Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was renowned as an advocate for gender equality and the rights of women, and it is only fitting that Ashley Hall’s Intermediate Program students honored her recent passing with a House competition activity that emphasized balance, team work, and collaboration. Taking Ginsburg’s quote “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you” as inspiration, students first learned more about Ginsburg’s groundbreaking achievements in their humanities classes and then worked in teams to design and build their own “scale of justice” as part of a STEAM activity.

In addition to strategizing how to balance their scale with different objects, students made weight estimates and charted their findings. In the spirit of the activity, teachers emphasized that final scores would be based not only on accurate estimates but also on each group’s ability to demonstrate collaborative teamwork, where all members showed guided, patient leadership. The resulting creations and display of cooperation were fitting tributes to the legacy of a woman known for her collaborative nature and quest for balance. “It was a truly awesome day of activities,” emphasized Intermediate Program faculty member Olivia Hipp ’10. “One of those ‘this is why I do this’ days.”