When Ashanti Shih first heard mention of notable political and cultural figures Madeleine Albright and Gloria Steinem, the names drew a blank stare from the high school sophomore.

The thought of bright students like Ashanti not knowing about the world's influential women made Kristie McEwan — a teacher at La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls — cringe.

"I thought that was a pity, that ... (students might) graduate from an all-girls school not knowing who some of these great women are," McEwan said.

So McEwan created Thinking Women, a course for freshmen and sophomores at La Pietra that teaches creative thinking skills while focusing on notable women in history. Another class starts Monday, aptly enough, at a time when American women are making an impact on politics, sports and pop culture.

In politics, for example, President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers on Oct. 3 to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; if appointed, she would become the second woman on the current court, and the third in history.

In sports, golf phenom Michelle Wie announced on Oct. 5 that she has turned pro, making her the highest-paid female golfer in the world.

And in pop culture, the Sept. 27 premiere of ABC's "Commander in Chief," a show about the country's first woman president, drew 16.4 million viewers; it was the only new program that made Nielsen Media Research's top 10 list that week.

McEwan developed Thinking Women to introduce students to women who "made their lives what they are today," McEwan said, from birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger to rapper-actress Queen Latifah.

"The class really opened me up to a lot of women that I didn't know about before," said Ashanti, 16, now a La Pietra junior who completed the course last year.

More than a who's who of prominent women in history, Thinking Women also explores ways students can become more creative and critical thinkers.

"I'll try to develop their thinking skills by having them do the logic (exercises) and the brainteasers," said Leah Schow, who will be teaching the class this year. "Then beyond that, getting these girls to think about what they think they can bring to society in the future."

One of the class projects required the students to do a presentation on a significant woman in history; Ashanti chose Albright and created a scrapbook of her life, while another student made a video presentation of her grandmother's life and later gave her grandmother the video for Christmas.

For another project, the girls had to name the most influential women in their lives, then ask their mothers to do the same.

"It was just a real eye-opening experience for a lot of them," said Marisa Proctor, who taught the course last year.

"It generated discussion between the girls and their moms that they probably never really had before."

Such profound class projects have made many parents fans of the course, said Nancy White, head of La Pietra school.

"Parents wish they could have taken a course like this," White said.

This year, the class will also discuss the new ABC show "Commander in Chief," which follows fictional President Mackenzie Allen, the country's first woman president.

"One of the first questions to be brought up is, 'Why is this show such a big deal in the year 2005? Is it so unrealistic to imagine a woman as president?' How do the girls feel about that?" said Schow.

Meanwhile Ashanti, who no longer goes blank at the mention of Albright (the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state) and Steinem (a journalist and women's rights advocate), said Thinking Women broadened her perspective as a young woman.

"I never thought about how we got here today, and the class just opened up my eyes to a lot of history that I didn't know was there," Ashanti said. "It also makes us think about what we still need to accomplish."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com.