Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Prior to completing this application, you must review your ideas with your building
Principal. Please submit grant application to Jeri Page, Administration Building or via
e-mail pagej@westottawa.net Deadline for fall grant cycle is 10/17/17
Proposal
The purpose of our proposal is to gather materials to create a Peaceful Place in every
interested classroom at Pine Creek Elementary School. This designated “peaceful” area
can give students the opportunity to take a quick break from learning to regain control
over their emotions. Materials such as, books, galaxy bottles, fidgets, and calming
strategy cards can positively impact student emotions and stressors. This proposal will
affect 100% of students at Pine Creek because all classroom and several specialist
teachers responded to a survey showing their support for implementation.
Yes, our proposal has received support from our Building Principal, Krista Visser. On
September 14, 2017, Krista said, "In a classroom of 30 students there will often be 15-20
students that have experienced some kind of trauma. Students cannot learn until they
feel safe and learn how to regulate their feelings/emotions. I am in full support of
trauma informed classrooms. Having a calming station/peaceful place for any student
to use when needed gives both the student and the rest of the classroom what is needed
to continue learning safely."
3. What is your plan for program/project implementation? Include actual
procedures, methods and timing factors.
Our plan is to prepare all materials for the 24 interested educators at Pine Creek
Elementary. Material preparation will include, ordering materials, printing and
laminating “Take a Break” strategy cards, and equally distributing materials to each
interested teacher.
Also, all educators need to be well informed of the research behind the Peaceful Place.
We plan to present our findings to the interested educators and discuss an appropriate
way to implement this area into the daily classroom routine.
The goal is to have materials prepared, distributed, and implemented to all interested
educators by January 30, 2018.
4. How and when will you evaluate the effectiveness of your program/project?
The effectiveness of the project can be measured by tracking the improvements of the
SWIS Behavior Plans and all other individualized classroom behavior management
systems as measured by a survey. An evaluation of the program’s effectiveness will be
made in April 2018.
6. If your application is partially funded or not funded at all by the WOEF, what
would the impact be on your program/project?
The student population at Pine Creek Elementary has daily obstacles to overcome
related to their own personal emotions. Many students come to school each day with
heightened emotions and stressors. Oftentimes our students do not have the ability to
self-regulate these feelings. The Peaceful Place can give students the time to reflect and
release their stress so that optimum learning can take place. The classrooms at Pine
Creek Elementary will be negatively impacted if this program is not fully funded by the
WOEF.
7. Please include any additional information/research which might assist the grant
selection committee in making a decision.
Research Findings
Elementary students come to school with a lot of emotions. There are concerns
about tests, friendships, teachers, homework, and more. Add to that students who have
experienced trauma, and the emotional climate in a classroom intensifies. According to
the Treatment and Services Adaptation Center, the “National Survey of Children’s
Exposure to Violence found that over 60% of children surveyed experienced some form
of trauma, crime, or abuse in the prior year, with some experiencing multiple traumas.”1
Students with a background of trauma are the majority. When they come to school,
students have to be able to put aside their concerns to focus on learning, but many
students are not equipped to handle such emotions and stressors.
A designated “peaceful place” in every classroom will set students up for success
emotionally and academically. Assistant Principal Ryan Wheeler says, “Expecting
children to do sustained work in assigned seats is not always going to get the best
results. For this reason, instituting an area of respite, or a Quiet Zone, can help improve
student engagement.”2 Not only will students struggling to overcome symptoms of
trauma benefit from a peaceful place, but all students will have the opportunity to build
self-regulation skills and increase their engagement in learning.
Students with a trauma history are more likely to struggle with self-regulation
physiologically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially. “When neglect, abuse, and
trauma rob children of the security of a loving relationship with an invested caregiver,
the capacity to self-regulate is also undermined,”3 says Barbara Sorrels, author or
Reaching and Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma. The symptoms of trauma can
inhibit learning as well as lead to behaviors that are challenging for teachers, such as
1
Treatment and Services Adaptation Center, https://traumaawareschools.org
2
Wheeler, Ryan. “Entering the Quiet Zone.” May 16, 2017.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/entering-quiet-zone-ryan-wheeler
3
Sorrels, Barbara. Reaching and Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma, 2015. Page 101
sensory overstimulation, emotional meltdowns, lack of impulse control, withdrawal from
activities, and lack of social skills which causes difficulty making friends.
Each tool and resource included in a peaceful place serves an intentional
purpose in helping students regulate their emotions. Sorrels states, “The capacity to
appropriately manage strong emotion begins with the ability to identify and name
emotions. If a child can name it, she can more likely control it.”4 Tools such as picture
books, emotion/feelings charts, and mirrors give students visual, tangible ways to
identify their emotions as well as provide them with language for reflecting on their
feelings. A set of strategies on a ring will give students opportunities to choose a way to
manage their feelings appropriately. Other items, such as pinwheels, fidgets, galaxy
bottles, and stress balls, help create a physical release of emotional turmoil in a way
that is safe.
A cozy place to sit with tissues, hearing protectors, and reflection charts makes
the peaceful place a positive choice to tune out distractions for a few moments in order
to re-center and get back to the business of learning. Sand timers hold students
accountable in remembering that while it is acceptable to feel these emotions, we don’t
stay in those moments long, but rather find ways to handle the emotions and move on.
This comfortable, inviting space builds self-regulation as it draws students in by choice,
helps them identify their strong emotions, and gives them a place to manage emotions
without fear of punishment, shame, or embarrassment. As Sorrels states, “Children
should never be punished or shamed for feeling strong emotion -- even negative ones.”5
Educators understand the importance of making classrooms a safe and
comfortable learning environment for all. Creating trauma-informed classrooms is
essential to providing a safe space for all students. Teachers can do this by
implementing a “peaceful place” for students to regain control and practice
self-regulation. Supporting classroom teachers with the necessary tools to help create
spaces for children to examine their emotions and work through regaining control will
lead to increased student learning.
4
Sorrels, Barbara. Reaching and Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma, 2015. Page 113-114
5
Sorrels, Barbara. Reaching and Teaching Children Exposed to Trauma, 2015. Page 115