SALEM, Ore. — Kids and teens are dealing with a lot as they continue to adjust to full-time, in-person learning at school. This year at South Salem High School, there's a new addition to help students deal with their anxiety and stress.
One of the school’s classrooms has been converted into a new space for students. It’s called a "calm room" and it's a student-led effort that started before the pandemic.
“This is a space that's been designated by our administrative team for students to come and find a place of peace, find a place of restoration and spend 15 to 20, maybe 30 minutes here and then return back to class,” said Ryan Marshall, a school counselor at South Salem High School. Marshall also happens to be Oregon’s School Counselor of the Year.
Students decide for themselves at any point in the day if they need to go to the room to relax. 10th grader Sid Derosia said while in-person school is better than being online, this year has been tough on a lot of students.
“Having just a space to come and be quiet for like 20 minutes or so and then go back to class is really helpful,” Derosia said.
The calm room is staffed at all times and is stocked with things conducive to relaxation.
“We've got fidget spinners, we've got […] beanbag chairs, the rocking chairs, games, puzzles, homework space if they just need that,” said Marshall. “We've got it all.”
Marshall also pointed out an encouragement board with positive messages from other students attached to it.
The calm room has come together thanks to about $4,000 in grants and a couple thousand more in donations.
Meantime at Beaverton High School, a similar space opened up this year. It's called the Wellness Lab, and it’s located in the high school's brand new wellness center.
“They're really serving the kids all day long. There's people in and out of there all day long for the students, so it's a really good thing that we have it,” said Mary Bengel, an educator at Beaverton High School.
In recent years, Bengel began teaching courses on mindfulness and meditation. She said her classes are full and give students a chance to breathe and relax.
“The room has got low lighting. We have lovely little lamps and string lights around the room. Everyone sits on a folded yoga mat on top of the meditation cushion,” Bengel said.
She said the goal is to help students remember who they are and instill a sense of self worth and confidence. Bengel agreed with what other educators have observed and said there is a lot of need this year. The result is students have shown more interest in the class.
“We have more students than we could serve,” Bengel said. "It gives them tools to better understand their stress and anxiety and also to benefit them in terms of how they communicate with each other and support each other. It goes beyond school.”
Hilda Guiao is a mindfulness teacher and program coordinator for Peace in Schools, a nonprofit that for years has headed up similar mindfulness classes at a number of public high schools in Portland.
“Peace in Schools was the first nonprofit to bring mindfulness as an elective class to Portland Public Schools in 2014. So yeah, we're the first in the country to offer a mindfulness elective class for credit,” said Guiao.
They said in addition to more student interest, the nonprofit is working with the district to offer a burnout course for educators in the next couple of months.
Like other teachers, they’ve noticed students are much more stressed than previous years.
“In the eight years I’ve been a teacher, I've never seen this many students overwhelmed, stressed, depressed, genuinely,” Guiao said.
That's why educators and students say calm rooms and other efforts are essential for students' mental health and well-being.
Marshall said the next project at South Salem High School is to try to make a similar calm room for staff. He said there are also discussions underway to figure out ways to put calm rooms in other high schools.