Spring 2022, I was honored and excited to be surrounded by fellow School Nurses at a local conference. You see, school nursing is an entirely different animal than hospital or clinic nursing. Most days, you are the only medical expert in the building and don’t often have the opportunity for real time collaboration with fellow nurses, so this was truly a fun treat.

H.B. 162, better known as the Period Project, had recently passed in the 2022 legislative session. This bill requires school districts and charter schools to provide free period products in certain restrooms within all school facilities. At the time, I was thrilled to hear such a wonderful nonpartisan bill (passed unanimously!) was being enacted to support students in schools. I had immediately jumped into action and read through the bill, only to find it did not include private schools. This meant, for Waterford to join in, we would need to find our own funding. I wasn’t the only one excited about the new legislation, students from Class of 2022 and our incredible Dean of Students, Nancy Nebeker, also reached out to discuss how Waterford could be a part of the program. We have always offered period products in our nursing and front office, but this additional step leaving the restroom to ask for a product was a reported barrier for our students to what they needed to get back to class and ready to learn. We collaborated, tossed around many creative solutions, reached out to community partners (thank you, Beth Hamideh!), but couldn’t find an easy or appropriate solution. 

Back to the conference. A break had just wrapped and I was seated with my new friends and collaborators when Emily Bell McCormick, the founder of the Period Project, was introduced. Ms. Bell McCormick was a lively and engaged speaker, there to share her experiences on the Hill and answer the questions of the nurses that would be integral in the enactment of the new legislation throughout the state. One anecdote from the Hill was a huge eye opener for me. A lawmaker asked something along the lines of, “Why can’t girls hold it until they get the product they need?”. If most schools have period products in the front office, why can’t the students just hold it and walk down to the office to get what they need? The question stunned me.

A core component of nursing is providing education. We are taught from day one of nursing school that without education, those under our care are simply being given a bandaid. When what they actually need is knowledge and information to fully understand their medical needs to be able to take agency and live well moving forward. Menstruation is something 50% of the population is dealing with monthly, yet many are not properly educated in the care of it. A core concept of School Nursing is that a child must be healthy to be educated and educated to be healthy. In a recent survey, it was reported 84% of students have missed class or know someone who has missed class due to a lack of access to period products. 51% of students feel like their school does not care about them if they do not provide period products in their bathrooms. As a nurse, I feel having access to period products in the restrooms at school is both a health and education issue. It is also evidence of a school’s care and support of students. Our students deserve to not miss the invaluable class time Waterford teachers so carefully prepare for them. 

Fast forward to today. Waterford has officially joined the movement! Thanks to a generous and kind donor, Aunt Flow dispensers have been installed in each girls’ and single-stall restrooms on campus by our building supervisor, Camilo Castillo and crew. In Lower School, the dispensers are located in the girls’ restrooms available to our IV, and V students and will dispense pads only. These dispensers provide free period products when students need them and where they need them. Our students in action, Auden S. ’24 and Olivia W. ‘23 organized the initial filing of the dispensers and helped support this important project. Auden shared why this project mattered so much to her, “Having complementary period products in the women’s bathroom at Waterford is important to me because it shows the women at this school that Waterford cares about their health and well-being. Going to such a rigorous school, the added stress of having to worry about getting your period or having enough products to last you the day is something that we should not have to deal with. Having the products allows us to have that stress taken off. It means a lot to have the school acknowledge this struggle and do something about it so willingly.” Additionally, Olivia shared the importance of this project by stating, “I believe that having access to free period products is a right for women …without this access, women are subject to embarrassment over their own bodies, something that should never happen.”

When asked what prompted their generous donation, our thoughtful donor offered this, “It’s been incredible to see what The Policy Project has done this past year, outfitting each and every public and charter school in Utah with access to free period products for grades K-XII. Because Waterford is a private school, it was not included in this statewide initiative. I saw this as a wonderful opportunity to raise the bar at Waterford and set a standard for other private schools to follow by properly outfitting our restrooms with access to free period products. Having two girls of my own, I think it’s important to remove social stigmas and barriers around obtaining period products. In keeping with Waterford’s spirit of giving, our family is delighted to outfit all female bathrooms on campus with Aunt Flow machines which dispense free, organic and essential period products.”

A heartfelt thank you to all involved, especially to our students in action, Auden and Olivia, and the benevolent donor family that paved the way. We are truly a caring and kind community here at Waterford. To all of our students, we are committed to supporting your success here at Waterford and beyond.

With a gratitude and kindness, 

Katherine Stokes, BSN, RN, NCSN
Waterford School Nurse and Wellness Coordinator