Classroom wishlist helps teacher create positive, safe environment to reduce anxiety

An FCPS teacher is using her classroom wishlist to help lessen her anxiety ahead of the schoolyear

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – From adapting with the pandemic and dealing with the latest teenage TikTok trends to coping in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting, teachers have been through a lot the last couple of years. One teacher in the Fayette County Public Schools system says she’s prepping for school a little differently this year.

Alicia Henning has been teaching for 21 years and says she’s never felt a fear or anxiety going into a school year like she is now. So, when she made her back-to-school Amazon wishlist, she included items to make her classroom a more positive environment to help herself and students feel safe.

“Normally on my wishlist, which I’ve been doing the last few years, I’ve put things that are specifically for my instruction for my kids,” says Henning. “I know I’m willing to shell out my own money for those things but I tend to put myself beneath my own personal children and my school children. So this year, I put things on my wishlist that were things for my classroom but things that would make me feel a little bit better.”

Some of the things on Henning’s list include artwork for her classroom, pretty clipboards and post-it holders and an anxiety ring that reads “I am enough”. You can find Henning’s wishlist at the link HERE.