A Place To Calm Down

SCHOOL TO CREATE CALMING CORNERS

LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Jennifer Weyl, counselor at Prairie Grove Elementary School, displays some sensory items that might be available for students to help calm them down or distract them when they are becoming upset.
LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Jennifer Weyl, counselor at Prairie Grove Elementary School, displays some sensory items that might be available for students to help calm them down or distract them when they are becoming upset.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- Classrooms at Prairie Grove Elementary School will soon have a designated place for students to go to when they need to calm down for a few minutes and pull themselves together.

Jennifer Weyl, elementary counselor, said each classroom will have a "calming corner" with sensory items for children to use to help redirect their minds onto something else. Posters showing different breathing techniques also will be placed as another way for children to calm themselves down.

A timer will be set to give children a specific amount of time in the calming corner.

The goal is for children to calm themselves down so they can return to their seat in the classroom, Weyl said.

The elementary school will use money from a state grant to create the new space for their classrooms.

Prairie Grove schools have been awarded a $10,000 Arkansas AWARE Advancement School Mini Grant. The award is sponsored by the Department of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education Division.

Carmel Perry, the district's school-based health clinic coordinator, said the grant will be used to help bring awareness to mental health and trauma informed practices.

Perry said the middle school will use its money from the grant to bring in speakers for professional development on trauma informed care and conscience discipline to help staff identify and respond to students who are in a mental health crisis.

The high school staff has decided to use its money to purchase T-shirts promoting mental health awareness to wear on Fridays. The front of the shirt may say something along the lines of "You Matter ... A Lot." The back of the shirt will have the suicide prevention hotline, Perry said.

The money also will be used to purchase yard signs to place around campus that have a positive message about mental health. Yard signs may give messages such as "You Matter" or "We Care."

"We want our students to know we care about them," Perry said. "We're here for them and we understand more than they think we do."

Perry noted that children are growing up in a world that's different from when she was a student in school.

"It can be a rough walk," she said.

Weyl said the elementary calming corners may look a little different in each classroom, depending on space and how a room is set up. Some classrooms may use a rug or chair for children to use. She said the space will be dedicated as a calming corner and will have objects set aside for children to use.

Weyl has been a counselor for eight years and she said she's noticed a significant increase in the past two or three years of kids who have a hard time "regulating" themselves.

She has a sensory area in her office and uses it so children can try to redirect themselves and calm down.

"When they calm down, then we talk about why they are in here," Weyl said.

Her sensory objects include items she's picked up at dollar stores, education shops, retail stores and online. They include items similar to a snow globe, many different squishy items, toys that will twist, stress balls, objects with different types of fabric. She also found a soft pillow that a child could hug. Some are fairly expensive. Others cost $1 or less.

Weyl said a teacher may suggest a child go to the calming corner for a few minutes or children can ask to go themselves. The idea is for students to redirect their thoughts, calm down and return to their place in class as soon as possible.

General News on 10/09/2019