Walking into English teacher Megan Laws’ Room 704 for the first time, students are struck by the absence of glaring fluorescent lights.

Not too bright but not too dark, a soft light illuminates the entirety of her room. Her students study under the warm glow of fairy lights and pastel motivational quotes on the walls as they bask in the aesthetic ambience. 

Ever since she started teaching in 2015 at her former school, Scotts Valley High School, Laws has always had fairy lights in her classroom. She said she found the original harsh lighting too bright and wanted to create a calmer learning environment. After finding out how softer lighting helps individuals with sensory issues or migraines and students’ ability to focus. She decided to keep the tradition for good. 

Adding fairy lights also helped achieve the atmosphere Laws wanted and also improved classroom management.

“The softer lighting is almost comforting in a way,” said Nabil Fayad, a freshman in one of her classes . 

After Laws moved here two years ago, she decided to put up lights during the last three months of her first semester. She noticed a significant change in student behavior as they became more calm and their attention span grew longer. 

“It was amazing to see the change in students because I put these in halfway through the year,” Laws said. “Students were more well behaved compared to the first half of the year.”  

As a result of the change in atmosphere, students who were usually rowdy and constantly moving up and down were now able to sit down and be less disruptive, Laws said. 

“I think that if students feel comfortable and relaxed within their learning environments they are set up for optimal learning,” she said. “If sensory needs are met, their brains don’t have to focus on the outside stimuli and they can actually focus on the materials.”