March 1 marks the start of women’s history month. It is an important month for women, and a perfect time to take a look at the inspiring females within the district.
Shelli Tabor is a part of the English department, and is the first female head of the teachers union.
“As a female it feels like we have really defined roles about what we’re supposed to do for a living, and teaching is the traditional female role, but that doesn’t mean every woman does it the exact same way,” Tabor said.
In the 25 years since Tabor finished her student teaching, she’s realized how teaching styles have changed. That teachers can expand their classrooms with different ideas and new challenges.
“Women can change the ways in which teachers look at creativity, classrooms and work ethic, and that has nothing to do with gender,” Tabor said.
Tabor’s mother was her biggest supporter and influence growing up. Her mother taught her how important it is to be a woman, and how being a female does not define how capable one is.
“Don’t feel like you have to compete with men, or nonbinary people or something that’s outside of a normal female role to be noticed,” Tabor said.
Many women can say they have experienced prejudice against them at times. But those societal standards don’t have to hold women back.
Tayna Lockwood is a teacher in the arts department. She hopes women know that they don’t need to create barriers for themselves because of the standards that are placed on women.
“Knowing that the boundaries of what society dictates a woman should be, does not necessarily have to pertain to me,” Lockwood said.
Lockwood has always been a freethinking woman, and she tries to give back to her daughter. Always lifting her daughter up is something Lockwood is very proud of.
“Being a mom is a great achievement in my opinion,” Lockwood said. “Giving back to my own daughter, that ability to feel comfortable in her own skin as a young female [is important to me].”
One important thing Lockwood hopes all young women understand is that what happens during highschool does not define who they are.
“It does not need to be a situation or memory that causes pain, because we can learn from these experiences to regrow and reestablish the type of strong independent person we want to be,” Lockwood said.
Charissa Kashian is a science teacher and this is her first year teaching at Northview. She majored in chemistry at Grand Valley State University.
“I won the award for my graduating class, it was like excellence in chemistry, which was really cool because it was an award where the professors actually voted a student as the winner,” Kashian said.
Sometimes women feel as if their hard work goes unnoticed, but for Kashian, attaining that award had proved to her that her work at college had paid off.
“All the times you go and do this stuff and you don’t think anybody sees it, but it made me feel seen,” Kashain said.
Feeling seen and being heard is not the only thing Kashain strives for. If there’s any message Kashian has learned and hoped to share with others, it is to empower other women.
“Seek out people who can help lift you up, and then seek out people who you can lift up,” Kashian said.