TY SPRING Project featured in The Echo.
Following on from Ms Whelan’s and the students involved in the YSI group project in 2020/21 – Just Say It – which very successfully highlighted Period Poverty and focused on destigmatising periods generally, the school’s very first TY Student Council came up with a new school initiative this year – ‘Know Your Flow’. This group of TY students has proven their teamwork, creativity, diligence, foresight, collegiality and hard work time and time again this year – all done with good humour, kindness and respect for their project, staff and each other. We are very grateful to them for what they have achieved and put in place for all our students and staff. Their attention to detail and enthusiasm has changed our school for the better and brought about the provision of sanitary products for all. Their pursuit of free sanitary product provision touches on many key issues that they feel strongly about such as to speak openly on issues affecting girls and women, sustainability and care for the environment, basic human rights being met, and a more comfortable atmosphere for all. They have highlighted a need for easy access to these products and partnered with a Cork based, female owned company in order to do so. They have been involved in every aspect of the initiative – from idea to fruition. We are immensely proud of these girls. They showcase the power of the student voice and how it can influence positive change for the good of all. Many thanks for it all. Ms Gallagher.
And now.. an account of the Know Your Flow initiative from the girls themselves!
Last October, we raised the idea of the free provision of sanitary products in our school. As a group we have campaigned through the Student Council Suggestion Card system and through a ‘Dragons Den’ style presentation to Management within the school. After a detailed presentation, including videos from students showcasing their passion and excitement for this potential project, we received Board of Management approval. This was extremely positive news that created the drive we needed to complete this project. Once we had approval, everything accelerated from there. We reached out to Riley Products, an environmentally conscious, woman owned, Irish company which is dedicated to improving the lives of women in Ireland and in Third World countries. We asked them if we could use their products to supply the students of our schools with what they need. Riley Products were very excited to work with us as a school, and have been very helpful along this journey. Our next big milestone was our meeting with the leaders of MTU’s Code Red Project, to receive inspiration and view their innovative ideas. It was a very informative meeting and gave us a lot of food for thought. When our school opened our doors after Christmas, we presented each year group with a comprehensive overview of our reasons for starting this initiative and the goals we had for it. Once we had conferred with Riley and the school, we were able to place our first order. This was an extremely rewarding moment, that was testament to all the hard work put into this project, to better the school for all. We were involved in every aspect of this initiative from presentations, to choosing our project’s name, to measuring the cabinets, to deciding their location, to placing and receiving orders, to making posters and finally to stocking. There are now Sanitary Products available in all school student and staff bathrooms. We would like to thank the TYs, Ms Gallagher, Mr Curran, Ms O’Donovan, Joe, Ms Bermingham, Ms Whelan, Ms Peters, Ms Chawke, our Office staff, the staff from MTU, Lauren Duggan from Riley Products, and all those involved for their diligence, support and dedication to us and this initiative. We would also like to extend our thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the Logo Competition, and congratulations to Martha Garcia 5C, the winner of the competition. We hope this project offers security and support to you, through-out your years at the school.
Yours Sincerely,
The TY Student Council of 2021-2022
Rebecca Foley, Phoebe Twomey, Sarahjane Kennedy, Libby Ryan, Abbie Akinkoulie, Emma Hyland, Amy Barry and Emma Cannon-Lynch.
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