We’ve got issues at Bixby Middle School, just like kids at any school do. One of the most talked about issues this month is our new softball team and their need for the same kind of funding and attention the other sports teams get. We may be a small town, but our girls’ soccer and basketball teams are some of the best in the county. Last year, ten talented athletes banded together to form Bixby Middle School’s first ever girls’ softball team. That same year, a boys’ lacrosse team was organized. Those lacrosse players all have new sticks and pads and uniforms this year, but the girls have had to make their own T-shirts and are using their own mitts and old bats and balls. The girls deserve better. That is our opinion.
It is also the law. Did you know that there was legislation passed by Congress in 1972 requiring equal opportunities in school for everyone, including athletic programs? The law is called Title IX, and it still applies today. We’ve made a lot of progress since 1972, but we still have a ways to go.
Times are tough for schools. We keep hearing there are fewer funds available for our clubs and our field trips and our non academic programs. Now more than ever, we have to stay involved and fight to keep the programs we need and love.
Because of the Curriculum Education Project, girls are getting a chance to do something. You all know by now that a group called Pitch In was organized to apply for the CEP money. We’ve heard their arguments, we’ve visited their website, and we’ve learned about everything that their CEP group has to offer. Four of us organized a group, too, to write and publish the magazine you are now reading. In the last few weeks, we’ve learned a lot about the reality of competition when girls go up against girls. We’ve also learned a lot about ourselves. And some of what we’ve learned surprised us. In the end, we had to remind one another that the most important thing to remember is everybody deserves to be heard, because we’re all in this together.
Check out Pitch In yourself this week. We think it’s important you hear what they have to say.
We’ve come a long way. And one thing is for certain: We are all in this together. And you know what? We’re glad to have the company.
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