What is the promoting active wellness space?

You may be wondering what lies behind the door in room 245 in the main hallway upstairs. For anyone who doesn’t know, room 245 is the PAWS room: Promoting Academic Wellness Space. It serves the same purpose as the old APR room did; it has just been renovated and moved. The administration, along with the help of the school’s psychologist Ms. Emily Batten – who facilitated the set-up and layout – has created a space for students to go to for multiple reasons.

A student can go there if they want to finish up class work, need a quiet space, or to take a wellness-based break. If a student starts to feel overwhelmed and wants to go somewhere that can be a little more soothing and calming, the PAWS room is the perfect spot. There are fidgets and coloring supplies that can help ease someone who just needs a little break.

You may have noticed teachers switching out in the cafeteria; it’s the same idea as the PAWS room. Teachers in the building will be rotating in the PAWS room. Sometimes it may be the substitutes or the everyday teachers. Worst case scenario, if a teacher is unable to be in there, the door will be shut.

Ms. Batten says, “Hopefully people don’t just see the shut door and feel like there’s nothing else they can do.” If the door is shut that doesn’t mean there aren’t other places you can go. Students can go to the main office to explain how they wanted to go to the PAWS room, but it’s locked, and they may be able to go the counseling office or library.

With the new passes, a student could walk up to the teacher, or raise their hand if they’re comfortable, and ask to use the PAWS room for whatever reason the student has. The hope, after being in the room for about 5-10 minutes, is that the student can return to class and be ready to learn and complete work.

Ms. Batten hopes that “it can be a space that everyone realizes exists and can hopefully utilize as a learning strategy, whether it’s to regulate your mood or your responses to different things or if it’s just a different work environment that students need.”

Ms. Batten concludes that the PAWS room can help kids learn strategies to use in another class. “Even if it’s not using the PAWS room, maybe you’re in a world language class and you want to use a strategy from PAWS room,” she explains.