Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Lt. Governor Judge Celebrates Women's History Month At The State Capitol
Nine students honored at Write Women Back Into History Essay Contest; Iowa Women Should Run! Event promotes women running for elected office
(DES MOINES) – Today, Lt. Governor Patty Judge celebrated the accomplishments of women at two events at the Iowa State Capitol.
Lt. Governor Patty Judge marked Women’s History Month by celebrating the accomplishments of nine student winners of the 24th Annual Write Women Back Into History Essay Contest. The Write Women Back Into History Essay Contest was established in 1985 by the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, Iowa Department of Education, and the State Historical Society of Iowa, to give students a deeper and more relevant appreciation of women’s roles in history. The purpose of the essay contest is to celebrate March as Women's History Month, and to increase the awareness of the contributions of women by "writing them back into history.”
Students in grades 6-9 participated in the statewide contest. Nine were selected to receive this honor. Winners are as follows:
6-7 Grade Category
1st Place: Tyler Hupp, Prairie Middle School, Cedar Rapids
2nd Place: Meghan Busswitz, College Community Schools/Prairie Middle School, Cedar Rapids
3rd Place: Connor Drahos, Prairie Middle School, Cedar Rapids
8-9 Grade Category
1st Place: Ryan Watters, Vernon Middle School, Marion
2nd Place: Jordan Schill, Urbandale Middle School
3rd Place: Kaitlin Moews, Indianola Middle School
Best Essays on Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for 6-7 Grades
1st Place: Madison Noble, Parkview Middle School, Ankeny
2nd Place: Lauren M. Ceplecha, Parkview Middle School, Ankeny
Best Essay on Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for 8-9 Grades
1st Place: Rachel Henning, Central-Clinton Community High School, DeWitt
Winning essays can be found at www.women.iowa.gov. For more information on the student winners or on how schools in your area can participate in next year's contest, contact the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women.
Later in the afternoon, Lt. Governor Judge attended a press conference and was joined by Secretary of State Michael Mauro, Dianne Bystrom from the Catt Center for Women and Politics at ISU, State Representative Linda Miller and State Senator Staci Appel, to highlight the importance of Iowa women running for elected office. The press conference was held today in the Capitol Rotunda.
Iowa is among four states that have never sent a woman to either the U.S. House or the U.S. Senate and Iowa is one of two states who have never elected a woman to the Governor’s Office or Congress (Mississippi is the other state). While the Iowa General Assembly includes a record number of women (34, or 22.7%), the number of women who ran for and were elected to County Boards of Supervisors actually decreased in the last election cycle.
Lt. Governor Judge, currently in her first term, also served eight years as the Secretary of Agriculture and eight years in the State Senate. She said of women seeking elected office, “We can’t afford to go backwards. Because when women have a seat at the table, the decisions are more inclusive and representative of all Iowans.”
The filing deadline for State and Federal legislative offices is February 25-March 14th. The filing deadline for County Offices is March 3-26th.
Lt. Governor Judge called on women who are thinking about running for office to take the plunge and run. “I know how difficult it can be to make the decision. You are thinking about your family or your job. But I can tell you, there never is a good time to run. Those pressures will always be there, whether you run now or wait for a future election.”
Joining the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women as hosts of the event are the Iowa Association of School Boards, Iowa Department of Human Rights, Iowa League of Cities, Iowa League of Women Voters and Iowa State Association of Counties.