Community Renewal Executive Director Travis Flood attaches a sign to the new fence surrounding the Shawnee High School outdoor “Calming Space” on Dec. 10. Photo provided by Cherity Pennington.
Representatives from Blue Zones Project, Community Renewal and Shawnee Public Schools pose in the “Calming Space” at Shawnee High School, a fenced area where students in the special education class can learn about science, play games, read, and hold conversations. Shown, from left, are Dr. Stephen Trotter, Suhaila Nease, Travis Flood, Brandon Dyer, John Bobb-Semple, Theresa Dame, Ray Shaffer, and Dr. April Grace. Countywide & Sun/Natasha Dunagan
For the outdoor “Calming Space” at Shawnee High School, wheelchair-accessible planter boxes were built where students can plant succulents. There are also two upright pallet planters and birdhouses, both of which the students helped to paint. Photo provided by Cherity Pennington.
For Theresa Dame’s special education students at Shawnee High School, going outside to study science or waiting for the bus home used to be risky activities.
“In order to get the kids on the bus, I had to have them up against there (the building) because this is our bus lane,” said Dame. “But we’ve got a parking lot, we’ve got a road, and so they would stay up there.”...
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