 Happy Women's History Month, Arlington Community. Every March, people in the United States celebrate Women's History Month in recognition of women's profound achievements, contributions, and history. Similar to Black History Month, Women's History Month began as a week-long celebration in Santa Rosa, California. To correspond with the International Women's Day on March 8th, organizer chose the second week of March as Women's History Week in 1978, and their celebrations spread across the country in the following years. In 1980, Women's History Week gained national recognition through the successful lobbying of women's groups and historians. And in 1987, Congress designated March as Women's History Month. Each year, to honor the contributions and achievements of women across a variety of fields, a new theme is dedicated to the celebrations. Last year in 2023, the theme was Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories. This year in 2024, the theme is Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. As the National Women's History Alliance explains, it takes courage for women to advocate for practical goals like equity, diversity, and inclusion when established forces aim to misinterpret, exploit, or discredit them. Throughout 2024, we honor local women from the past and present who have taken the lead to show the importance of change and to establish firmer safeguards, practices, and legislation reflecting these values. Following decades of discrimination, we are proud to celebrate women who are committed to embracing everyone and excluding no one in our common quest for freedom and opportunity. They know that people change with the help of families, teachers, and friends, and that young people in particular need to learn the value of hearing from different voices with different points of view as they grow up. This month, we honor our very own Arlington Public Schools Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice, Dr. Margaret Kretel-Thomas, who spearheads this work with our town of Arlington Director of DEI, Julianne Harvey, and the numerous women in leadership positions advocating for equity alongside them both within and beyond our district. This year's theme also offers us an opportunity to reflect on the fight for women's rights. Even within this history of advocating for inclusion and equity, exclusive practices continue to exist. For instance, the women's rights movement fought for and secured both social and legal rights for white American women, but notoriously and strategically left out black and brown women of both the conversation and the legislation. And, as Fannie Lou Hamer reminds us, nobody's free until everybody's free. As our country continues to unpack how to live harmoniously across identities, we acknowledge this history and its lasting impacts by honoring all experiences in the fight for equity and justice. Within and beyond DEI work, Women's History Month offers an important opportunity for education and awareness. Schools, universities, museums, and community centers often organize events, discussions, movie screenings, and expositions that shed light on the achievements and struggles of women throughout history. As we celebrate Women's History Month in the education world specifically, it's important to reflect upon how our conversations, curriculum, and actions create and uplift women and folks of all genders beyond March and throughout the year. This is Women's History, and we encourage you to engage in conversation and learn something new, attend an event, act a librarian for a book, recommendation from authors who are women, or build out habits and patterns to interact with the women's diverse stories throughout the year ahead. We wish a Happy Women's History Month full of fruitful learning and inclusive engagement to all in our Arlington community and beyond.