An elementary school student raised hundreds of dollars for a new sensory room at his school.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A 7-year-old student who competed in a triathlon last summer earned $400 during the race and then decided to donate it all to his school to help purchase a new sensory room.

Joshua Flovin is a second-grader at Malcolm Hursey Montessori School and says he wants to help his classmates who are having trouble paying attention in class.

“I realized we didn’t have a sensory room, and I wanted us to have one. We have a lot of special needs kids in our school,” Flovin said.

Charleston County Schools just got a new facility earlier this year, but one teacher noticed the building didn’t have a place for students to relax, reset their minds and engage their different senses.

Christy Lotz is a special education teacher in Hursey and has been in education for 29 years.

Lotz said many of her students have sensory issues and are full of energy: “They have a lot of sensory issues, they get overstimulated, and we needed to provide a place where they could regulate those feelings so they could be ready to come back.” to class to study.”

She said those students who are overwhelmed are also overstimulated, and these feelings can prevent students from retaining information learned in class.

The lack of a safe place for students to ease their intense feelings prompted Lotz to team up with high school coach Danielle Saia.

Saya said she loved the idea and immediately began working to raise funds for the sensory room.

She said with the help of Joshua’s donation, as well as other funds raised through DonorsChoose, they were able to purchase about 30 items for the school’s new sensory room.

“We have a trampoline; we have a glitter board that students can come and touch. So, thinking about sensations involves engaging all of your different senses. When a student is in class and may be feeling like they are upset, or stressed, or just have a lot of energy and need to recharge, they can come to the sensory room and use some energy. equipment to help them calm down so they can refocus and get back to class,” Saiya said.

Lotz said the room has been a success so far, and students who have used it have come back more knowledgeable and able to focus their full attention on completing schoolwork.”

“We have children who are very active. So, they can come here, jump on the trampoline, spin the fidget spinners. When they came back to class they released all that energy and it helped relax their muscles so when they came back they could sit and focus with me,” she said.

Lotz said the sensory room is for everyone, not just students with special needs.

“Everyone has sensory needs, not just students with special needs. We wanted to make sure it could accommodate all the students at the school,” she said.

Both Lotz and Saya said the room really allows everyone to come inside, reset their mind and engage their different senses.

They said they hope to add new equipment to the space in the future.

Lotz is the school’s current Teacher of the Year.

As for how the project made Joshua feel, he said he was very proud of himself: “I did all this with the amount of money I raised.”

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