Students create sensory room for peers
BHFRN Youth Council creates a safe space for students

TEAMWORK MAKES THEIR DREAM WORK — Justus Clark, center, was among those working on the new sensory and relaxation room at the Bruin Bridge alternative learning center. Assisting her in the painting portion of the project were Amy Neeley, prevention director for the Brooke-Hancock Family Resouce Network, and Alley Panepucci, member of Americorps and art teacher at the school. -- Contributed
WELLSBURG — Once in a while, it isn’t the educators who know what is best for today’s students. Nor is it the state that understands exactly what should be done to better help those in the area of education.
Sometimes, it is the students who realize that there are problems. Sometimes it is the students that are the ones who form an idea for a solution.
Such is the case in Brooke and Hancock counties.
We will begin with Amy Neeley, who serves as the prevention director for the Brooke-Hancock Family Resource Network. The BHFRN is a nonprofit, charitable organization dedicated to reinforcing community partnerships, establishing services where needed and uncovering specific problems in the community, while helping solve those problems.
Neely was notified by the Marshall University School for Excellence that mini grants were being offered for the purpose of youth empowerment projects throughout the state.

A TIME TO RELAX — Brooke County School District Superintendent Jeffery Crook observed the weighted stuffed animals that are spaced throughout the new relaxation and mild sensory room at the Bruin Bridge Center, Brooke County Schools’ alternative learning center, during an open house tour that took place Dec. 16. -- Contributed
Upon hearing there was such an opportunity in the area, she decided to follow up on the idea.
Without hesitation, she reached out to the network’s Youth Council, which consists of youths from Brooke and Hancock counties; and together, they came up with a project they felt was very-much needed in Brooke County.
People serving on the council saw there was a need to incorporate a relaxation and mild sensory room at the Bruin Bridge Center, Brooke County Schools’ alternative learning center. It is part of the Brooke County School District and operated out of the former Wellsburg Middle School.
With a project in mind, Neeley contacted Michael Lewis, principal of the Bruin Bridge alternative learning center.
Her question to Lewis: Would they be willing to partner with the BHFRN?

TAKING A MOMENT — Eighth-grade student Justus Clark, right, enjoyed a moment in the new sensory room she helped to create at Bruin Bridge. Joining Clark during her period of relaxation was student Jonathan Garcia. -- Contributed
Lewis expressed his support for the project, and from there, an application to have the grant awarded to the youth council was submitted to Marshall University. Ultimately, the maximum grant amount was offered, and $7,000 went into the budget of the youth council.
The grant was supplemented by the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley, which ensured the youth council was able to get the training they needed to complete the project and make it become a reality.
Neeley and the council then reached out to the students who attend the Bruin Bridge Center and created a team.
The entire project was led by the youths, who shaped the idea for a relaxation and sensory room and created the rules for it.
As the adult adviser who oversees those on the Youth Council, Neeley explained the only reason she was on site during the construction of the project was to ensure the students kept the group on budget. If she noticed a task or project was going to exceed the cost of the grant, she had the students scale back some of their “great, if not, exactly-feasible ideas,” she noted.

CHILLING — Lead builder Liam Neeley and Dakota Neeley took a break in the Chillville room following its completion in December. Both students are members of the Family Resource Network’s Prevention Department’s Youth Council. -- Contributed
“I was only there to keep them on budget and to make sure all of their ideas were feasible,” she stated.
The students were the ones who came up with the theme. They chose the paint colors, selected all of the furniture for the space they had created and did all of the physical labor that was involved.
The students purchased all of the materials needed to meet their vision. They even came up with the concept of the decorations. From beginning to end, the students did it all themselves.
And they named this newfound, special section of the learning center Chillville.
It was indeed an ambitious project. It took time, patience and teamwork to get the job done.
Those involved even came in during their summer vacation, giving up any free time for themselves to paint the walls, put together the furniture and finalize the room.
The school year was approaching and there was still work to be done for the sake of the learning center’s students, their peers — students they did not even know.
Chillville is a relaxation and mild sensory room for students at the school when they need to take a break during the day.
“This room was created to help students with good mental health practices,” Neeley explained. “Some people wonder why a prevention department is interested in mental health. It is really simple. To build a good home, you start with a good foundation. The same is true for people. If you give kids a foundation of good mental health practices, if you teach them resiliency and good coping skills, they are less likely to turn to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate. If you give them a safe space to grow, they will be reaching the stars before you know it.”
“If someone wants to bully you, they can say horrible things to everyone — all at once — including you, through group texts,” Neeley continued. “They can set up a website on social media dedicated to hurting you. They can reach you 24 hours a day. This happens to adults … and it is horrible. Imagine going through this as a child.”
This particular room was constructed to help students in such situations, allowing them to disconnect for a little while.
If a student needs to take a short break to compose themselves prior to returning to class, the room can be used as a place for them to do just that.
According to Neeley, most of the students need only around 15 to 20 minutes before they are able to return to the classroom, with the room having served its purpose.
Disconnecting can be instrumental in the lives which people lead in today’s society.
“Today, we are constantly being bombarded with information,” Neeley said. “Modern technology is amazing, but it is a lot to handle. We have cell phones with us at all times. We have watches hooked up to the cell phones. We have home computers that are linked to our offices. I personally have my office phone, my e-mail and my work calendar all linked to my mobile phone, and it is hard to stop myself from checking it all of the time. It is hard to disconnect and just be in the present.”
Once the project was complete, students asked the community to come and help them celebrate the accomplishment by holding an open house.
The Chillville open house took place Dec. 16 at the Bridge Building, located at 1447 Main St. in Wellsburg. The room is situated on the third floor of the structure.
Those attending the tour were able to see how it will serve as a place in which students are able to remove themselves from any harassment or verbal abuse that might be going on in their lives.
It’s a safe space, so to speak.
The room can be used for other purposes, including art therapy.
It also can be used by school counselors whenever they come to meet with students.
It offers paint pens, affording students the opportunity to draw, sign their names or create a piece of art on the walls.
As long as what is drawn is not inappropriate, they are permitted to utilize their imagination and create what they would like.
By allowing them the chance to do so, the youths can take on actual ownership of the room, making it feel as if it is truly theirs.
It also helps them to feel as if they are a part of the school … and that gives them a sense of what it means to be in a space that is permanent — something they will need to have once they have moved on and into the world following the completion of their education.
The room encompasses a variety of items which are beneficial to the emotional support these students need.
Within the space is a free journal station. This area allows students to take a journal or sketch book, along with a box of colored pencils, and write or create art within the pages.
Neeley stated this is a healthy way in which they are able to express their emotions and get their mental health in-check.
“It is very popular with students today,” Neeley said.
The space also offers a neutral place in which the staff and students can meet to talk out a problem privately, Neeley added.
Chillville includes a lending library that contains board games, as well.
Students are permitted to borrow a game from the library and take it home with them to play with their families.
Neeley noted the board games are a good example of assisting in one’s mental health.
“They give families a chance to bond with one another, and they show our youth ways to get together and have fun without having to use drugs or alcohol,” she said.
The room offers aroma therapy and comfortable places to relax. Among the offerings are a rocking chair, futon and bean bag chairs. There are throw blankets in which students can cover up. The room offers weighted stuffed animals as a means to help calm anyone who is suffering from anxiety or who is becoming stressed and in need of regulating their composure.
The project’s lead youth designer, Justus Clark, explained when a person hugs one of the over-sized plush toys, it “feels as if they are getting a big hug.”
Since the room opened, teachers have shared with Neeley their thoughts on the project.
She explained the teachers have expressed there has been “a real decline in students having to go to the principal’s office.”
Or, in extreme circumstances, having to leave school for the day because they were not capable of composing themselves enough to get back on track and return to the classroom for the remainder of the day.
“I know some people will say, ‘They never had this when I was in school,'” Neeley exclaimed. “And they didn’t have this when I was growing up in the 1980s, either. But the world is different today than it was back then.”
“I think that every school and every workplace should have something like this,” Neeley stressed. “Some of the teachers at the school said they will use the room while the students are at lunch to take a quiet break for themselves. In fact, the youth took the staff into consideration when creating the rules and included time set aside for them, as well.”
“These young people are amazing and so dedicated to helping their community,” Neeley said of the Youth Council. “I do not call them our future leaders because they are leading the way right here and right now. They have insights into the needs and gaps in service for their peers. They can work with their fellow youth on a peer-to-peer level. And that is not something any adult can re-create.”
- TEAMWORK MAKES THEIR DREAM WORK — Justus Clark, center, was among those working on the new sensory and relaxation room at the Bruin Bridge alternative learning center. Assisting her in the painting portion of the project were Amy Neeley, prevention director for the Brooke-Hancock Family Resouce Network, and Alley Panepucci, member of Americorps and art teacher at the school. — Contributed
- A TIME TO RELAX — Brooke County School District Superintendent Jeffery Crook observed the weighted stuffed animals that are spaced throughout the new relaxation and mild sensory room at the Bruin Bridge Center, Brooke County Schools’ alternative learning center, during an open house tour that took place Dec. 16. — Contributed
- TAKING A MOMENT — Eighth-grade student Justus Clark, right, enjoyed a moment in the new sensory room she helped to create at Bruin Bridge. Joining Clark during her period of relaxation was student Jonathan Garcia. — Contributed
- CHILLING — Lead builder Liam Neeley and Dakota Neeley took a break in the Chillville room following its completion in December. Both students are members of the Family Resource Network’s Prevention Department’s Youth Council. — Contributed