THE OEI BULLETIN

This March, Porter’s is celebrating Women’s History Month and Disability Awareness Month. Women’s History Month is focused on learning about and uplifting influential and powerful women. Disability Awareness Month is about raising awareness of employment needs and contributions made by individuals with all types of disabilities. In this edition of the OEI Bulletin, we have articles about disabled women in art, Frida Kahlo, Ava DuVernay, and Alice Guy-Blanché. We also have a piece from guest writer, Jackie Murray. We hope you enjoy reading it!

Women on the Job Site

By Jackie Murray - Guest Writer

When people think of my job title, most people think about fabric, paint colors, and art. While that is definitely a large part of what I do, there is so much more to uncover. Over the past two years that I have been at Miss Porter’s School I have worked on many projects. Humphrey, Colony, New Place, Lathrop,and Keep dorm renovations, just to name a few. These projects have all been uniquely different but very similar at the same time. One unifying factor is that I am typically the only woman on the job site.

Construction is a male dominated industry, there is no disputing that. My role as Director of Campus Planning and Design requires me to be on job sites, and oftentimes give direction and feedback, sometimes critical. During the summer of 2022 I was working on Colony and Humphrey, and was also in my third trimester of pregnancy with my daughter, Kennedy. It’s one thing to walk onto a construction site as the only woman in the room, but it’s another to walk onto the job site with a baby bump. The first day was hard. I didn’t feel confident and I was tired. But then I remembered something that has stuck with me to this day. I love what I do, and I deserve to be here. I came back the next day with a newfound sense of confidence that I carried with me throughout the summer. By the end of the summer, the projects were complete, and Kennedy was born on Labor Day, ironically.

I came back to Porter’s in November, ready to jump back in where I left off. But something was different about me now. I was now a girl mom. I looked at projects differently, because I had a new perspective. Having Kennedy allowed me to look at my campus projects through a new lens. Over the following months Miss Porter’s installed a self sanitizing baby changing station (Pluie) in Main and we switched our menstrual products provider to Aunt Flow. These changes may seem small in scale, but they add up to something much larger. When a new parent walks into Main now, exhausted, overwhelmed, with a crying baby, they know that they have a clean and safe place to change their child. Both Aunt Flow and Pluie believe that families and everyone who menstruates, deserve access to high quality, affordable products. Pluie is a woman owned company, owned and operated by an MPS Ancient, Addie Gundry. Aunt Flow is also founded and run by a woman, Claire Coder, who at 26 years old has run several successful businesses.

Lastly, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do if it wasn’t for access to high quality, affordable, childcare. As a Miss Porter’s School employee, I am able to send Kennedy to Schoolhouse, our campus daycare. Before I accepted my position here, my husband and I were touring local daycare centers, trying to find a place to send our daughter. Daycare is expensive. There is no sugar coating this fact. When I accepted the position at Porter’s, I learned about Schoolhouse. Employees pay for Schoolhouse, but it is significantly less expensive than other Farmington daycares. Throughout the United States many women struggle to find affordable, quality childcare, and oftentimes their careers get put on pause. Being a stay at home mom is a job, and a hard job at that. However, I believe that it is important for women to have a choice in the matter. I love my job and I love my daughter. I am grateful to have access to childcare that allows me to continue working on the projects that I love.

As we progress into the spring trimester, the excitement of the coming summer is starting to set in. We are starting to plan for summer projects and have students and their needs at the forefront of our minds. My goal for this summer’s projects is to make both my daughter and the students proud. Construction may be a male dominated industry, but that’s no reason for girls not to show up at the table. I am incredibly lucky to work at a place that encourages me to be on site and speak my mind. I have supportive, hard working coworkers, and a newfound confidence when working on construction projects. Please use me as a resource if anyone has any interest in the construction or design field. I would love to answer any questions!