ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — In a quiet corner of T.C. Roberson High School, volunteers sanded and painted bookshelves and arranged greenery, lamps and new furniture, transforming an old classroom into a serenity room — a space designed to give teachers a place to pause, breathe and recharge.
The project is part of an effort by the Christos Foundation, in partnership with the YMCA of Western North Carolina, 828Strong and Rooms to Go, to create calming spaces in area schools.
“We’ll bring in nice lighting, comfortable furniture, snacks and coffee,” Buncombe County Schools Chief Communications Officer Ken Ulmer said Wednesday as work got underway. “If a teacher’s having a crazy, cuckoo-bananas day, they can step in here during their planning period and just relax.”
The Christos Foundation launched the Serenity Room program last year, starting with spaces at Valley Springs Middle and Koontz Intermediate. This school year, it plans to complete rooms at North Buncombe Elementary, W. Estes Elementary, Haw Creek Elementary, Cane Creek Middle and Fairview Elementary — some of the schools hardest hit last year by Tropical Storm Helene.
“This one’s sentimental,” Meredith Baldwin Williams, co-founder of the Christos Foundation, said as she looked around her former high school. “My dad and grandmother went here, too.”
Inside the room at T.C. Roberson, volunteers from the YMCA’s Togetherhood program — a national initiative encouraging members to serve beyond Y facilities — worked alongside students and community members.
“This is a soft launch for us,” said Stephen Abel, communications director for YMCA of Western North Carolina. “We’re taking our membership base of more than 50,000 people and connecting them with volunteer projects across the community — from Habitat builds to school makeovers like this.”
Christos Foundation director of community partnerships Nicholas Lovelace directed the makeover efforts: sanding and repainting bookshelves, setting up couches and tables, adding plants and creating a “gratitude wall” where students, parents and colleagues can leave thank-you notes for teachers.
“The whole idea is to create a calm, serene environment for teachers to reset during the day,” Lovelace said.
For student volunteers, the day was about more than just redecorating.
“I think it’s important to give back to the community,” T.C. Roberson student Olivia Hawk said. “It helps teachers and students.”
Valley Springs Middle School eighth-grader Lexi McGrath said she enjoys the hands-on nature of the work. “I like helping teachers start the new year, and I honestly just enjoy cleaning and making spaces better,” she said.
Adult volunteers shared that sentiment.
“My family and friends are all teachers,” volunteer Terri Brne said. “To create a space for them to relax is a wonderful opportunity.”
By 1 p.m., Lovelace expected the room to be transformed, ready for the larger furniture to be delivered and teachers to enjoy when they return for the new school year.
“When we show up, link arms and work together, we make lasting change,” Lovelace told the volunteers gathered in the room. “That’s what Togetherhood is about.”
