Women’s History: Celebrating the Past, Recognizing the Present

As Women’s History Month honors the contributions of women throughout time, it’s also a moment to recognize the women shaping our own community. From history makers to the dedicated women of Redwood High School, their impact is felt every day.

By: Isabel Barycki

Since 1987, the month of March has been recognized as Women’s History Month by Congress through the passing of Pub. L. 100-9. From that point on, Women’s History Month has aimed to highlight the often overlooked contributions of women in history.

Whether it be your mother, older sister, female teacher, or a woman who helped shape history, it’s important to remember that each contribution, small or big, has shaped the world we live in today. Not only that, but Women’s History Month serves as a reminder of the progress women have made toward civil rights, wage equality, and representation. 

Women’s contributions can be seen several times throughout history through movements such as the Women’s Suffrage Movement or groundbreaking achievements in STEM. The Women’s Suffrage Movement leaves its footprint in history by significantly helping women gain the right to vote.

Today, thanks to women before us opportunities continue to expand in politics, science, education, and more. Inspiring women like Katherine Johnson, an American NASA mathematician whose calculations were critical to early space missions, or Malala Yousafzai who advocates for girls’ education and is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, leave their mark as well.

These women serve as reminders of what is possible when women are empowered and given the opportunity to thrive.

That same spirit of perseverance and dedication can be seen right here at Redwood High School. Whether in the front office, monitoring student activity, or leading a classroom, the women of Redwood continue to shape our school community in countless ways. 

Margie Casillas, an attendance tech at Redwood High School has been with the district for 16 years, but with Redwood for 11. Because she has been with Redwood for so many years she says she loves, “the kids the best, I love working with the kids and then I love my co-workers.”

Challenges are an inevitable setback in any field, Casillas says, “Sometimes I do have to face being a woman, sometimes we’ll get some aggressive parents, and they can be a little condescending you know.” 
When facing these challenges though Gonzalez says, “kill them with kindness.”

One key component of Women’s History Month is honoring the women who came before us. For Casillas, her mother is an inspiring woman in her life. Casillas says, “She raised 6 kids, she raised a family, she survived life, and she’s still having a good time so my mother [is] number 1.”

For the next generation of women, Casillas leaves inspiring advice, “learn as much as you can, get as much information, but not just in education. Go out into the real world and talk to people.”

Across from Casillas is Dena Gonzalez, an attendance tech, who has been with Redwood for 29 years. Gonzalez says she loves her family here at Redwood which has influenced her to stay, “I’ve always said I’ve had an opportunity to move on to different opportunities work-wise, but I stay at Redwood because I love my kids and my families.”

“As a woman in this field every day you face a challenge,” says Gonzalez. Challenges like not being able to speak a parent’s language, personally knowing a parent, and much more are all real difficulties faced frequently. Gonzalez finds that overcoming them with respect is the best way to face these challenges. Gonzalez says, “The bottom line is having an output for our students to be successful.”

Seeing strong women in our own fields of interest is truly inspiring. For Gonzalez an inspiring woman in her life was there for her on her very first day in an education setting working at a teenage parenting program. There she met a lady named Ann Broderson who taught her a lot. Now, Gonzalez says, “When I want to grow up I want to be just like her.”

“Pursue your career but don’t just stop at education, pursue your career in all fields,” Says Gonzalez to young women.

Lastly, Jazmine Martin, a student counselor at Redwood, has worked with Juniors for 3 years.

Passionate about helping students see their fullest potential here at Redwood Martin says she loves, “working here at Redwood because I get to work with students who are very hard working, who have a lot of dreams and goals, and I love being a part of supporting students in setting those goals, meeting those goals, and thinking and planning for the future.”

While students at Redwood are strong advocates for themselves, Martin feels time is a constraint, “I would love to have more time to have longer counseling sessions with my students.” However, due to the counseling caseloads at Redwood, it is difficult. Despite this, Ms. Martin remains passionate and available for any student.

An inspiring woman in Martin’s life is here at Redwood, Mrs. Barba-Tepper. Martin says, “I really admire the way Mrs. Barba-Tepper works. She works extremely hard as an assistant principal, as a leader, and I’m still in awe every day about how much she does for our students.”

“She is really an inspiration to me professionally,” says Ms. Martin.

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