Periods, menstrual cycles, and menstruation. Most girls in middle school are induced into the whirlwind that is their period. And with that, humiliation follows when girls get their period at school without access to menstrual products.
When asked if they ever experienced having their periods at school, and did not have access to menstrual products, junior Dia Sanou at John F. Kennedy High School said, “I didn’t have menstrual products, and neither did my friends, so I had to go to the nurse, and that’s when I was embarrassed.” Emily Najarro, another junior at Kennedy, said, “Yes, I have, and it was an embarrassing experience that I still get embarrassed about thinking back on.”
Not only can this be extremely embarrassing, but 1 in 5 American girls have missed school due to a lack of period protection, which can affect students’ academic performance. However, within the last two years, there has been an improvement in how Montgomery County Public Schools approach menstrual periods, and the majority of that work can be credited to the chapter opening in Montgomery County, PERIOD @ Montgomery County (MoCo).
PERIOD’s goals are to eradicate period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy through the distribution of menstrual products, the promotion of youth leadership, and the championing of menstrual equity in policy, Overall, PERIOD has made nationwide efforts to achieve these goals by establishing various chapters in various counties and cities across America over time. The chapter was opened in May 2020 by co-president Eshal Ahmed and co-founders Wambui Ngugi and Ani Mkrtchyan. According to an interview with PERIOD in Montgomery County, Ahmed was inspired to start a PERIOD branch in Montgomery County after attending a GirlUp summit in 2018 and meeting the founder of PERIOD. Finding out the condition millions of girls are forced to go under when it comes to their periods; including using rags, trash, etc. she (Ahmed) was spurred into researching menstrual equality late into the night and eventually discussed it with like-minded friends, Wambui Ngugi and Ani Mkrtchyan.
PERIOD was significant not only for young menstruators but for people all over the world.
When asked what they have accomplished, Period@MoCo mentions their multiple successful packing parties. Packing Parties are events where volunteers organize 15 different menstrual products, miscellaneous goodies, and informational cards about period care at MoCo. By working with other organizations to raise awareness regarding menstrual inequality, ongoing stigmas about periods, and intersecting factors that go into these stigmas, they have donated more than 9,000 pads and tampons to shelters across Montgomery County and the less fortunate globally. Though this is a very impressive achievement, Period@MoCo has even brighter plans for the future: “By June of 2023, we hope to continue to raise awareness of the stigmas surrounding menstruation and push the idea that this biological process is not taboo, especially in homes where culture promotes the contrary.” PERIOD @MoCo has also heavily supported former SMOB Hana O’looney, who herself had a two-year stipend position with PERIOD. Clooney is a big advocate of menstrual equality and equitable school policies. Her experience as a SMOB reflects this.
The initiative was established for all Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to have menstrual product dispensers in all bathrooms in all elementary, middle, and high schools by October 2025. This initiative began this school year, with several MCPS high schools having period dispensaries placed in bathrooms, including John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring. When asked about this, the majority of female students said that the installation of period care product dispensaries is a good bonus to schools and will aid girls in the future. Montgomery County intends on having one dispenser in one elementary school bathroom and two in every high school by the end of this school year. This is a step in the right direction for how MCPS schools should be handling public health issues, such as period poverty, within their schools. This could not have been done if not for Period@MoCo. To learn more about Period@MoCo, visit their website. Instagram or Linktree.Written by Maru Amtataw of John F. Kennedy High School