FAME creates female safe haven through bathroom decorating

Embellishing the locker room and bathroom with positive messages, Females Achieving and Maintaining Excellence (FAME) provides girls with needed supplies in a show of support for a comfortable school environment.

The plan was set in motion after English teacher and sponsor Omari Daniel and the members of FAME voiced their desires to improve the elegance of the girls’ bathrooms. “After #blaketoo, the next thing [the members] said was, ‘The bathrooms are disgusting,’ so I said, ‘Let’s do something about it,’” Dr. Daniel says.

Through bathroom decorating, the FAME members seek to create a place where girls feel safe, comfortable, recognized, and appreciated. Senior Nancy Edusei says, “We just want to make people feel happy and not feel like it’s a burden to go into the locker room and bathroom.”

“I hope to inspire them to let them know they’re beautiful and to share their story because they too can inspire others,” adds Freshman Wendy Agbor Ndip

After brainstorming decoration ideas, members started collecting donations and buying supplies like scented soaps, lotions, deodorants, and hand sanitizers. “I went out and bought the toilet seat cover dispenser and a bunch of the toilet seat covers,” says Dr. Daniel. “I said I’m ready when you are [to] design your bathroom.”

They came up with two committees: the Plush Bathroom and the Locker Room committees. Both committees are responsible for the upkeep of their bathrooms. “We just did the locker room and the main girls bathroom by the entrance near the girl’s cafeteria,” says Senior Ruby Brayton. “Those get a lot of attention throughout the day.”

After the renovations, they noticed students have been more inclined to use the decorated bathrooms. “A lot of girls have started to go there more often…now everyone uses the bathroom,” says Junior Balbina Njankenji.

With this project, FAME ultimately strives to create a familiar environment for girls where they feel comfortable to talk about any situation or problem. “You know if you ever have a problem, you come to the room with the FAME on the wall,” says Dr. Daniel. “You’re going to be listened to.”

“We thought we could…make girls feel good about themselves and to give them a good day to remember,” Brayton adds.  

They hope to extend the project to other organizations in the school through the adoption of bathrooms. “We were seeing if it’ll take off and see if other organizations would like to sponsor a bathroom,” says Dr. Daniel. “FAME would like to challenge every other organization in this school to adopt a bathroom.”