Chatham, IL (WAND) – Students at Ball Chatham CUSD 5 have a high-tech new way to learn about their emotions and regulate their senses. The Horace Mann Educators Foundation donated interactive panels, which use lights and sounds to help students calm down.

“We kept talking about what was a way that we could provide ongoing support for the students in this community and for the educators,” said Michelle Eccles, public relations manager for The Horace Mann Companies. “We kept coming back to some kind of sensory resources, something that will help students when they’re going through that trauma, that emotion and that stress.”

The panels are installed in each of the schools’ calming rooms. Administrators say that when students start dealing with tough emotions, the sensory technology and calm space help them relax and think before they act.

“Sometimes we have students who come into the office and we ask, ‘Do you want to go to the sensory room?’ and a lot of times the answer is yes,” said Steve Rembusch, principal of Chatham Elementary. “We have the room built into a lot of our kids’ schedules as well, so they will come in with an adult just to kind of unwind.”

Activities like these provide a relaxed moment for administrators and teachers to get to the heart of what is going on with a student, before things get too escalated. It’s a pause district leadership says can provide the switch to proactive care, instead of reactive discipline.

“This room is used for students who are having an emotional event and who need to reset and collect themselves and reflect,” said Becca Lamon, superintendent of Ball-Chatham CUSD 5. “We’ve seen a rise of that in general, across the board, but particularly after last year’s tragedy that more students need an opportunity to be able to calm down.” 

The sensory room also has a small trampoline, toys, balls, a comfortable seating. Rembusch said students often visit the room for five to 10 minutes at a time.