Marco Island Academy Feminist Club Reopens

For five years, Marco Island Academy’s Girls Learn International (GLI) Chapter, also known as the MIA Feminists Club, had disappeared. The previous MIA Feminists Club departed in 2018, along with the ten young women and student leaders who championed for MIA’s feminist club, having graduated with their class. Now, after having worked for the reintroduction of MIA’s Feminist Club and GLI Chapter, the club’s President, Annabelle Frazer, empowers the next generation of feminist students.

Girls Learn International, referred to as the “MIA Feminist Club '', is an extracurricular program of the feminist majority, existing to educate high school students on the relevance of global issues. GLI promotes the discussion of topics such as gender equality, human rights, and climate activism. Founded in 2003, GLI aims to empower students to advocate for a more diverse world with equal opportunity.

Girls Learn International is a club that allows students to get involved in their community and attend events that advocate for human rights in line with the club’s priorities, such as public council meetings and rallies, as well as volunteer work for non-profit organizations, communities, and causes. Students involved in GLI at MIA in the past have a number of accomplishments upholding their legacy.

A student who was most instrumental in GLI’s legacy, Chelsea Casabona, describes the club’s endeavors and her own motivations for empowering the students of the MIA Feminist Club in her article “Following in Her Footsteps” on The MIA Wave. In the article, Casabona discusses the most important achievements of the MIA Feminists and the club’s opportunity to meet Representative Ilhan Omar.

In 2017, the students of MIA GLI received an invite sent directly from the National Organization of Women (NOW) in Naples to help celebrate the Naples Day of Change, marking the one-year countdown leading up to the 2018 midterm elections. The students also raised $450 in donations coming directly from individuals who supported the club’s endeavors.

With these funds, the students purchased tickets to an exclusive brunch with Ilhan Omar, Minnesota's first Somali American Representative. Also attending the exclusive brunch was the Naples National Organization of Women, the Democratic Women’s Club of Lee County, and Crowning Daughter for Success, alongside a number of other influential local organizations.

GLI’s President, Annabelle Frazer, shares why having a GLI Chapter at MIA is so important to her. “I see so many brilliant young women within our school’s community. Being able to provide a defined presence for activism, especially given the current environment, is the most rewarding experience I can think of. I’m certain that I have found my own voice within the women’s rights movement, and to spread this opportunity to other young women among me is something I, along with my powerful co-members, strive to do.”

With new leadership, and a continued opportunity to empower students to make a positive influence in their school and community, the revival of the MIA Feminists Club will promote the students to strive for social justice and work for a cause. The new perspectives brought to the club will create an environment that nurtures creativity and participation in local activism.