In early 2022, before I first came to Concord Academy, I remember my sister coming home from CA with a pair of homemade earrings. She had purchased them from Period Coalition (PeCo), then led by Katie Tran ’23 and Lilia Kasdon ’22, which had organized a lucrative fundraiser to purchase menstrual products for CA bathrooms. A couple weeks ago, current PeCo coheads Tara Djorkevic ’26, Layla Linnard ’26, and Lucy Targum ’26 similarly used Club Expo funds to buy a few boxes of pads for CA bathrooms. For as long as I have been a student here and longer, the purchase of menstrual products has been entirely planned, funded, and executed by students. What prevents CA from pitching in? I believe the school should supply free menstrual products in its bathrooms year-round.
How ridiculous would it be if the school informed us that we had to bring in our own soap? For anybody on their period, menstrual products are a medical and hygiene necessity. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) categorizes them as medical supplies; twenty-one states categorize them as school supplies that schools should provide free of charge. Several school districts in Massachusetts already mandate free access to menstrual products for students. Students should not have to be distracted or anxious at school about the inaccessibility of period products—which are expensive, easily forgotten, and a hassle to carry around through the hallways on the way to a bathroom. CA should feel welcome to students who menstruate, regardless of their ability to individually afford period products.
PeCo cohead Tara Djorkevic ’26 spoke to The Centipede. “I feel like given there are dispensers all throughout the school [bathrooms], [CA] should at least try to fill them
once in a while, work with a club like PeCo to figure out a way to fill them and keep them stocked throughout the year, and help purchase bulk orders.” Supplying menstrual products is not necessarily an incredibly expensive or time-consuming commitment. Even a minimum effort would benefit a student on their period during the school day.
As per CA’s mission statement, our school is “striving for equity” and working “to build a more just and sustainable future.” Relying on students to buy period products is contrary to this mission. Menstrual products—a medical and hygiene necessity—are expensive and difficult for students to provide for themselves. If CA were to allocate funds towards supplying them, clubs like PeCo could dedicate their funds towards organizations that buy products for low-income schools, prisons, and public places across the country. Providing menstrual products would not only benefit students—it would also help CA live out its written values and challenge the status quo while improving the world around us.