The way a room is decorated can be an inside look into the teacher’s personality, their likes and dislikes or it could also be a way to get their students in the mood for the subject that they teach.

When entering history teacher Laura Sexton’s classroom, you can experience a cozy and relaxing atmosphere due to the warm lights in the classroom. The environment lets students relax while doing their work.

“I think students are more comfortable doing work [in a warm environment],” Sexton said. “I know if I’m reading social studies, I like to be in a coffee shop or somewhere where it’s warm, comfy and cozy. So I like to make that space for them, and I have found that it makes it so much easier for them to do their work because when they’re relaxed, their brain works better.”

Inside English teacher Dona Coleman’s classroom is a coffee bar where students can refuel their brains while they are reading or doing other school work.

“I have students that have reading days where they get to read their novels and I like coffee houses where you can go read,” Coleman said. “So I thought it was a nice atmosphere for them and a less institutional environment.”

Science teacher Heather Anderson’s classroom is decorated with many puzzles, some related to science, others not. The many puzzles on the walls give the room a colorful look to them, which sets it apart from other teachers’ classrooms.

“With a lot of the puzzles, I just really liked them and I hated that after I put them together, I would then have to break it down, so I thought, ‘Why not decorate my classroom with it,’” Anderson said. “Some of the puzzles I’ve picked are kind of like science ones and others are just things that I think are really cool, I like it because it doesn’t make my classroom just look plain and boring.”

History teacher John Cunningham’s classroom is covered with many Superman memorabilia, including a balloon Superman hanging from the ceiling. This and the Superman lecture he gives at the beginning of the year shows how big of a fan he is.

“When I was really little, the old ‘Adventures of Superman’ [show] came on when I was getting ready for school. It was probably the first time that I thought, ‘Oh, this is really cool,’” Cunningham said. “You have all those opening school activities where we know the teachers are trying to learn a bit more about the students and the students are trying to learn a bit more about the teacher so I thought that’d be a good activity for students to learn about something that I was into”