Girls with Guts!
Girls with Guts! The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records written by Debbie Gonzales and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon tells how women and girls throughout history were discouraged from playing sports, but some courageous female athletes and activists - girls with guts - fought for the passing of Title IX in the United States, which mandates equal treatment for female athletes.
This is one of those non-fiction gems that will make readers' jaws drop with its incredible facts, like "in ancient Greece, women were executed just for watching the early Olympic Games". There are so many everyday heroes in this book, women and girls who defied the societal norms to do things we now take for granted, like riding a bike, earning an athletic scholarship, even just wearing pants in public. It took decades of girls defying what they were told they couldn't do and women standing up to show what they could do to get a law passed in 1972. Title IX says "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance". Because sports are for everyone!
The women and girls in Girls with Guts! weren't afraid to take a stand and so I made a game with this phrase when I visited a school earlier this month. Because Groundhog in Groundhog's Dilemma also needed to take a stand, the kids and I practiced being brave and standing up for what we believed in even if our friends didn't feel the same way. I said, "If you would like a longer winter, take a stand!" Up popped a bunch of little ones. "OK, sit back down. If you'd like an earlier spring, take a stand." Up popped more little ones. I stood up for both. I said, "I like both. I haven't made up my mind and that's fine. Now, if you like pineapple on pizza, take a stand!" I threw out some controversial statements about liking broccoli, some silly ones like if you like dessert, but I also did one to check in so I said, "If you feel anxious or worried sometimes, take a stand." And I stood up. A lot of kids stood up. I just nodded and said, "Yeah, me, too." Feel free to use this no-prep, no-cost movement brain break whenever you want. It feels good to take a stand!