Sara Ayres
StreetSquash is equal parts squash and equal parts academics, so it’s important to ensure that kids are comfortable in both spaces.
Previously, StreetSquash’s four classrooms featured mostly white walls, white tables, and white chairs. But with a new Academic team at the organization, they set out to change all that.
“These students spent more than a year at home completely comfortable, maybe with their laptop on a couch or on a bed and then coming into an environment and changing that completely,” StreetSquash Program Director Stefany Navarro said. “So for me it was just giving the staff autonomy with creating comfortable spaces.”
Classrooms now feature a variety of different seating arrangements. Students can sit at long tables if they want to be in a large group. They can sit alone or in smaller groups at small round tables.
Classrooms are also equipped with couches and bean bag chairs for students who prefer to lounge while doing their work.
“Not every kid wants to sit on a couch, but not every kid wants to sit at a table either,” Taylor Iles, StreetSquash’s Academic Manager said. “We wanted to make a space that kids felt like they had ownership over, and that they were responsible for, and that they were comfortable in so they can learn the best and be their most authentic selves.”
At the link in our bio, read more about how the classrooms have been transformed for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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