PERRY, Iowa — Women gathered in Perry to share their stories and lift each other up during the annual International Women’s Day celebration.

Perry threw their sixth annual International Women’s Day celebration Saturday morning with more than 150 women in attendance and several speakers sharing stories.

Lori Seeley is a former Perry teacher and girls sports advocate and says she got her start into sports through pure determination.

“I shot baskets for hours on hours outside, unsupervised, no sunscreen, no water bottles. My parents never told me to go shoot,” said Seeley. “It was just something within me that I wanted to be the best I could be and I’m trying to promote that in young girls now.”

Seeley may favor basketball, but she’s overjoyed to see sports like wrestling being expanded for women. Seeley says girls have more opportunities but still lack proper encouragement from family and friends.

“I call all the little girls up and I just said, I challenge all of the adults here to whether you’re a mentor, a teacher, a coach, a neighbor, a grandparent, a parent, to challenge your girls to follow their dreams, lace up their tennis shoes and play sports.”

12-year-old Sailey, Author and Illustrator of “Rise Above: How to Turn a Negative Situation into a Positive One,” wrote her book after experiencing an act of racism at school.

“It was two years ago, and I was very shaken up, but I talked to my parents and people around me, and I wrote a speech and then it turned into my book,” Sailey said. “I really took action really fast so I could make a change as soon as possible.”

Sailey says she was able to write her book in just three weeks. She hopes her book will help other young women feel empowered to speak out against their injustices.

“I really hope that young people, especially young women, come forward and share their stories. Using your voice is really something that can help you cope, because sometimes just speaking up about it will help you be able to realize what you want to do with it,” said Sailey.

Dr. Karen Mason, the first curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries, and Heidi Stoffel, founder and executive director of Aspire Academy, also spoke during the event.