Feeling Comfy

February 16, 2024

Students spend the majority of their day within classrooms. Many take priority in finding comfy ways to help themselves get through the day, such as their outfit. Teachers who wish to give students a comfortable learning environment can bring in elements from their own homes! A classroom often consists of industrial colors that are distracting toward students. By bringing in calm colors, such as muted blues that enhance thinking, neutral greens promote tranquility, and warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) keep students attentive and stimulate participation in the classroom. Colors play a crucial role in how students feel comfortable in the classroom. Presenting these colors on the walls either by painting, wallpaper, or posters helps create a comfortable environment. Furthermore, including these colors in decorations such as plants, rugs, or curtains contributes to the use of bringing the cozy atmosphere of home into the classroom! 

By Shelby Potratz

January 19, 2024

Being comfortable at school is important to success in a student's education. Many classrooms have numerous accommodations to appeal to students' wants and needs. However, one classroom that stands out is Ms. Carsten’s room. She avoids using harsh overhead lighting, which completely changes the atmosphere of a classroom. Her walls are filled with colorful, yet educational posters. Plain white walls are never comforting. She also has her desks facing each other rather than back to back throughout the room. This allows for more clear communication between students. She always has the weekly schedule for every class posted in the back of her classroom, which may relieve some stress from students who will be absent. Her room is very calming and many students often relax in her room before and after school!

By Maddi Gates

November 22, 2023

 School comfort plays a major role in development and academic success.   It's easy to accept the idea that children who attend school feel safe and enjoy themselves are going to have an easier time succeeding than those who don't feel comfortable and safe.  Students who claimed they felt comfortable at school generally performed better than their peers who didn't. Areas they perform better include attendance, assessment outcomes, and adolescent pro-civic behaviors. The learning environments that each teacher creates in their classroom have a great impact on students' ability to learn.  Feeling comfortable is vital to us students and is truly awesome that our teachers here at the North Union High School understand that.  Ms. Stevens, the English teacher for grades 10-12, is a great example of a teacher who contributes to helping students feel comfortable in her classroom.  She goes above and beyond to accommodate her students' comfort needs and has many elements in her room that make it feel very homey.  From a little library to sunflowers, it's just a clean and comfortable space. She also has a cushioned chair in the back of the room that can definitely make you feel more relaxed. The chair not only offers relaxation, but it also gives you another seating option rather than sitting in the same old, hard chair you have already sat in or will sit in for the rest of the school day.  Overall, her room makes you feel safe, and it's easy to concentrate and work feeling that way.  

By Mariah Nock 

Everyone wants to be comfortable at school! Both socially and physically, school is a place where being uncomfortable just ruins the whole experience, and that sucks because you have to be here. Luckily, teachers are very considerate of their student's need for comfort and try to make their rooms the most relaxing places they can while still getting them to do their work. In the High School alone, most rooms are altered for this comfort factor, we will be highlighting these rooms in Feeling Comfy. One major example of this is our At Risk and Academic Interventionist, Jessica Zots! Her room has been described by multiple students, including myself, as being one of the most comfortable rooms to be in! She put tarps over the fluorescent lights to help with eye strain, as well as provide a more comforting calmer light in the room. She also has pushed to get different types of chairs for students, including stools, bean bags, plastic garden chairs, and a new special type of chair. She also offers puzzles for students to complete and has lotion and good-smelling hand sanitizer available for students to use. This is amazingly admirable, her taking so many measures to make sure students feel comfortable and welcome in her room is one of her many, many great qualities! Overall, I think that we, as a student body, should be thankful for teachers like Jess, who are willing to make the school a more comfortable and welcoming place for all of us.
By Isiah McGraw