Help me give my students furniture for a zen zone, which will be a safe space to calm down, talk about their feelings and work on developing coping skills to be successful in life.
My students are some of the most vulnerable in the school and are looking for a place to feel safe, secure and heard. They often come to me needing social/emotional support and are struggling to deal with the stress in their life. Some are dealing with chronic stress while others may be in a crisis situation looking for someone to help them get through one of the most challenging times in their life. A safe place for them to calm down, talk and develop coping strategies to manage their feelings is crucial to their success not just in school but in life.
Students come to me looking for help.
They need help to calm down, help to identify what they are feeling and help to cope with those feelings. Sometimes the students just need somewhere to escape to, to take a couple of breaths and regroup. They need to feel safe, heard and believed. They need someone to listen to, someone to trust and someone to help them learn to manage their own lives.
My Project
Having a safe space to talk about and process their feelings is crucial to my students. They need to feel safe, secure and comfortable so they can manage their feelings and develop coping strategies to be successful in life.
Many of my students struggle to manage their feelings and behavior and as a result struggle academically.
They are easily overwhelmed and have not yet developed positive coping strategies to manage all the environmental stress they have to deal with at their young age. They often need assistance in understanding their own mental health and how to properly manage it so they can focus and be productive.
In our Zen Zone, we would like to have multiple areas to focus and target different needs so we can work on goals. We will have a conversation area set up like a living room to encourage students to engage in positive social exchanges and develop social skills. This will also provide a calm place to relax for students in crisis. We will have an arts and crafts area to do art therapy activities. The main area of the room will be a large conference table in front of a whiteboard. This is where we conduct educational sessions and work as a group on cognitive-behavioral techniques. A yoga/meditation corner will provide students the opportunity to practice mindfulness as a strategy to manage their own health. An office area with desks, file cabinets and shelves will help keep us and our materials organized. Finally, there will also be a music corner where we already have a piano and will be adding other calming musical instruments.
More than half 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. Clancy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
