The Rise & Shine Healing Room
The Rise & Shine Healing Room Story
Over the last 8 years, Saint John the Baptist school has been moving towards becoming a trauma-informed school. To do so required a paradigm shift at the staff and organizational level, understanding what happened to a child, rather than focusing on the behaviours alone. Trauma-informed approaches represent a holistic approach to shaping organizational culture, practices, and policies to be sensitive to the experiences and needs of traumatized individuals.
Last Spring the school approached us with a very big challenge in their process of becoming a trauma-sensitive school – Create an environment that offers students a safe place to go not only in times of stress but proactively as well. We went to visit the current trauma room they were using and we quickly saw that help was needed to support the school in their journey. The paradigm shift was obvious when talking to staff, but now the physical environment to support, this needed help. Our initial impression of this room was it looked like a typical classroom in a typical school. A bit drab, very institutional feel, uninviting and void of personality.
We knew this room needed to look different than a traditional classroom. We quickly got to work and after many hours, volunteers, sponsors, and teamwork we now are proud to say we have created an environment that is sought after daily. The Rise and Shine Healing Room is an environment that is filled with dimmed lighting, cool-down areas, warm colours, and cozy corners. A space that students feel safe both physically and emotionally, a space that says we care about you- you matter.
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Before
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After
