We’ll fight ’till we bleed

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Madeline Powers

Juniors Isabella Keaton and Tara Anastasoff hosted the first meeting of What about Women? club, on January 24, where they discussed how to get feminine hygiene dispensers placed in the girl’s bathrooms at NC. 13 girls attended the first meeting and participated in a bonding activity to kickstart the beginning of the club. “(We are just) throwing everything out into the open. Within the next few meetings, we’ll fine tune our plans and have a day where we research and plan a fundraiser,” Anastasoff said.

Madeline Powers, General assistant

Juniors Isabella Keaton and Tara Anastasoff held the first meeting for NC’s newest club, “What about Women?”on Wednesday, January 24.  The club, which will meet at 7:30 AM on Wednesdays in Room 611, encourages students to come together and discuss the unfair nature regarding women’s access to feminine products.

“Originally, I pitched this idea [feminine hygiene] in brainstorming [in newspaper class] and I wrote out the article and realized that this should really happen, so I started doing a ton of research and we had a meeting with Mrs. Turner about [turning it into a] reality and how it could benefit the students, now I want to make it happen,” Keaton said.

The What about Women? club acts as more of a movement than a club, reaching to obtain feminine hygiene dispensers in the girl’s bathrooms at NC. They will achieve this long-term goal by completing research on the subject, coming up with a proposal to submit to the the school’s administration as well as the Cobb County School Board, and broaden their supporters in order to raise the money to buy multiple feminine hygiene dispensers.

Keaton and Anastasoff discussed their plans regarding this club and how they will gain attention and approval from the administration at NC.

“I think we just need to be firm and knowledgeable in what we are presenting, and I think that is what will get administration to take us seriously,” Anastasoff said.

Keaton continued the thought by including the club’s main determined focus: “This isn’t just an idea anymore, it is a movement at North Cobb.”

The first meeting brought success, as 13 girls came bright and early Wednesday morning with open hearts and passionate minds, ready to have their voices be heard. They discussed the importance of these dispensers, the costs involved, how to raise the money needed, and how they will make these dispensers a reality. The dispensers at the school would lessen the stress and class time missed because of menstruation for females at NC, creating a more productive and healthy environment in the school.

The What about Women? club will fundraise through creative endeavors such as selling valentines, creating bracelets, and hosting a car wash.

“I thought it was really nice to see girls coming together to make female problems not as hard to deal with. We covered a lot, and I believe we will do some great things,” junior Mary Catherine Toth said.

Now, as the club embarks on its first mission, the board, the faculty, and the students will watch the What about Women? club achieve their goals. They lit a spark that will start a bonfire in women’s necessities and rights, and Cobb County will witness the power of the young, passionate, and determined.

The club’s next meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 7, at 7:30am in room 611, where they will munch on donuts while discussing their upcoming Valentine’s Day fundraiser and future plans.