Our school serves the Kindergarten through 5th grade children of Madras, OR. We are a small rural community of approximately 7,000 people and is located 125 miles from Portland, OR. Our town's closest neighbors are Culver and the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.
Our students students come from low-income families.
We serve several children who have one or more parents in jail and are being raised by family members or who are in state custody. Common every-day-struggles are not having enough food, inadequate clothing, lack of proper hygiene, and/or little to no academic support at home.
Despite the fact that there are many challenge, working with these children is a truly heart-warming experience. As the school counselor, I have worked with students who come to me with their personal stories of family drug addiction, parents serving long prison terms, generational poverty, and lack of positive role-models. Because I understand the various themes of my students' narratives, I greet each and every one with a big smile and tell them, "I'm so glad you are here today!" and to continue growing their big, beautiful brains!
My Project
With the support of my AWESOME school principal, I started building a multi-sensory break room, The Oasis, for students who have been diagnosed with sensory processing disorders, ADD/ADHD, or are just needing a 15 minute break or two during the academic day.
Due to COVID-19, the vast majority of my sensory activities are tools that cannot be used by the general public (GAHHH, I ordered 3000 plastic balls a week before the governor shut down schools in March for a ball pit that can't be used right now!).
I am hoping to use the Virtual Reality set-up for calming activities (I'm sure they have a tropical beach or nature walk program in there) and the iPad and headphones for GarageBand (I haven't met a kid who HASN'T liked making music using GB) and just creating all sorts of art on any of the gazillions of art apps.
I am hoping to get these items donated to my school. My students would love the opportunity to have a higher level of technology available to them during their breaks. I would love to have more sensory break tools that are quick to disinfect in between my student customers. Thanks so much for taking a look at my request.
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