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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2018)
December 7, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A ‘The Cove’ offers students calming space A place for students to get back on track By Katherine Lacaze For Seaside Signal Broadway Middle School has an introduced a new pro- gram to help students, par- ticularly those whose history involves trauma, acquire the tools for identifying and reg- ulating emotional extremes to promote their overall wellness and academic success. Counselor Natalie Dyroff and assistant principal Steve Sherren gave a presentation on the middle school’s recent- ly established calming room, which the students chose to call The Cove, during the Sea- side School Board’s regular meeting Nov. 20. The space — similar to ones incorporated at The Heights Elementary School and Gear- KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL Broadway Middle School Steve Sherren, educational assis- tant Amber McCanna and counselor Natalie Dyroff are the driving force behind the school’s new calming room, called The Cove. hart Elementary School in 2017-18—is set up with vari- ous stations and activities for students who need to take a 10- to 13-minute break and re- focus themselves. The middle school team, which includes educational assistant Amber McCanna, developed on the program implemented at the elementary schools as part of the districtwide embrace of trauma-informed care practic- es. They worked to tailor the middle school space for the older students and began roll- ing out the program in early November, wanting to ensure they had “the correct processes in place,” Sherren said. Among the different grade levels there is common lan- guage regarding four “zones” of self-identification. Students are in the blue zone when they feel sad, sick, tired, or bored, and they are in the yellow zone when they feel frustrated, wor- ried, or wiggly. The goal is to help them return to the green zone, where they feel calm, happy, focused, and/or ready to learn. The calming room is not designed for students who are in the red zone and expe- riencing extreme emotions that limit their ability to learn strategies for self-regulating. When students reach that lev- el, the primary goal is de-esca- lation. When students go to The Cove, either by election or at the direction of a teacher, they identify the zone they are in and select the station at which they would like to spend time. There are stations for move- ment, art, sensory stimula- tion, fidgeting, relaxation, and playing brain games. Based on what the student is feeling or how they are struggling, Mc- Canna gives them suggestions on which station might be helpful but ultimately allows them to choose. After their session in The Cove, the students once again self-identify what zone they are in. The educators also engage the students in a dis- cussion about what similar strategies they could employ on their own at home or in the classroom without being a dis- ruption, Dyroff said. Although they were con- cerned at first the calming room would be used merely as a way for the students to get out of class, the results so far show otherwise. “They don’t try to manipu- late the system,” Dyroff said. “It’s well-respected.” Eventually, the administra- tion plans to put small spaces in each room that emulate the calming room, often called peace corners, where students can move to for a few minutes to “go reset,” Sherren said. In other news: • The board accepted a gift offer from Rack Room Shoes of $7,740.43 worth of shoes for elementary students. The administration takes recom- mendations from teachers about which students are in need and then purchases the shoes and distributes them. • The board approved a request from the nonprofit or- ganization Council on Interna- tional Educational Exchange to place exchange students at Seaside High School. The dis- trict has established guidelines for whether they agree to work with an exchange organization that include the organization is a nonprofit; has local represen- tation or coordination; requires J-1 visas from students; and is approved under the Council on Standards for International Ed- ucational Travel. CIEE meets these guidelines. Broadway Middle School students advance in tech contest Students are state finalists in nationwide competition Seaside Signal SAMSUNG Broadway Middle School is one of five schools in the state to advance in a nationwide sci- ence, technology, engineering and mathematics competition sponsored by Samsung. Eighth-grade social studies teacher Jeremy Hirsch submit- ted the project idea on behalf of the school. In the months ahead, Hirsch and his students will work on a project to address congestion of traffic during tsunami evac- uations by working with local agencies to identify multiple evacuation routes as well as ways to inform the community about evacuation procedures. Out of thousands of schools that entered the con- test, the 250 state finalist Broadway Middle School stu- dents are among those vying for success in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” competition. classrooms — five from each state — were chosen based on their creative and strategic proposals to solve compli- cated issues that affect their communities by using STEM learning. All 250 teachers se- lected as state finalists will receive one tablet for their classrooms and have the op- portunity to advance through future phases of the contest to win additional prizes and edu- cational opportunities. The state finalist schools were chosen based on their creative and strategic propos- als to solve complicated issues that affect their communities by using STEM learning. Along with Broadway Mid- dle School, the Seaside School District is joined by Yoncalla High School, Yoncalla; Waldo Middle School, Salem; South Salem Senior High, Salem; George Middle School, Portland State winners will be select- ed to submit a video of their project in action. For achiev- ing state winner status, 40 of those schools will receive a $20,000 Samsung technology package, including a Samsung video kit to produce their vid- eo. The other 10 will progress as a national finalist Ten national finalists will be selected to attend a pitch event where they will pres- ent their project to a panel of judges. For achieving national finalist status, seven schools will receive a $50,000 Sam- sung technology package. The other three will progress to the national winner stage. Three national winners will be selected, and each will re- ceive $100,000 in classroom Samsung technology and sup- plies. With $2 million in tech- nology on the line, the state finalists will submit a lesson plan detailing how students will execute the proposed STEM project and how it ad- dresses the identified commu- nity issue. off 20 Select % Signature Series Need help getting health insurance by the Dec. 15 deadline? GET FREE LOCAL HELP! www.OregonHealthCare.gov | 1-855-268-3767 1139 Exchange Street Astoria, OR 97103 503-440-3909 duganins.com
