From cosmetics to haircuts to arcade games, a fun room at the Pine Bluff School District’s James Matthews Elementary gives well-deserving students a break from the school-day routines.
“I just think, we need to cater to the whole child,” Principal Tameka Wright said Tuesday, moments after the school held its grand opening of the Cardinals Lounge, named after the school mascot. “We’re all into instruction and making sure that they have what they need to be successful on the standardized tests, but what about the other things they need, like their basic needs?”
If having fun and looking good are among the needs, the Cardinals Lounge is the place for students.
Student ambassadors, community leaders and members of the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce Redcoats attended the lounge’s grand opening Tuesday afternoon. They were welcomed to stations of games, a beauty bar for girls and a mini-barber shop for boys.
Students earn their way to the lounge by earning points for achievements such as good behavior, high test scores and consistent attendance.
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Funding from The Learner’s Collective, a homeschool hybrid program, and the district made the Cardinals Lounge possible. Wright estimated the price tag for all the lounge’s elements at $5,000.
Matthews students can also visit a calming room when they feel “overwhelmed or overstimulated,” Wright said. Students who encounter each other in a conflict can visit a calming room to learn how to solve their problem.
“What about the other students who are doing everything we ask them to do?” Wright said. “They never get in trouble. They’re always on point. We want them to have a space just to reward them for doing everything we ask them to do and be in a safe space.”
Assistant principal Dedrick Cross said he gained the idea for a students’ lounge from a school in Little Rock. He echoed Wright’s sentiments of meeting the needs of the whole child.
“Oftentimes we focus on putting things in place (that are) punitive for students, and we want to reward our students who are doing the right thing,” Cross said. “This collaboration is just about us showing students that they matter and to (encourage) them to keep up the good work.”
