Our Impact
Though we didn't exactly know what our end goal was when we went into this project, we knew that it would be difficult to directly change the world (or even the nation). Because we set out to impact our local community, I think we were extremely successful. Our school went from lacking an adequate supply of feminine hygiene products and system by which to dispense them to having what will be five total feminine hygiene product dispensers. We went in with few solid expectations, which made it easy for us to be very happy with the outcome of the project.
Personally, my role consisted of being the main communicative writer in the initial research phase. I sent many emails to the adults with whom we wanted to meet and wrote the background information for our EdBacker. Also, when we would all be a little sluggish, I would try to do some work or list the things we needed to get done to motivate my other group members. Overall though, I think we were a great team, because we all brought very different skills to the table. |
Role of Communication
We began this project knowing that there was a problem. We didn't know why it was not being addressed, who technically should have been addressing it, or how we could make a change that both the school and the school district would permit. With all this uncertainty, communication become our most valuable tool. We approached almost every adult we suspected could have knowledge pertinent to our issue, asking them for their input on possible approaches we could take, how to potentially install dispensers, and if they didn't know how to answer our questions, who would. Communication was the real reason the school district installed the dispensers that we currently have, because it seems like no one would've known that dispensers were needed had we not made it apparent that we were trying to install them. Also, we had to communicate our goals via advertisements to our target audiences to get the amount of money we needed. Communicating with others proved to be so powerful that it transformed indignation shared by three teenage girls into three (soon to be five) dispensers shared by an entire school.
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What I Learned and What I Would Change
The most important thing I learned is that people can be very generous if you can persuade them that your cause is worth their money. So many members of the Austin High community responded positively to our wristband sales and many of the people who donated to our EdBacker had very passionate, kind comments about the problem at our school and our efforts to remedy it. We are very much indebted to the people that contributed to this project, because without donations and the support of the adults in our community who have been working alongside us, our impact would not have been as significant.
If we did the project over again, I would want us to also try to expand our focus to other schools around Austin. Because it took us a while to figure out what we could do and what we wanted to do, we limited our focus to the Austin High community, but I think if we could start the project over again knowing from the get-go that it was possible to install dispensers and raise funds the way we did, we could have feasibly expanded our focus to at least Austin High's feeder middle schools. The issue we identified regarding the lack of feminine hygiene products made available to students is not one that only existed at Austin High, so there is truly a lot of potential for a widespread impact if effort is made.
If we did the project over again, I would want us to also try to expand our focus to other schools around Austin. Because it took us a while to figure out what we could do and what we wanted to do, we limited our focus to the Austin High community, but I think if we could start the project over again knowing from the get-go that it was possible to install dispensers and raise funds the way we did, we could have feasibly expanded our focus to at least Austin High's feeder middle schools. The issue we identified regarding the lack of feminine hygiene products made available to students is not one that only existed at Austin High, so there is truly a lot of potential for a widespread impact if effort is made.