Welcome to “The Zone”

MT. PLEASANT — School all across Iowa rolled out brand-new therapeutic classrooms for the 2021-22 school year.

According to the Department of Education “’Therapeutic classroom’ means a classroom designed for the purpose of providing support for any student … whose emotional, social, or behavioral needs interfere with the student’s ability to be successful in … the student’s current education environment, with or without supports …”

For Mt. Pleasant Community School District these classrooms look like “Calming Corners” in the elementary schools and “The Zone” classrooms for middle and high school students.

Student family advocate Martha Peterson describes the areas as regulation centers where students can get space, talk with someone, or practice coping strategies so they are able to continue learning.

“We have a small space students can go into to help them get regulated, or they can use the outside space,” high school counselor Ashlei Venghaus said. “Some use the outside space to study as well.”

The Mt. Pleasant Community School District uses the Calming Corners in each classroom of the elementary schools as well as a calming room environment in the counseling offices of each school.

The calming rooms are available to staff to use with students even when counselors are not available.

“The kids feel like [the calming corners] help them,” Harlan and Lincoln Elementary counselor Sara Westercamp said. “They’re not embarrassed to use them and they love them.”

While each calming corner is unique to the classroom teacher, they all keep the idea of being a space for kids to utilize to regulate themselves.

The corners contain timers, log sheets, and calming tools such as manipulatives, motion calming tools, and calming bottles.

According to Westercamp, the Classroom Incentive Grant which funded The Zone and Calming Corners also allowed for funds to be used by schools to obtain four therapy dogs to be used in the therapeutic classrooms.

“Mango is a Standard Gold Doodle,” Westercamp said of the therapy dog at Harlan and Lincoln. “He is 10 months old and has been an amazing partner for me and an effective way to teach children about empathy.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com

The inside area of The Zone in the Mt. Pleasant High School uses ambient light to help students regulate. (Photo Submitted)

The fireplace in the high school’s outside part of The Zone was donated from Hearth and Home. (Photo Submitted)

Karen Conrad’s room boasts of Mt. Pleasant history with part of an old school bus used as a calm down corner. (Photo Submitted)

One corner of school counselor Sara Westercamp’s calming room welcomes students to regulate with soft textures and lighting. (Photo Submitted)

School counselor Sarah Westercamp snuggles with Mango, one of the district therapy dogs. (Photo Submitted)