It’s that time of year again. The moist ground is littered with a colorful carpet of fallen leaves. A slight breeze blows through the air. Students walk around holding warm cups of hot chocolate, coffee or tea, steaming like the chimney of a winter cottage. They quickly shuffle into their classrooms, happy to escape the chilly hallways. One of the classrooms that is especially festive during this time of the year is Room 106.

Every year, math teacher Julie Scola transforms her classroom into a winter wonderland complete with spray-snowed windows, snowflakes (her favorite decoration) hanging from the ceiling and lining the walls, as well as snowmen guarding her math equations. A warm electric fireplace at the front of the classroom keeps students—adding to the cozy atmosphere.

“I probably started decorating [my classroom] seven or eight years ago to get students in the mood for the season … to put them in that cozy ‘I want a cup of cocoa’ mood,” Scola said.

Students often look forward to Scola’s creative and elaborate decorations, since it creates a much more cheerful and welcoming learning environment than just looking at the cold gray walls with the occasional motivational poster. Few students know that she spends about an hour for each season of decorations, putting the new ones up and taking the old ones down.

“I think [the room decorations] are really cool and make it fun to be in her classroom. It really lightens the mood,” freshman Darby Williams said.

Scola enjoys decorating the classroom as the seasons change, and if time permits, includes students in the decorating process, teaching them how to make snowflakes or other decorations out of plain white paper.

“Since we don’t have seasons screaming at us in California, it kind of reminds us where we’re at,” Scola said.