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This teacher needs your help!

Ms. Worthy from Dorchester, MA is requesting sports & exercise equipment through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.

See what Ms. Worthy is requesting
Student-led project

Fantastic Functional Focus Room

We need a wide variety of sensory tools to support management of overwhelming emotions and to support physiological regulation.

  • $565 goal

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Hooray! This project is fully funded

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Worthy for her next project!

Help Ms. Worthy

Keep the momentum going! Make a donation to Ms. Worthy for her next project!

About My Students

The students working on this project are focused on incorporating social emotional learning and strategies for managing high stress situations in school. Many of the students are learning to live with and manage symptoms of mental health diagnoses that at times can interfere with their abilities to participate and access education. These students are incredibly resilient and have been exposed to a number of adverse experiences in their lives.

This project will serve to help students learn ways to manage and tolerate intense emotional experiences through the use of clinical self-regulation tools. Students will self-identify tools (such as stress balls, weighted blankets, etc.) that successfully help them regulate their physiological experiences, stay safe and be successful in class.

Through use the sensory integration/regulation tools, students will learn to self-soothe and stay safe within the school and classroom. This will in turn allow students to access their education more successfully and learn to cope with overwhelming stress and emotions in the future to go on and lead productive healthy lives. Learning to self-regulate their physiological responses to triggers will also allow the students to build healthier peer and adult relationships, create more empathy towards others and problem-solve in school and in other life domains.

In Their Own Words

Having more tools or things to use in the focus room when we are upset will help us get better grades and be nicer to others. The tools (like stress balls and weighted blankets) will help us release our anger so we aren't filled with so much negative energy. I would like to use things like resistance bands because sometimes I feel like punching a wall and using a resistance band instead to release energy is safer and a better choice.

When I am really tired and can't focus in class I need to go to the focus room to use the tools to wake my body up. If my body isn't awake then I miss assignments in class and I will get bad grades.

A lot of times other people tell us what to do when we are upset. If there are things in the focus room that we are helping to pick out then we will want to use them more. Having a lot of options is also good because sometimes I don't know what I need and I want to try different things to release my anger and not get so mad at people.

If we are in charge of setting up the room, then hopefully students would treat the space better and not write bad words on the wall.

If we have more tools to use in the focus room, we will want to work harder to be safe and to learn the "zones of regulation." Sometimes when I need a break from class I have to go to the focus room and just sit in a chair and do nothing. This doesn't help me calm down usually and I'm mad that I have to be in there.

A lot of the kids in our classes have problems with anger and listening to teachers. We will use this project to be better about calming down and releasing our anger in different ways.

Ms. Worthy Techboston Academy Grades 6-8

Celebrate Black teachers and kids! This project supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of students are Black.

Equity Focus

At this school, more than 50% of students are Black, Latino, and/or Native American, and more than 50% come from low-income households. Learn how your donation to this school supports a more equitable education.

This project will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

More about Ms. Worthy

Dorchester, MA View local requests

More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

30 students impacted 8donors

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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Ms. Worthy is requesting.

See our finances

Where Your Donation Goes

Where your donation goes
Materials Cost Quantity Total
Tactile Discs Set 1 • Nasco $85.25 1 $85.25
Weighted Blanket • Nasco $84.95 1 $84.95
Weighted Compression Vest - Large - Blue • Nasco $76.25 1 $76.25
Weighted Animal Lap Pads - Monkey • Nasco $51.95 1 $51.95
Weighted Lap Pad - Large • Nasco $38.95 1 $38.95
Weighted Blanket Slipcover • Nasco $37.95 1 $37.95
MAC-T Bump Ball Set - 8 • Nasco $27.95 1 $27.95

Materials cost

$403.25

Vendor shipping charges

 $40.32

Sales tax

 $0.00

3rd party payment processing fee

$6.05

Fulfillment labor & materials

$30.00

Total project cost

$479.62

Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

$84.64

Total project goal

$564.26

How we calculate what's needed

Total project goal

 $564.26

8 Donors

-$562.50

Donations toward project cost

-$479.62

Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms

-$82.88

Excluded support for DonorsChoose

-$1.76

Still needed View calculationHide calculation

 $0.00

Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.

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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Worthy and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.

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