By Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin

I was in 7th grade when I first bled through my pants at school; I was mortified. My Science teacher (bless Mrs. Marchani) kept a bunch of sweaters on the back of her classroom door, and as I discovered, they weren’t just for the unpredictable weather. As it turned out, she kept this pile of outerwear stocked for middle school menstruators like me. She helped me tie one of her sweaters around my waist, so that I could go about my day of learning. I will never forget that kindness. Suddenly, whenever I saw those sweaters on the hips of other girls, I tried to give knowing eye-contact solidarity. Twenty-some years later, I’m the one in charge of the 7th grade classroom. 

Over the years, I’ve given out my fair share of tampons and pads (and some waist-wrapping hoodies), but I had honestly never formally thought about planning to support my menstruating students. Then one day, a menstrual accident became a teachable moment that turned into an epic journey for menstrual equity in our classroom, school, and eventually the Hawaii State Legislature. This is my story, our story. It is a story about student voice, student advocacy, and progressive education in action. 

I am a science teacher at ‘Ilima Intermediate School. Located on the leeward side of Oʻahu, our public middle school aims to provide student-centered learning and whole-child experiences to support our studentsʻ adolescent development. Since 2017, I’ve also been the faculty sponsor for two student-created clubs at the school. The Rainbow Royales is our ‘Ilima Intermediate Gender-Sexuality Alliance Club (GSA), that builds community for LGBTQ+ students. And the Activist Club is a place where students come to work on community issues that matter to them. Often both clubs come together to work on joint projects. 

In the fall of 2019, a student in our GSA started their period and bled through their clothing. It happened in my classroom, during the middle of the school day. Intermediate school menstrual accidents are common, and I helped that student clean up, and we moved on with the lesson. Later that day, the student returned to my classroom for our GSA meeting in tears. They had been bullied because of the menstrual incident and needed the support of our safe classroom community. 

The club students in GSA were angry, and wanted “justice” for their bullied peer. I was nervous that the student frustration could lead to a conflict, so I worked to channel the energy. During our club discussion, we learned that the student didn’t have access to period products. A student mentioned that, at that time, our school nurse charged money for pads, and the student didn’t have any money. Our school is Title 1, which means that 50% of our students receive free or reduced price lunch. Students agreed that if you can’t pay for lunch, there’s a good chance you can’t pay for period products either. 

In both student clubs, we had previous discussions about how to build community, and that community can care for each other. With ‘community care’ in mind, we brainstormed how we could support all students on our campus who might not have access to period products. Our solution was to build a campus “Menstruation Station” where any student could get free period supplies. 

The students fought hard to replicate this viral ‘station’ from Reddit, but we didn’t have that kind of budget, so our first station was the simple box pictured below. To maintain the box with supplies, students helped me write a DonorsChoose.org proposal for funding. Also, while working on the station,  students shared how school isn’t a very friendly place for menstruators. They felt that teachers believed they were using their periods as an “excuse” for restroom breaks during class, and that many teachers did not have compassion for their menstrual discomfort. To address this issue, they added supportive notes to the menstrual care packs that they created for their peers. To keep the station up and running, we did research and connected with community-partner EWAlution 96706, and they now help us keep the station going. 

As the group continued to stock the station and carry on the project throughout the year, the students did a deep dive into “period poverty” and learned that New Hampshire passed a bill for free period products in all schools. Students asked if we could have a bill in Hawaii. I had no idea how to write a bill, but I had just met Hawaii State Representative Amy Perusso at an event. I knew she was a former Hawaii State Department of Education Social Studies teacher, so I emailed her office with our story, and a copy of the example bill. She agreed to write a bill for us during the 2020 Session of the Hawaii State Legislature. 

That year, students testified at the Capitol in favor of our bill, and recruited others to support. Sadly, the bill died when COVID-19 closed the legislature. We brought the bill back during the 2021 Session, with the help of State Senator Laura Acasio. As hard as we fought, we couldn’t even get the bill a hearing. Yet, we were able to get a Resolution passed in the House and another in the Senate sharing that “period poverty” was indeed a problem in Hawaii schools. Lesson learned, if you’re thinking about future legislative action, a resolution is a great place to start because it raises awareness for future legislative sessions. 

In 2021, we fought so hard to get our bill a hearing. We tried to get media attention, but no news outlet seemed to care about the story. Students were demoralized, and felt that the adults didn’t care about them. Also not lost on my students were the faces many male legislators made when we discussed periods publicly. Unfortunately, students learned that period shame and stigma not only existed on campus, but was a problem in society at-large.

Even in our demoralized state, students decided to try a bill one more time, and this time, we had help. We partnered with the Ma‘i Movement, a group committed to fighting period poverty in Hawaii, founded by 3 Native Hawaiian sisters. Together, we helped write a better bill for the 2022 Session of the Hawaii State Legislature. For the first time, we ran into a good problem – we had multiple bills, asking for free period products in public schools, because the idea had caught on. 

The “winning bill,” the one that’s still alive today, is Senate Bill 2821. It was proposed and is being carried by Senator Michelle Kidani, Vice President of the Senate and Chair of the Education Committee. President of the Senate, Senator Ronald Kouchi, even mentioned period poverty on the floor of the Senate during opening day. As of April 28, 2022, our bill has passed the House, Senate, and conference committee, and is scheduled to be signed by Governor Ige in June 2022!

For the past three years, our campus menstruation station has been in operation. We have given out over 1,000 menstrual care kits to students who need them. With the help of groups like Mai Movement Hawaii, and I Support the Girls, we’ve kept the station stocked with pads, tampons, menstrual cups, and wipes. (And sweet notes for students, written by other students). This year, we used DonorsChoose to “professionalize” the station and move it away from being a box, to a fancy cart on wheels. We’ve moved from plastic bags to pencil pouches for easy refills. 

When I share about our menstrual equity work with teachers, I often notice that some are uncomfortable talking about this critical student need. As a trained Science teacher, I realized I don’t think twice when I discuss “shedding uterine lining” but the stigma to “not talk about periods” can be challenging and affects all ages and genders. I also think that sometimes teachers feel bad that they didn’t realize how badly period poverty affects our students, and this may be the reason they are hesitant to support the initiative. 

To get started, here are some questions we’d like teachers to consider when planning to support menstruators in your classroom and school. Ask:

1. Do you have a menstruation station on campus with period products for students who need them? 

a. If this place is the school clinic, can students access this area easily? 

b. Are these products free? 

c. Who is responsible for filling them when empty? 

d. Do students know how and where to find these products? 

If you don’t have a campus-wide menstruation station, can you work with other teachers to create simple classroom stations? One example is Mr. Tom’s “Self-Care Station,” which leads to the next set of questions:

2. How can cis-gender male teachers, be a “Non-bleeding ally,” like Mr. Tom? Menstruation is more than a “female issue.” Are all staff members, especially those who don’t experience menstruation, aware of the experiences of menstruating students? 

Consider asking students to share what it’s like to menstruate at school. We learned a lot from doing this! (As always, don’t require sharing, and make sure classroom community is in place before having these discussions.) 

3. Does your school use scientifically-accurate terms when discussing menstruation? 

The lexicon is full of cheeky nicknames, but make sure that we as teachers are speaking up against stigmas like calling periods “the curse.” 

4. Do you deny menstruating students bathroom passes? 

Our school allows each student 2 bathroom passes a day. On heavy flow days, I know that I as the teacher go to the bathroom more than twice; can we give students the same grace? 

5. Is your school day schedule “menstruation friendly?”

Many secondary schools keep passing periods short, to encourage students to get to class on time, and limit times for potential conflict between classes. Examine your school schedules; do menstruating students have time to meet their needs? 

Maya Angelou tells us to “do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” It’s okay to admit as a teacher that you were under-informed about period poverty. It’s also okay to admit that we might not have considered our menstruating students in our classroom or school design. With awareness, grace, and openness we can take action and move forward. 

To end period poverty in schools, teachers must have the moral courage (Shields, 2011) to engage students in activism that promotes a better future society for today’s children. In line with the key principles of the Progressive Education Network (2022) we must respond to the developmental needs of students, and focus on their social, emotional, intellectual, cognitive, cultural, and physical development. This includes encouraging the active participation of students in their learning, in their communities, and in the world. We must also amplify students’ voice, agency, conscience, and intellect to create a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. And we must work to foster respectfully collaborative and critical relationships between students, educators, parents/guardians, and the community. As I shared at the beginning of this blog, our story is really about student voice, student advocacy, and progressive education in action. When I made the time to take my kids seriously, listen to their cues, design the curriculum with them, it was only then that I was able to welcome unexpected detours (Kohn 2015) and help facilitate a meaningful learning experience. Together we learned that empowered menstruators can better care for themselves, and together we can break period stigma for the next generation. 

Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin https://linktr.ee/MiliLaff 

STEAM & Computer Science Teacher

‘Ilima Intermediate School

Ewa Beach, HI 

Works Cited:

Hawaii News Now. (2022, April). Interview: Hawaii public school teacher, students push for menstrual equity. Hawaii News Now .https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/video/2022/04/25/interview-hawaii-public-school-teacher-students-push-menstrual-equity/

Jarbola-Carolus, K. & Yee, N.A. (2021, November). Understanding period poverty in Hawai‘i. The Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women and Ma’i Movement Hawai‘i. https://humanservices.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/11.17.21-Understanding-Period-Poverty-in-Hawai%CA%BBi-Report.pdf

Kishimoto, C. (2022, February). Ending period poverty and shaming. Voice 4 Equity. https://www.voice4equity.com/blog/ending-period-poverty

Kohn, A. (2015). Progressive Education: Why it's Hard to Beat, But Also Hard to Find. Bank Street College of Education. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/progressive/2

Progressive Education Network. (2022, April 4). Progressive Education Network. https://progressiveeducationnetwork.org/

Shields, C. (2011). Transformative leadership: An introduction. Counterpoints (New York, N.Y.), 409, 1–17.

Thinx & PERIOD. (2021). State of the period 2021: The widespread impact of period poverty on US students. https://period.org/uploads/State-of-the-Period-2021.pdf

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/equity-period-destigmatizing-menstruat/4265372/?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=project&utm_term=teacher_124880&rf=page-dc-2022-04-project-teacher_124880&challengeid=59257

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sarah “Mili” Milianta-Laffin is a proud public school educator who teaches STE(A)M Lab at ‘Ilima Intermediate School in Ewa Beach. Since 2019, she's been working with her students to help pass a bill at the Hawaii State Legislature to end period poverty in our public schools. She proudly serves as the Hawai‘i Society for Technology in Education (HSTE) Communications Chair, and on the TFA Hawai'i Alumni Advisory Board as the PRISM Co-Chair supporting LGBTQIA+ teachers and students. She works on the GLSEN Hawai'i Advisory Board as the Public Policy Coordinator, making sure that LGBTQIA+ students are considered in all levels of policy. She’s an active member of the Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), currently serving on HSTA’s State Board of Directors. In March 2021, Mili was one of 4 teachers recognized nationally by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for the 2021 Women’s History Month Celebration based on her work supporting LGBTQIA+ youth, Menstrual Equity, and WiFi on Wheels.

She’s 1 of 45 national educators to receive the prestigious2022 California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence. She was awarded the2021 STACY Award from HSTA, and the2020 Pono Award from HSTA for social justice work in and out of the classroom. She's the faculty sponsor of the ‘Rainbow Royales’ Gender Sexuality Alliance Club (GSA) that wonGLSEN’s 2020 GSA of the Year, out of 8,000 national clubs. She’s a 2x State Finalist for the distinguished Presidential Award for Excellence in Math & Science Teaching (PAEMST), the nation's highest commendation for K-12 Math and Science teachers (2019 & 2021). On the weekends you can find her snorkeling around O’ahu trying to spot manō.