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Items for yoga and meditation at PAISD
Elementary Social Worker Priscilla Yowman penned text describing the benefits of the new sensory room at Booker T. Washington Elementary, which is designed to be “a supportive therapeutic space to assist students in self-calming efforts by offering an environment of relaxation,” offering a site where students can experience calming visual, auditory and tactile stimuli in a room “furnished and accessorized to provide an area of mindfulness to relieve stress and tension.” Yowman explains that the room’s equipment can be used to calm and focus students; serve as safe place for students to decrease agitation, aggressiveness, irritation, sadness, etc.; and serve as a destination for students to go to prevent teacher “burnout.”
Washington’s sensory room has three major areas: The Yoga Zone; the Relaxation Zone; and the Play Zone.
A trip to the sensory room is recommended for no more than five students per adult and for approximately 15 minutes, or as needed, to achieve intended results. There are set rules and protocols for how staff should use and maintain this room. Staff will receive training before operating. For more information, contact Yowman at Washington Elementary School, (409) 984-8600 or
pyowman@paisd.org.