Sensory Boxes for Dodson Elementary School

Catherine Christenson is from troop 40900 located in Canton, Michigan. The last few months she has been working on her Girl Scout Gold Award. This is the highest award given in Girl Scouts. Her project addresses the issue of lack of supplies in the special needs departments of the Plymouth Canton Community Schools. When meeting with the Special Education Department staff it became clear that the School District could use sensory items to be used in the classroom. Sensory integration helps the body to process information it receives. Sensory items are essential to learning in that it encourages exploration and discovery in play. Therefore for her project, Catherine made sensory bins for Dodson Elementary School classrooms. These bins included items like glitter bottles, scent bottles, texture books, worry pets, sequin pillows, and many more items to help stimulate the students senses. Catherine got help in producing all these projects from other organizations in the community such as students from NJHS, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts. The gold award is presented to girls that have identified an issue in a community and strive to make a change. Only about six percent of Girl Scouts earn this award.