My Pre-Kindergarten students attend a rural school in Tennessee, nestled in the foothills of the Cherokee National Forest and the Smoky Mountains. It is a Title I school, and over 70% of students come from disadvantaged socioeconomic homes and qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. This classroom is a Blended Preschool serving a population of students with special needs alongside their typical peers in Monroe County, TN.
I want my students to enjoy learning and remember school as a welcoming, positive experience that helped shape their positive outlooks on life.
Many of these students do not receive any environmental enrichment outside of our school doors. My goal is to make learning as creative and engaging as I can in order for these students to be knowledgeable and prepared for the next chapter of their lives.
My Project
This project is the large, but I assure you that these items will not only reach the students in my classroom, but all students in our school receiving Exceptional Education services- as well as any future students that come through our school doors that could benefit from this sensory room. Receiving a projector will help create a calming atmosphere by providing visual stimuli to help students self-regulate. A bubble tube and LED rope lights will give students another area to calm themselves by providing visual and tactile stimuli for when frustration levels are high.
Our current sensory room has remnants of what a past teacher and her husband originally created for the room themselves: a bubble tube, steps, sensory boxes, and a sensory wall item- ALL of which are now broken or no longer work.
Our students have a diverse set of needs, but many of them get overstimulated throughout the school day. What does that look like? Students who become overstimulated and/or are unable to communicate age-appropriately can exhibit maladaptive behaviors such as self-harm, harm to others, breaking objects, tantrums, or may elope (run away). It is crucial that students have access to a safe, calming area where they can learn to self-regulate without harming themselves or others. These items could benefit our students immensely if we were able to receive them.
I know that this project is financially huge. However, bundling these items was cheaper than creating separate projects for each of the items. I truly believe that these items will help our students. Please consider helping my students receive these items!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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 Ms. Parker and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.