At the end of last school year, students at Setauket Elementary School were given the opportunity to suggest additions to the school’s Wellness Walk, a series of interactive stations throughout the hallways that provide students with resources to promote their social-emotional health and well-being. Each station offers a coping skill related to improving one’s mood, changing or distracting unhelpful thoughts and increasing relaxation skills. Mr. Gustafson’s fourth graders suggested a new fidget station and the student body agreed, voting it into fruition.

Mr. Gustafson’s fourth graders broke up into committees to create the new fidget station. Some students researched possible fidgets to include, while others contacted the PTA and teachers for donations. Additionally, one group wrote announcements for the school about the new station and how to effectively use the fidgets. Another group studied the building layout for the station’s best location.

During the month of June, students took charge of creating signs to explain the board, organized materials and even created some of the fidgets including balloons filled with flour.

Mr. Gustafson shared that his students, “truly worked together as a team, using the power of small groups to break down a large task into manageable pieces, to create something that they can be very proud of and something that everyone in the school can use to their benefit.”

Setauket Elementary School thanks its school psychologist, Ms. Lambert, and school social workers, Mrs. O’Leary and Mrs. Wilkinson, for coming up with the idea of a Wellness Walk last spring to give students the space and opportunities they need to be successful at school. Additionally, the building thanks its PTA for purchasing the supplies for the new fidget station.

Date Added: 9/21/2023