If we all trace our lineage back generation by generation, you will almost always find a fearless woman at the forefront of care, kindness, and the ability to multitask just about everything. Women are strong. We’ve fought for our right to vote, own our own property, and we are still fighting for our individual rights to our bodies and fair salaries. The work, it seems, is never done. By thinking of the past and looking at how far women have come, it is obvious with precedent that we will persevere, and we will succeed.

The past few years have been a whirlwind, but if you take a step back and look at the history women have made recently and are continuing to make, it might change your perspective.

• Kamala Harris became the first woman AND the first woman of color vice president of the United States.
• Greta Thunberg rages ahead on the topic of environmental preservation to political leaders.
• Kathrin Jansen, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, impacts the entire world with her research.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York’s 14th congressional district representative, speaks fluently at meetings to represent not only her district, but her gender identity and ethnicity.
• And don’t get me started on Michelle Obama’s continuous contributions! We’d be here all day!

March is Women’s History Month and has been since 1987. We are celebrating with titles from powerful women, such as Malala Yusafzai in I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World, and reading stories that highlight women characters like in the book Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. We will also flip through some history with Lifting As We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne.

We’d love to hear some of your favorite women-led stories as well. Comment below or on social media to share!

Download the lesson below to lead your class through a lesson on family history!

Jennifer Epping is a high school English and journalism teacher in Des Moines, Iowa. She has a passion for reading, writing, and making lame jokes to her students just to see them laugh or roll their eyes. She just concluded her ninth year teaching. Epping graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in journalism and mass communication (2010) and BA in English Education (2013). She attended New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute (2010), and spent some time in children’s book publishing in New York.