women tools for how to respond to situations assertively rather than aggressively. "It's pretty exciting, as an adult, to watch these amazing young women gain confidence, support each other and look for ways to make a difference in the lives of others, as well as their own lives," Slotterbeck said. "I believe they are becoming empowered to speak up and take action, rather than sit back and complain or be complacent." Since Lakota has been full-time in-person learning this whole year, despite the pandemic, the WLC has been able to continue their meetings face to face over lunch on Thursdays. Most of the projects they're working on have proven to be adaptable, like the World Kindness Day event on November 13. World Kindness Day is a worldwide initiative inspired by Mr. Rogers, and the council began planning activities for it last year. This year, some members formed a separate committee and planned events after school. Members made signs, wrote thank-you notes to teachers, passed out bracelets that said "inspire kindness," and stuck positive notes on all students' lockers. Some members even dressed as Mr. Rogers, sporting cardigans, ties, and sneakers. One of the events that Slotterbeck is most proud of was an initiative to provide feminine hygiene products to the women's bathroom and locker rooms at the high school. The idea began during a discussion about "female problems" when one girl mentioned how embarrassing it was to have to go to the office or the nurse to request hygiene supplies if her period started unexpectedly. The conversation evolved into a learning session about period poverty, where many women of all ages can't afford to purchase tampons or pads. Slotterbeck encouraged the girls to problem-solve and take action. Eventually, the students decided to bring in donations of pads and tampons to supply the women's restroom. Originally, they placed a basket on the counter labeled "take what you need, donate what you can." The basket garnered a lot of positive feedback. Then, before Homecoming last year, the girls added deodorant, dry shampoo, hair spray, bobby pins, safety pins, and breath mints to the basket. After more enthusiastic feedback, the council worked with custodian Rhonda Slick to install hanging caddies on the walls of the bathroom and locker room. Through donations from the community, the council has been able to keep the caddies stocked with sanitized, individually wrapped pads and tampons. "This was a great lesson about how to advocate for essential female needs in a positive manner and get results," Slotterbeck beamed. "We hope to keep this project going through members and community support, because we believe it really makes a difference." Between the kindness day celebration, the feminine hygiene product drive, and other smaller activities like providing treats on semester exam days and making positive announcements in the morning before second period, the Women's Leadership Council is educating all students on the power of positivity. However, they look at the bigger picture of gender, too. "We have certainly discussed and encouraged females being able to pursue non-traditional professions, or professions that are typically male-dominated," said Slotterbeck. "We have discussed feminism in terms of stating what one needs or wants and not allowing mistreatment or sexual harassment from males. I guess you might say, the group really encourages mutual respect between individuals, no matter their gender." Though the group evolves more every year with every new group of women and their needs, it's clear that the council has become a necessary and treasured resource for students and faculty alike at Lakota High School.