OAKWOOD SCHOOL
Oakwood School was founded in 1951 by parents who wanted to provide their children with an educational experience that was rich in the arts, sciences, and humanities and challenging to their creative, intellectual, and physical capacities. They wanted a learning community which would foster independence of thought, intellectual integrity, sensitivity to the needs of others, and prepare students for participation in a democratic society.
Oakwood remains committed to the founders’ goals. We believe that a school environment should foster individual growth and an active communal life, should hold intellectual attainment in high regard, and should encourage young people to exercise increasing autonomy and responsibility—for one another, for the environment, and for the larger world.
Oakwood remains committed to the founders’ goals. We believe that a school environment should foster individual growth and an active communal life, should hold intellectual attainment in high regard, and should encourage young people to exercise increasing autonomy and responsibility—for one another, for the environment, and for the larger world.
THE PAD PROJECT
The Pad Project was started in 2013 by a youth-driven community of students and educators at Oakwood School committed to the principle that “a period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.” What began as a documentary film project highlighting a single village has expanded to an organization with global reach. In 2019, The Pad Project’s documentary film, Period. End of Sentence., won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, and since then, The Pad Project has continued to grow.
The Pad Project‘s vision is to “end menstrual stigma, period.” The Pad Project has placed 12 pad-making machines in 5 countries, supported 8 washable pad-making programs in 7 countries, and funded 2 menstrual cup programs in 2 countries. To combat period poverty in the U.S., The Pad Project supports 4 grant-giving programs and 1 menstrual product distribution program. The Pad Project has partnered with 45+ nonprofits, schools, school districts, and individuals to help provide free menstrual products to those in need. The Pad Project’s Ambassador Program unites hundreds of volunteer activists around the world who are ready to break the stigma around menstruation. Thanks to The Pad Project’s Oakwood Ambassadors for helping plan the inaugural Summit.
THE OXFORD CONSORTIUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
The Oxford Consortium for Human Rights inspires a new generation of students into action for human rights. The Consortium is a collaboration between Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford and 20 universities and community colleges in the US, Korea and Brazil. It has also always worked closely with staff and students at Oakwood School. Oxford Consortium hosts regular one-week human rights workshops in Oxford, California and Connecticut building a new community of young leaders who work collaboratively with their peers, and with leading scholars and practitioners of human rights, to understand the challenges of human rights practice, learn the tools of community action, and leave empowered to make a change in their own communities. Many of these students come from low income and first-generation US families. Founded in 2012, the Oxford Consortium has included over 1200 students in its workshops to date, many of whom have gone on to make significant contributions to human rights locally, nationally and internationally.
