The Wild Jungle of the Classroom

It's been a long, windows shut kind of winter.  My classroom of high school students are proof that our building has not had any fresh air in years - well, at least during these cold winter months.  It's an old building anyways, but add stinky, sweating kids coming in from PE to the mix and my classroom smells like a jungle!  There are a lot of, shall we say, natural animal smells that permeate the learning environment on a daily basis these days.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my students.  I am proud of them for showing up daily when the rain and snow fall freely to the ground.  They are coming in wet, soaked really, lately.  Here they are, ready to learn, so I try to do the best I can for them. After, of course, they change out of wet clothes and leave them in a pile by their desk.  Yep, you guessed it - that's where they will remain until the next day when I force them to pick up these smelly clothes and put them in a bag to go home.  Sometimes, this even happens.  Sometimes, it takes a few days.  You can imagine the smell after a few days.

Let's not forget about those students who really, really enjoy PE class.  They give 100%, I'll give them that!  One hour of sweat and lack of deodorant is all it takes. If your bold enough to point out to them that maybe bringing a change of clothes for PE is a really, really good idea, it still won't matter.  They don't even realize they SMELL!  They have just conquered kickball, and that's what matters to them.  What can I say, you can only teach them so much!

I got an idea one cold, smelly afternoon.  It was like a light bulb turned on in my head.  How I had never thought of it before is beyond me.  The solution was so absolutely simple and brilliant.  I packed up my ZAQ Bamboo diffuser , picked up my ZAQ Protect Blend essential oil and headed to school the next afternoon.  I was ready for the jungle!

I seriously had to be the smartest teacher at school that day.  The yummy smells of cinnamon, clove bud, rosemary, cedarwood, lavender, lemon and eucalyptus created a powerful aromatherapy experience for all of us!  My students loved it!  I loved it!  Even the janitor loved it!  "What's that wonderful smell?" they would ask.  I couldn't wait to tell them how ZAQ esssential oils had saved my stinky class!  Not only that, I truly think my students had improved focus and less anxiety when I turned on the diffuser.  

Now, the students want me to use different scents each day of the week.  They are happy, I am happy, even the janitor is happy!  I have students walk by my classroom, stick their head in and just breath in deeply.  We all love the power of ZAQ in our lives each day.  They, as well as this teacher, feel regenerated fully - mind and soul.  

The only problem now, I have to chose a new diffuser for home!  They won't let me take it back.  I'm thinking about the Gem, in green.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

How do you combat stinky smells?

Kris Bitar