On International Women’s Day, the Piedmont Title IX Celebration Committee donated books valued at $500 to PUSD at the March 8 School Board meeting. Funding for the books came from donations and purchases from over 100 households and a generous grant from the League of Women Voters of Piedmont.
Committee member Leigh Symkowick worked with librarians at each of the school sites to select age appropriate books. During the week of March 20, Piedmont High School athletes will join 5th graders library classes at all three elementary schools to read excerpts from some of the donated books.
Included in the gift of the books is Piedmont’s Readmont’s 2023 selection No Stopping Us Now. The author, Lucy Jane Bledsoe, will join the April 26 Readmont event. The story is based on the author’s experience in the mid Seventies when she met Gloria Steinem, advocated for a girls basketball team at her Portland Oregon public high school and went on to the state championship. The story tells how one athlete learned to find her joy and strength through activism and sport.
Title IX was passed 50 years ago to assure that women and girls receive equity in education, including in athletics. It is considered by many to be the most important legislation for women’s rights after the right to vote. Any organization receiving federal funding must provide an equitable number of athletic spots for boys and girls and that uniforms, transportation, practice times and durations, access to strength training, competition times, etc. are also equitable. PUSD completed its first audit on its performance on these metrics during the 2021-22 Academic Year and is continuing to monitor these metrics this school year. PUSD is making gains in assuring girls have an equitable experience in education and in sports.