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NFA West Unveils Meditation Room
Newburgh Free Academy West Campus unveiled a meditation room for students, faculty, and staff to visit as needed. The space is open each Friday during lunch periods. Scholars can sign up to visit using a Google form, need a pass, and need to arrive on time, so they do not disturb the peaceful setting.
“Last year, the kids kind of came in here to take a moment and decompress on their own, so it’s interesting to see that this became the meditation room,” said teacher Ms. Sherri Hall who helped coordinate the room and is trained in mindfulness.
The room contains multiple stations for students to reflect, contemplate, and relax as needed. Stations include spaces for participants to journal, color, write down their worries and let them go, meditate, and do yoga.
The room is decorated with comfortable seating, low lighting, with peaceful sounds playing.
“The room is part of the restorative justice package that we are including in a package of options that students have when they are feeling overwhelmed or having behavioral issues. We want to give students an opportunity to be reflective instead of reactive. When students are not here, we are not in control of how they reflect. When they’re here we can help facilitate reflection in a more meaningful way,” says Ms. Lakeya Stukes, guidance counselor at NFA West Camps. She continued by discussing the overall experience for scholars. “This room gives students and staff the opportunity to decompress before going into the weekend with hopes of having a more productive weekend. We wanted to make sure that this is part of our scholar’s experience and that it’s a positive one.”
Four 11th grade scholars helped to coordinate the space. Those scholars are: Jazzlynn Pidgeon, Destiny Lloyd, Jasmine Giron-Herrera, and Angela Herrera.
ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!
