TA News

With a new “Zen Zone” in the library, Thetford Academy’s Getting to Y (GTY) team hopes to help students feel safe, supported, and connected. The Zen Zone is, by design, a calm, quiet space for students to take a break, relax, and focus on self-care. It’s a response to the GTY analysis of the most recent VT Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which showed that many students may struggle with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of community connection. By providing a quiet space and all the fixings for a restorative cup of herbal tea, GTY hopes the Zen Zone will help TA students de-stress and recharge.

The tea provided in the Zen Zone is grown right here at Thetford Academy. With the support of TA garden coordinator Ehrin Lingeman, the Getting to Y team started the tea plants from seed in February and have been tending them in the greenhouse. They chose plants with adaptogenic (stress-relieving) and aromatherapeutic properties and created blends like lemon verbena and peppermint for energy and mood lifting, and peppermint and milky oats for calming and uplifting. Students using the Zen Zone can choose from one of these prepared tea blends or make their own blends to try.

With final exams and the busy end-of-year schedule coming, the Zen Zone will be a perfect stop for students needing a little zen and a hot cup of tea in their day. TA’s Zen Zone was made possible with a grant from the Mount Ascutney Prevention Partnership, a community health organization working to strengthen community connections and build environments that promote health and value well-being for all.