It started as a civics class proposal when Shruti Gautam was a freshman.
"It was something I always kind of noticed was missing," Shruti said. "It was a problem for my friends."
The problem? The lack of feminine hygiene products in Columbia Public Schools.
Her idea was to stock all-female student restrooms with free feminine hygiene products — or in plainer terms, menstrual products or period products.
"I just think that it's a basic human right to take care of your body," said Shruti, now a 17-year-old senior.
She took her idea to teachers, to janitors, to Jen Rukstad, who then was Rock Bridge principal, and then to Chief Equity Officer Carla London and Superintendent Peter Stiepleman. They allowed her to conduct a pilot project at Rock Bridge, she said.