Congratulations to Catherine Eaton at Parkwood Elementary, Stephanie Fox at Pattonville Heights Middle School, and April Rainwater at Holman Middle School for receiving $500 classroom grants from the Missouri Retired Teachers Foundation Region 14.

Eaton will use the money to purchase supplies for amygdala reset stations. “We have been working with students to learn how to calm their bodies using their five senses and this will allow us to purchase items for classrooms in our building.” 

Fox will use the money toward sensory and social skills materials for her functional students. “I have a sensory area that I am creating in my classroom where I plan to teach social skills strategies.”

Rainwater is using the grant money to purchase a virtual reality headset and apps to help students with social emotional needs. “Some of the apps allow students to feel stress, anxiety, elevated heart rate, etc., in a controlled way and then teach the strategies to help manage those feelings. There are also tons of mindfulness apps that go with it. The headset will also help my students who have social skills needs by providing games and experiences that are more comfortable for them to practice on a game platform.”