Los Obispos Middle School celebrated the opening of its Wildcat Den Zen Room and honored the teachers who will put it to good use.
The room, with soothing earth tones, gentle music, hot towels, aromatherapy and calm lighting, impressed the teachers who viewed the room for the first time on Monday, the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week. LOMS Principal Olga Cantu and her staff also treated the teachers to a Fuddruckers lunch in the library, where they enjoyed their meals and received beautiful, personalized boxes containing thoughtful wellness gifts.
District and school leaders gathered for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the formal opening and then toured the room, admiring all the calming elements that make it a wonderful retreat for the teachers.
Principal Cantu thanked the district leadership for coming to the special opening ceremony. She also especially thanked the teachers and LOMS counselor Brenda Cognata and school librarian Anita Castillo. They dedicated much of their time to the planning of the Zen Room and pitched in donations. Other teachers also donated personal funds.
Principal Cantu said that about four years ago, the school had a Zen Room for one day in the library. “We had a vision for our teachers … and we made it happen with the assistance of Ms. Cognata and Ms. Costilla,” she said. “Now we have a room where teachers can come during their conference period.”
She added that they planned the opening of the Zen Room to take place on the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week.
“Later on we will open it up for the staff and all the faculty and during the day, they can come and relax. They can let the stress go and come back to work,” Principal Cantu said.
Ms. Cognata said that the special room is a realization of a great team effort.
“This is a dream from all of us - the administrative team and counseling team. We wanted to do something special for our teachers throughout the year,” Ms. Cognata said. “We were thinking about what we could do to help them be a little more at peace, for their own mental wellness, and we came up with the idea of a Zen Room.”
District and school leadership gather for the ribbon-cutting celebrating the opening of the school's Zen Room
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