Women Inspire and Find Hope at Sixth Annual “Rise To” Summit

On March 22, the sixth annual “Rise To” Summit was held in the library at Rock Ridge High School. Organized by Women and Gender Studies teacher Jessica Berg, the event brought students, mothers, female activists, and politicians together to discuss the challenges women face today.

Bella Gerardi

Recognizing the theme of ‘hope’, Keynote speaker and women’s rights activist Katherine Spillar held a speech about legislative milestones and the importance of community engagement. “We can’t put our heads under the pillow and say we’re going to wait it out because without the pushback, without us fighting, we can’t hold the line,” Spillar said. “We have to be organized and strong so when an opportunity becomes available to make forward movement, we’re there to seize it. Begin the fight now, wherever you are.”

Rachel Bhardwaj, Mariia Pecherkina, and Melissa Waas • March 29, 2025

On March 22, women of various generations gathered in the library at Rock Ridge High School for the sixth annual “Rise To” Women’s Summit to advocate for women’s rights. Women and Gender Studies teacher Jessica Berg organized the event with a focus on finding hope in this politically fraught time.

After a keynote address by activist Katherine Spillar, scholars and politicians shared their stories and collective desire to achieve gender equality during two panel discussions. Berg hopes the summit encourages young women to find courage and use their voice to advocate for women’s rights now and in the future.

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About the Contributors

Rachel Bhardwaj, Staff Writer

Rachel Bhardwaj is a second year staff writer on the Rock Ridge Blaze who likes drawing, sketching and singing when she’s not doing hip hop dancing. She hopes to join DECA and Debate and more clubs as the year goes by. Her goal for the year is to learn more about visual media and create more visual media. She joined this class because she likes writing about her opinions and expressing her thoughts . Outside of class she wants to pass junior year and hopefully pass her AP exams and the SAT. She also started tutoring sessions for K-5 students to get ready for the year.

Mariia Pecherkina, Staff Writer

Mariia Pecherkina is a sophomore, and this is her first year on The Blaze. In 2020, she moved from Russia, and as a result, has a great interest in Russian politics and wants to explore a career within politics in the future. With her knowledge of both Russian journalism and the United States journalism, she believes it will definitely help her become a better journalist overall. Mariia joined The Blaze due to her avid news-watching and curiosity for broadcast journalism. Her overall goals for this year are to gain experience, meet new people, and contribute to awareness of student life. Outside of school, she previously dabbled in Rockapella and is hoping to join some more clubs this school year. At home, Mariia enjoys playing the piano and entertaining her cats.

Melissa Waas, Managing Editor

Melissa Waas, a senior, has been a part of the newspaper staff for three years, and is one of the Managing Editors for the Blaze. She enjoys participating more in the media and video aspect of the Blaze. Even outside of the paper she loves making videos and has favored art and making things visually. Her goals as a journalist this year are to continue contributing to the multimedia department of the Blaze and recruit more students to join. Melissa heavily encourages people to get out of their comfort zone, and try something new in the Blaze, like the multimedia aspects. She really enjoys writing about social issues in our world and finds they can be more challenging than we realize since the facts are not always obvious. She participates in many school extracurriculars: Peer, Wings, and NEHS. Melissa moved from France to the United States in 2020. Her family was looking for an adventure, and chose the U.S. to explore new horizons. She is an extremely creative person, who is always looking for something new to learn.

Bella Gerardi, Photo Editor

Senior Bella Gerardi has been a member of the Blaze for four years and this year she has the role of the Photo Editor. Bella has had a history with writing since a young age. Her grandmothers were both authors, and it led her down the journalism path. While she started off writing opinion pieces her first few years, she slowly started to love taking pictures and realized she was very good at it. Over the last year she grew her position to the highest role in photo editing with all the pictures getting sent to her for approval. This year, she wants to hopefully find someone to pass her role as Photo Editor down to. When she’s not working at Kung Fu Tea, she loves to read, especially horror and romance, go to the gym and listen to music. After college she wishes to pursue a career in social work, particularly CPS. As for her love for journalism, she wants to pursue a career as a journalist on the side and hopefully build it up to a good job and decent pay. She hopes to combine her love for social work and journalism in the future.

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Women Inspire and Find Hope at Sixth Annual “Rise To” Summit

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