Project Honoring Women Pioneers Aims to 1）Inspire Students

Broadcast: Jan 28,2003

 

Four schools around the United States are taking part in a project that honors women pioneers in the arts, sports, media, and other fields. The program is designed to inspire students to pursue their dreams despite difficult odds¹.

The "Empowering America" project is built around one-minute audio vignettes that are already airing on U.S. radio stations. The audio series is being introduced in schools, along with study materials, to stimulate² classroom discussions.

Mary Hart, a well-known television host, narrates³ the presentations. Some feature women who are known to the students, including Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme⁴ Court, and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. Another looks at a sports heroine.

Young Mariel learned at an early age that the only way to fit in at a new school was to get involved in sports, so she dove headlong into the soccer field. At age 15, she became the youngest player ever to make the U.S. national team.

Mia Hamm, as she's now known, went on to become a star in U.S. women's soccer. Other figures profiled in the project are less well known to the students, including Mary Pickford, a star of silent films.

She was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1892. Five years later, her father left the family, and with three kids in tow, her mother moved from boarding house to boarding house. One day, a fellow boarder mentioned that a local theater company was looking for a young girl to perform in a play.

The eight-year-old got the part, and later became a star on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood.

The project on pioneering women was created by an organization called American Women in Radio and Television. Executive director Maria Brennan says the terrorist attacks of September 2001 gave ²⁾impetus⁵ to the project.

"The idea was born before September 11, interestingly enough that summer. And once we faced the tragedy of September 11, we put it all on a fast track to try to get it out there. We felt that the country was at a time where we needed heroes. We were able to get these vignettes produced, put on CDs [compact disks], pressed, distributed," Ms. Brennan said.

As public service announcements, the vignettes are getting extensive play on U.S. radio stations. Together with a study guide, they have now been placed in the second of four schools, John Sutter Middle School in Los Angeles. The first was in Washington D.C. and later sites will be in New York and Chicago.

Ms. Brennan said the stories of pioneering women are reaching students at a critical time, in early ³⁾adolescence. She notes the project is going to schools with large with minority populations, where some students face added difficulties. "Many of these kids are being raised by single parents. Some of them are women. That's why it's so important, not just for the girls to seek positive inspiration from these women, but also the boys, to see the difference that women have made in this world," she said.

Joan Gerberding heads a media firm in the state of New Jersey⁶, and is president of American Women in Radio and Television. She said the project profiles 40 women, but selecting them wasn't easy with so many to choose from. "I think it was just really a facet⁷ of how interesting and successful their lives were," she said. "And I don't mean successful, that they made a lot of money. And some did, but [I mean] more successful as a human being and as contributing member of the human race," she said.

And so, those profiled include the former slave and anti-slavery activist⁸ Harriet Tubman, and the "unsinkable" Molly Brown, a wealthy ⁴⁾philanthropist who survived the sinking of the Titanic⁹. A center of Denver high society, she had a strong theatrical¹⁰ streak¹¹ and later became the subject of a Broadway musical.

The program is intended to spark the imagination of youngsters as they plan for their careers. Sutter Middle School student Stanley Amaya is already making plans for life after high school. "I want to be an engineer," he said. Natasha Murkison also has plans for the future. "I want to be a doctor, an OB-GYN that delivers babies," she said.

Others in the crowded auditorium¹² where the project was unveiled say they want to work with computers, discover a cure for AIDS, or be elected U.S. president.

School officials say students need role models to realize that these dreams are in their reach. Marian Reiman is an assistant principal of Sutter Middle School "This is our last best chance to grasp their enthusiasm and to put them on the right path," "We want them to be happy, we want them to be productive, and we want them to be good citizens, and that's what we work on here."

Project organizers say that women pioneers, from New York's first female fire captain to entertainer Josephine Baker¹³, a black American who became a star in Europe, can serve as an inspiration for boys as well as girls as they think about their future.

Mike O'Sullivan VOA news, Los Angeles.

 

 

1)    inspire [in5spaiE]vt. 鼓舞, 感动, 激发, 启示, 产生灵感,

2)    impetus [5impitEs]n.推动力, 促进

3)    adolescence[9AdEJ`lesEns]n.青春期(一般指成年以前由13至15的发育期)

4)    philanthropist [fI5lAnWrEpIst]n.慈善家

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

3 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 facet   

n.(问题等的)一个方面；(多面体的)面

参考例句：

• He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
• Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

10 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

11 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

12 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

13 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。