A champion for period products in PA schools

When a Lancaster County high school student approached Kayla Cook for assistance in providing free period products to her classmates, she asked the right person. 

Cook, a patient safety and Just Culture coordinator at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, is the founder of the community nonprofit Warwick United, which plays an important role in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and providing small acts of service to a local school district.  

The student had taken it upon herself to put a variety of free period products in school bathrooms. She was hopeful that Cook could assist her in growing her anonymous acts of kindness into a program that supports young people who are menstruating.  

Improving access to period products is an important issue for youth. According to the 2021 national State of the Period survey, 23 percent of students have struggled to afford period products and 51 percent state they have worn products longer than recommended. When students have easy access to products, they don’t have to rely on the school nurse’s limited product supply or go home early and risk missing out on their education due to an unexpected menstrual cycle. 

After learning about the need, Cook decided to ensure that all middle and high school students in her community would have access to dispensing bins which held tampons, pads, and liners in every individual women’s or gender-neutral bathroom stall.  

Cook began her effort with a community drive for period products. The outpouring of donations was a huge success. “From there we said, ‘Well, that went really well, what else can we do?’” Cook said. 

The impact a CAREs grant can make 

Following the success of the drive, Cook applied for and received two Penn Medicine CAREs grants to help fund the initiative. The grants helped cover the cost of the dispensing bins and products, as well as a three-month supply of products for students who need them during the summer months. In the middle school, the bins are restocked biweekly by students who are nominated by peers or teachers; in the high school, this role is a “job” for students in life-skills classes.  

“When you have community members making donations it’s fantastic, but when we get a lump sum of money, we can plan ahead and buy the products in bulk. This is a significant cost savings, and we can buy the product that we know gets used the most,” Cook said. 

Not only have the Lancaster and Penn Medicine communities taken notice of the work Cook has done for her local school district, but so has the state government. The recently passed state budget includes $3 million for menstrual education and products for schools across Pennsylvania. Cook and others from Warwick United were invited to an event at the Capitol to help draft the new policy and serve as a “best-practice example.” Cook said, “This is something I am extremely proud of.” 

Cook goes to Harrisburg 

Sitting at a roundtable within the Pennsylvania State Capitol building, First Lady Lori Shapiro, Cook, and other menstruation equity advocates discussed how they are providing products and information in their communities.  

Cook discussed potential barriers and best practices for implementing the program, including ensuring that age-appropriate products were available at both middle schools and high schools. She also discussed areas of improvement for menstrual education to ensure students learn about these aspects of anatomy and physiology independent of other topics in sex education. 

Cook also used her work as an example to show other school districts how to provide this service to students without putting more work on already-stretched school administrators or teachers. 

“It was exciting, and so important, to discuss concrete strategies for fostering a more educated and prepared community,” Cook said.