Student Wellspaces bring tranquility in Ocean View School District
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Extra-soft putty is one of the elements in the new Student WellSpace room at Marine View Middle School in Huntington Beach.
That seems fitting, since students can mold their experience in the room into whatever they like.
Marine View and the Ocean View School District’s other three middle schools — Mesa View and Spring View in Huntington Beach and Vista View in Fountain Valley — will all be rolling out Student WellSpace rooms in the coming weeks through a partnership with the Orange County Dept. of Education.
The Student WellSpaces are designated rooms on each campus with a warm, home-like feel. They are designed to provide a supportive environment and help students with their stress, anxiety and other issues.
Members of the Marine View ASB have been giving tours of the “fish bowl” room, as it will be known, to fellow students and teachers. Principal Sara Schaible said the Marine View Student WellSpace will be open for business next week and can also be used by teachers if necessary.
There is a desk in the corner so an adult can loosely supervise, but other than that students are free to utilize any of the elements available. They can practice yoga, paint, use different sensory items or just snuggle up with a blanket.
“We’ve been explaining it to the kids,” Schaible said. “It’s not like, ‘I want to get out of class because I don’t like this math assignment.’ But we do understand that sometimes we get overwhelmed in the moment, right? The analogy that I gave students is like if I’m on my way to school and I get in a fight with my mom. I’m just in that headspace of, I need a minute. This is that space. They can regroup, recharge, have five, 10 minutes and then be ready to go back to class.”
A sofa, an egg chair in the corner or foldaway cushions provide additional seating. Many of the elements also have QR codes that can be scanned by the supervisor for more information on the benefits provided by that element.
Ocean View School District director of student services Barb Davis said the district is fortunate to have the partnership with the county.
“The county has supported other districts with opening them, but it’s just on the forefront,” Davis said. “They’re just getting going with it.”
OVSD Board of Trustees President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, a teacher in the ABC Unified School District, also sees the benefits for the students. She said many of her own students have returned from being at home during the coronavirus pandemic with the need to occasionally go outside and take a breather.
“Middle school kids sometimes feel hesitant to raise their hand and say, ‘I’m having a day,’ or, ‘I’m having emotional difficulty right now,’” Clayton-Tarvin said. “Being able to say, ‘Can I go to the fish bowl?’ is a true way of saying ‘I need that space’ to an adult, without having to disclose their feelings in front of their peers. I think that’s really key to understand.”
Marine View seventh-grader Jaylen Maroney, one of the ASB students who has been giving tours of the Student WellSpace, said it has been very well-received. Her personal favorite thing to do will be to take some putty and sit in the egg chair. She said she could see herself coming to the room if she gets too stressed out during math class; students can request to go to the WellSpace or be referred by a teacher.
Schaible is excited to have the relaxing space on campus as well.
“As we were giving the student tours, we kind of met with the group outside before we came in,” she said. “Some of the groups have come in excited and with all of this energy. As soon as they walked in, everyone just took a deep breath and was like, ‘Ahh.’ You could just see the calmness wave over them. It was really encouraging to see that, to see the impact that it can make for our kids.”
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