“Incredible performance inspired by #ShePersisted by Francis W. Parker School students. Blown away!” author, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, and the daughter of recent presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton wrote in a Facebook reshare on March 23. Her post references the March 5 Morning Exercise, which celebrated International Women’s Day and took inspiration from Clinton’s 2017 book “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World.” Clinton wrote “She Persisted” after Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was voted into silence while attempting to state her objections to Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said “nevertheless, she persisted,” regarding Warren at the time. This best-selling children’s picture book contains 13 American women who Clinton felt all were resilient and had an impact on history. The book’s illustrations were done by Alexandra Boiger, a well known illustrator and graphic designer.

“As I quote in ‘She Persisted,’ Sally Ride said, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’ Clinton said in an email to “The Weekly.” “I wrote ‘She Persisted’ so that young readers, girls and boys, can see more women doing remarkable things through their talents and their persistence. I hope my books help young readers imagine themselves as anything and everything and encourages them to persist in pursuing their dreams.”

The Morning Ex began with seniors Isobel Bender, Jolie Davidson, Maya Plotnick, and Martha Wedner singing the song “She Persisted,” by Drew Fornarola. Various faculty and community members then shared Clinton’s book, and the 3rd through 5th grade extra curricular choir, Colonel Choir, the Upper School Advanced Wind Ensemble, and Grape Jam all sang. Students also watched a video on one of the women featured in the book–U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The MX ended with a video from Integrated Learning and Information Sciences Department members Sarah Beebe and Mary Catherine Coleman about how the JKers would have “Stood With Her (Ruby Bridges).”   

Lower School music teacher and Middle School band instructor Kingsley Tang was the ringleader of this MX, which he said was inspired by last year’s presentation on President Obama’s book, “Of Thee I Sing.” In the weeks leading up to the presentation, he wrote out the script, created a Powerpoint presentation for the assembly, and got all of the projects organized.

“I felt it was important that our students see men and women of different races and disciplines celebrate women,” Tang said in his personal blog. “This allows our kids to understand that men celebrate women and that math teachers value literature and reading too. I tied in different disciplines from around the school to bring this presentation to life.”

In creating the MX, Tang reached out to Clinton’s staffers to see if she would be able to make an appearance. After the MX, Tang sent the video of the performance to her and her staff. They “loved it,” according to Tang, posting it on their Twitter and Facebook.

“Thankfully, Kingsley Tang, your music teacher, reached out to invite me to the performance,” Clinton said in the email. “While I am so sad to not have been able to make it, I am so thankful to have been invited and then to have seen the video of the performance.”

One of the performers was Upper School Spanish teacher Yadiner Sabir. Sabir says that the book allowed her to connect with her 5 year old daughter Amina. “As a mother, to have my daughter share with me the stories she heard about in the book and to ask me if I have ever persisted and how, was powerful,” Sabir said. “It opened the door for a conversation from mother to daughter in a way I was not anticipating. To an extent, I feel it added to our bond.”

Another performer was poet Elise Paschen, mother of Alexandra Brainerd ‘17 and sophomore Stephen Brainerd, and daughter of Maria Tallchief, the first major prima ballerina, and the first Native American woman to hold the rank. Paschen read a poem she wrote about watching her mother perform ballet–and read the section of the picture book about her mother.  

The Clintons have always been fans of Tallchief, who passed away in April of 2013. President Clinton awarded Tallchief the National  Medal for the Arts in 1999. Paschen had the opportunity to meet the Clintons when her mother was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1996.

“Chelsea had studied ballet, and my mother always expressed interest in her growth as a young woman,” Paschen said. “When my mother was honored by the School of American Ballet, it was Chelsea who presented the award. Throughout the years both my mother and Chelsea have held a mutual admiration for each other. I was so happy to discover that Chelsea had included my mother in her book.”

The Chelsea reshare came as a shock to many, including the overseer of all of Parker’s main social media accounts, Nick Robinson. “My first thought, however silly it sounds in hindsight, was that it was some other Chelsea Clinton who just happened to look like her,” Robinson said. “Regardless, I dropped everything and ran across the street to my office and jumped on my computer to see for myself. Sure enough, there was Chelsea Clinton—with an audience of more than 1.4 million!— talking about the Morning Ex! Needless to say, I freaked out a little bit, with a moderate amount of jumping up and down.”

During the period of the reshare, Robinson said the Likes and Follows did increase.