Help me give my students a safe place to connect at recess with games and arts and crafts.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Perez's classroom raised $395
This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Project
As the only counselor at our school, I serve approximately over 800 students on my caseload. Of those 800, 85% of these students are on the free and reduced lunch program and many live below poverty. The issues that these students face on a daily basis, along with ongoing poverty include; divorce, single and absentee parents, foster care, homelessness, grief, and terminal illness of a loved one. Our students often come to school heavily burdened. These traumatic events interfere with making positive connections with others and the ability to self-regulate behavior. The classroom can become a safe-place for them and positive connections can occur over time. However, during unstructured activity time, such as recess and lunch, these students experience high anxiety and have trouble making and keeping friends.
The Student Lounge can offer a safe, supervised, alternative place to be during recess and lunch.
The student lounge idea has been put in place in a few other elementary schools and it has been shown to be successful. Many students find that the lounge is a place where they can come and feel no pressure to make friends. Their anxiety is decreased as they easily join a group of indoor games and activities with other peers. They do not worry about being alone and isolated on the playground. Once their anxiety is decreased they have the ability to interact positively, learn social skills and begin to self-regulate. The result is that they start to make and maintain positive relationships and ultimately connect to school in a great way!
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Perez and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
