There are many women around the world that deserve recognition for all their accomplishments – no matter how small or big. For example, Arabella Mansfield was the first female lawyer and Katherine Johnson was a STEM pioneer woman. That’s why it’s important to celebrate Women’s History Month in March. Hear about women that have an influence on people here at LHS and learn about a program that empowers female athletes.

Ms. Greenswag

For Social Studies teacher Ms. Greenswag, she is influenced by three proud and motivated women in her family. One woman that has influenced is her mom.

“My mom was someone who really found her career a little bit later in life, so she devoted a lot of my childhood to mothering and keeping things together in our house,” Ms. Greenswag said.

She has had careers such as being an executive director at a synagogue and being a Pilates instructor.

“She has entered many different careers and reinvented herself many different times, and has never shied away from a challenge,” Ms. Greenswag said. “She’s always trying to find that next thing that she can push herself towards and I find that really inspirational.”

Her grandma also inspired her. She was raising kids in the 1950s and lived in a society where stay-at-home moms were common. While she was good at staying home and taking care of her children, she wanted more for herself. After her children were grown, she was able to get a degree in nursing and a PhD.

“She became a world expert on a rare disease called Prader-Willi syndrome,” Ms. Greenswag said. “She then published books about it and ran trainings and seminars. [She] did amazing work that really affected different communities.”

From both her mom and grandma, she learned that you can handle many responsibilities.

“You can be committed to your family and your life in that way, but also you can find your own fulfillment and what brings you joy and how you feel like you’re able to contribute to the bigger world,” Ms. Greenswag said.

Ms. Greenswag appreciated that her parents allowed her to feel limitless.

“I was always told as a kid [that] being a girl didn’t stop me or hold me back from anything,” Ms. Greenswag said.

However, her grandma didn’t get the same opportunities that Ms. Greenswag received. Many of the schools and jobs were for men only.

“She had to be a little bit more of a risk taker to break out of that gender expectation,” Ms. Greenswag said. “I just really admire that…[and her] bravery to step into spaces that were typically controlled by men and not be afraid to take a seat at the table and be part of those conversations.”

Her great aunt Ida – who she was really close to – is also someone that has had an impact on her. She remembers when she was working at a different district than Libertyville and her aunt gave her a list of high school districts and their salaries with her school district’s salary near the bottom of the list.

“All she did was circle [the school district’s name] and wrote a little note in the margin that said ‘Know your worth,’” Ms. Greenswag said.

Then, a job opportunity opened up in our school district in which she received a higher salary for her work. This pushed Ms. Greenswag to take a risk.

“I maybe would have stayed at my other district a lot longer, but she was [saying] ‘know your worth’ and ‘know that you should be getting compensated for the hard work that you’re doing and the impact that you’re having,’” Ms. Greenswag said. “It really motivated me to apply for a job here and then when I got it, that was a huge change for me financially.”

Ms. Greenswag admires all the work that isn’t often recognized that her mom, grandma and great aunt have done.

“As a culture and a society, we’re just starting to come to some of those realizations about the hidden work of running a household and managing appointments and running finances and just all of the things that it takes to keep life moving,” Ms. Greenswag said. “That work is often not celebrated or appreciated. We tend to just focus on the more public recognition of work.”

Being a mother has allowed Ms. Greenswag to see a new perspective.

“Now that I am also a mother, I think I have an even greater appreciation for my mother and my grandmother and my great aunt, all these women who were doing a lot of thankless jobs and then on top of that also having amazing careers,” Ms. Greenswag said.

Siyani Malone-McNeely

For senior Siyani Malone-McNeely, she is influenced by her mom.

“She’s very strong and very independent,” she said. “She teaches me how I should be treated in life by anybody, whether that’s a relationship or whether that’s family, whether that’s friends. She teaches me to always stay strong and to always choose myself and whatever is best for me.”

She admires her mom’s wisdom and believes that she teaches her something new every day.

“[There are] so many experiences that she gives me that I don’t even have to live myself that she would just tell me and I’ll be able to understand it and realize to not do that, or to do that or try it,” she said.

Her mom also taught her self-respect and the importance of not losing your identity.

“With her teaching me how to be myself and to love myself truly at such a young age, it helps me now in this society with how mean people can be,” she said.

Ms. Sampson

Ms. Sampson helps run Performance Education for Athletes and Coaches (PEAC) Train Like a Girl which has been around for four years. You can follow the Instagram account @peac_train_like_a_girl. It is a spin-off from Ms. Sampson’s company SustainableLife.Live which has been around for about 40 years.

“We wanted to create separate space for women’s wellness and girls,” Ms. Sampson said.

Ms. Sampson has seen a lot of growth over the past couple of years with PEAC.

“People are more interested in having conversations around girls and women in sport than ever before,” Ms. Sampson said. “Some of that is understanding that there has been some inequity in relationship to opportunities in sport for girls and women.”

Ms. Sampson believes that PEAC has influenced women by giving the opportunity for women to have open conversations.

“We’re a safe place for girls to hang out, to ask questions, to be seen and heard,” Ms. Sampson said. “It’s a non-judgmental space.”

PEAC also provides a lot of collaborative opportunities for the program such as being an intern.

“All of my interns are actually girls or women,” Ms. Sampson said. “A lot of them are current or former athletes, which has been really incredible. It gives them the opportunity to share their talents.” Some jobs include running podcasts or creating newsletters.

Under PEAC, there are three different categories that the program offers. One category is Female Integrated Training (FIT), one of their core programs.

“Our training modules include female-specific strength training,” Ms. Sampson said. “We’re prioritizing muscle development to optimize performance and decrease injury, but also improve body confidence and improve muscular-skeletal health.”

Another category is Energy, Appetite and Timing (EAT).

“[We] emphasize the importance of nutrition and fueling and specifically strategies tailored to meet the needs of female athletes,” Ms. Sampson said.

A third category is Recover, Rich Sleep and Technology.

“[We’re] providing athletes with tools and techniques to help optimize post training recovery,” Ms. Sampson said. “[We’re also] advocating for strong boundaries around technology that we know that helps reduce stress and improve sleep quality and enhances overall mental well-being.”

Ms. Sampson is looking forward to seeing what the future of the program will be.

“We are gaining momentum and creating opportunities to have more integrated conversations,” Ms. Sampson said.

The program isn’t set in stone.

“We’re willing to change our minds,” Ms. Sampson said. “We have different iterations that come up all the time. We’re willing to grow with the program.”

Ms. Sampson appreciates the audience that the program is reaching.

“We love people coming to visit us, whether you’re coming to our website or listening to our podcast or even just asking a question.” You can check out the website sustainablelifelive.com to learn more about PEAC and listen to the podcast “PEAC- Train Like a Girl Podcast” on Spotify or PodBean.