Why Did Seven Catholic Schools just Choose Who God Says I Am?

As educators, we spend countless hours helping children learn who they are.

We encourage perseverance after mistakes. We celebrate kindness. We remind students they are capable, valued, and important.

But today's children are also growing up in a world that constantly tells them who they should be—and too often, those messages create anxiety, self-doubt, and comparison.

As I recently completed installations throughout the Archdiocese of Omaha, I noticed something that immediately stood out.

When nine Catholic schools selected products for their hallways, one collection became the clear favorite.

Three schools chose the complete Who God Says I Am Sensory Path, while four additional schools selected the Who God Says I Am Starter Set.

That made me stop and think.

Why did this message resonate so deeply?

Children Need Truth They Can Return To

Every school day is filled with moments that challenge a child's confidence.

A difficult math assignment.

A disagreement with a friend.

A poor test grade.

Feeling left out at recess.

Making a mistake in class.

These moments often become the stories children tell themselves.

"I'm not good enough."

"Nobody likes me."

"I always mess things up."

As Catholic educators, we have the incredible opportunity to replace those lies with truth.

Imagine students walking down the hallway and being reminded:

• I Am Loved

• I Am Forgiven

• I Am Strong

• I Am Brave

• I Am Peaceful

• I Am Never Alone

• I Am God's Child

Not once.

Not only during religion class.

But every single day.

Why Movement Makes These Messages More Meaningful

As a pediatric occupational therapist, I've seen firsthand how movement prepares the brain for learning.

Movement increases alertness.

It supports attention.

It helps regulate emotions.

It improves memory and retention.

When children move while interacting with meaningful messages, they're doing much more than getting the wiggles out.

They're pairing physical movement with positive identity.

That combination helps those affirmations become experiences rather than simply words on a wall.

Instead of walking past another hallway display, students are actively engaging with reminders of who God says they are.

Hallways Can Become Places of Formation

Catholic schools do an incredible job forming students academically and spiritually inside the classroom.

But learning doesn't stop when students leave their desks.

Hallways are some of the most frequently used spaces in every school.

Those daily transitions can become opportunities to reinforce faith, encourage movement, and support emotional regulation—all in less than a minute.

When students repeatedly encounter these messages throughout the school year, they become familiar, comforting reminders during both joyful and challenging moments.

Why I Believe This Collection Resonated

I can't speak for each school's individual decision, but after working with Catholic educators across 27 states and Canada, I've noticed a common theme.

Schools aren't just looking for sensory paths.

They're looking for ways to intentionally shape school culture.

They want students to know they are seen.

They want children to feel safe.

They want every hallway to reinforce the values they teach inside the classroom.

The Who God Says I Am collection does exactly that.

It's more than movement.

It's a daily reminder of identity rooted in faith.

Try This Tomorrow

Take a walk through your school's hallways and imagine you're seeing them through the eyes of a student.

What messages do they encounter?

What do your walls say about kindness, courage, forgiveness, or belonging?

Even one intentional reminder placed where students naturally transition throughout the day can become a meaningful moment of encouragement.

Want to Learn More?

The Who God Says I Am collection was thoughtfully designed to combine purposeful movement with faith-filled affirmations that remind students of their identity in Christ.

Whether you're looking for the complete sensory path or a simple Starter Set to begin transforming your hallways, these movement experiences help reinforce positive messages every single day.

If you'd like to see how Catholic schools across the country are using the collection—or explore which option might be the best fit for your school—I'd love to help.

Browse the collection or contact me anytime. Together, we can create hallways that encourage movement, strengthen faith, and remind every child exactly who God says they are.

Still deciding?

If you'd like to see the quality of Sacred Steps products before purchasing, I'd be happy to send you a complimentary sample.

It's a simple way to experience the colors, materials, and durability firsthand—and see why schools across 27 states and Canada have chosen Sacred Steps.

👉 Request your free sample here.

About the Author

Trisha Klausing, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths. She combines over a decade of school-based occupational therapy experience with her passion for Catholic education to create movement experiences that strengthen self-regulation, learning, and faith. Sacred Steps products are currently used in schools across 27 states and Canada.

How Catholic Schools Can Reinforce Faith Outside the Classroom

When we think about faith formation in Catholic schools, our minds often go to religion class, Mass, prayer services, and sacramental preparation. Those are, of course, essential parts of Catholic education.

But what about the other 90% of a student's day?

The walk to lunch.
The trip to the library.
Transitions between classrooms.
Waiting in the hallway.
Walking to the office.
A moment spent calming down after a difficult interaction.

These everyday moments offer incredible opportunities to reinforce faith—not through another lesson, but through the environment itself.

Every Hallway Is a Teaching Opportunity

Children spend a surprising amount of time moving throughout their school. Rather than viewing hallways simply as spaces that connect classrooms, Catholic schools can intentionally design them to become extensions of faith formation.

Imagine a student walking to music class while stopping to:

• Recall the seven days of Creation.

• Pray a Hail Mary while following a Rosary Infinity Loop.

• Remember one of the Beatitudes.

• Reflect on who God says they are.

• Practice calming strategies while being reminded they are loved by God.

These small interactions don't replace religion class—they reinforce it.

Over time, repeated exposure helps children internalize both faith and movement in meaningful ways.

Faith Is Built Through Repetition

Anyone who has worked with children knows that repetition matters.

Students learn multiplication facts by practicing them repeatedly.

They learn handwriting through daily use.

The same is true for faith.

Seeing Scripture, virtues, prayers, and reminders of God's love throughout the school day helps make these truths familiar and accessible.

Instead of faith existing only during one class period, it becomes woven into everyday school life.

Movement Helps Learning

As an occupational therapist, I also see another important benefit.

Children are designed to move.

Movement helps many students:

• regulate their bodies,

• improve attention,

• organize their thoughts,

• prepare for learning,

• and transition more successfully between activities.

When movement is paired with faith-based messages, students are engaging both their minds and their bodies.

A hallway becomes more than a place to walk—it becomes a place to learn, reflect, and reset.

Every Student Benefits

Faith-filled movement opportunities can support students of all ages and abilities.

Some students may pause to pray.

Others may benefit from the calming movement.

Some simply enjoy the interactive experience.

The beauty is that each child engages at their own level while receiving consistent reminders of God's presence throughout the day.

Building a Culture of Faith

Catholic school culture isn't created only through curriculum.

It's created through daily experiences.

The words students see.
The messages they hear.
The routines they practice.
The environments they move through.

When hallways, counseling spaces, libraries, early childhood wings, and parish centers intentionally reflect the school's mission, faith becomes something students experience—not just something they study.

Over time, these seemingly small moments contribute to a school culture where children are continually reminded that they are known, loved, forgiven, and called by God.

Try This Tomorrow

Take one walk through your school's hallways.

Ask yourself:

"If a visitor walked through our building, would they immediately recognize that this is a Catholic school?"

Beyond crucifixes and classroom doors, consider where students could encounter reminders of Scripture, prayer, virtue, or God's love during the ordinary transitions of their day.

Sometimes the most meaningful opportunities for faith formation happen outside the classroom.

Want to Learn More?

Sacred Steps Sensory Paths was created by a practicing school-based occupational therapist to help schools intentionally combine movement, learning, and faith.

From Bible Stories and the Days of Creation to the Beatitudes, Rosary Infinity Loop, Holy Alphabet, Sacred Sacraments, and Who God Says I Am, each pathway is designed to reinforce Catholic teaching while supporting movement, self-regulation, and student engagement.

Whether you're looking to transform an entire hallway or add a simple faith-filled movement station, I'd be happy to help you find the best fit for your school, parish, or ministry.

Explore the full collection or contact me for personalized recommendations and complimentary hallway mock-ups.

About the Author

Trisha Klausing, OTR/L is a pediatric, school-based occupational therapist and the founder of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths. With more than a decade of experience helping children succeed in school, she designs movement experiences that strengthen regulation, learning, and faith. Sacred Steps products are used in Catholic schools, churches, therapy clinics, and early childhood programs across 25 states and Canada.

Why the Best School Supports Are in Place Before Students Need Them

Every summer, schools across the country prepare for a new year.

Teachers organize classrooms.

Custodians wax floors and freshen hallways.

Administrators finalize schedules and class lists.

Therapists prepare materials and review student needs.

Everyone works hard to make sure students walk into a welcoming environment on the very first day of school.

But one important question often gets overlooked:

Are we preparing our school environments to support every child before they need help?

As a school-based occupational therapist, this question has shaped the way I think about schools for more than a decade.

Because after working with hundreds of students, I've learned something important:

The most effective supports are proactive—not reactive.

We Prepare for Success in Every Other Area

Think about everything schools do before students arrive.

Teachers don't wait until the first day of school to create lesson plans.

Administrators don't wait until winter to test the heating system.

Custodians don't wait until the hallways become dirty before cleaning them.

We prepare because we know preparation creates success.

Yet when it comes to student regulation, movement, and emotional well-being, it's easy to wait until challenges appear before adding supports.

What if we approached those needs differently?

What if we intentionally designed school environments that quietly supported students all day long?

What Occupational Therapy Has Taught Me

As an occupational therapist, I know that behavior is communication.

Many students who appear distracted, anxious, impulsive, or overwhelmed aren't choosing to struggle.

Often, their nervous system is telling us something.

Their bodies may need movement.

Their brains may need a predictable routine.

Their sensory systems may need opportunities to regulate before learning can happen.

While we can't eliminate every challenge, we can build environments that make success more likely.

That's why I believe schools should support students long before they're struggling.

The Hallway Is One of the Most Underused Teaching Spaces in a School

When most people think about learning, they picture a classroom.

I picture the hallway.

Every student walks through it multiple times every single day.

Before lunch.

After recess.

Between specials.

On the way to intervention.

Heading back to class.

Over the course of a school year, those few minutes add up to hundreds of opportunities.

What if those transitions became moments to practice self-regulation?

To strengthen executive functioning?

To build confidence?

To remind students they are loved, capable, brave, and never alone?

Hallways aren't just places students pass through.

They can become places where students grow.

A Proactive School Environment Benefits Every Child

One of the biggest misconceptions about sensory supports is that they're only for students receiving special education services.

In reality, thoughtfully designed sensory supports benefit everyone.

The student who feels anxious before a test.

The child who struggles after recess.

The student who simply needs movement before sitting for another lesson.

Even the students who appear to be doing just fine benefit from opportunities to move, regulate, and reset throughout the day.

That's what makes sensory paths such a powerful Tier 1 support.

They're available to every student.

No referral.

No paperwork.

No waiting.

Just an environment intentionally designed to help children succeed.

Because when we prepare the environment, we're preparing students for success.

Preparing School Environments That Support Every Child

At Sacred Steps, this belief guides everything I create.

I don't design decals.

I design opportunities.

Opportunities for students to move.

To regulate.

To build confidence.

To practice executive functioning.

To encounter encouraging messages during ordinary moments of the school day.

Every hallway has the potential to become more than a hallway.

It can become part of a school's support system.

When we prepare our environments before students need them, we send a powerful message:

Every child belongs here.

Every child deserves support.

Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.

That's the heart behind every Sacred Steps sensory path.

Try This Tomorrow

Take a walk through your school.

As you move from one hallway to the next, ask yourself these questions:

• Where do students consistently struggle with transitions?

• Which hallway feels rushed, chaotic, or stressful?

• Where could movement naturally become part of the school day?

• How could this space better support every child—not just the students who are already struggling?

Sometimes the greatest opportunities for change are hiding in spaces we walk through every day.

Want to Learn More?

Sacred Steps Sensory Paths are OT-designed movement experiences that help schools create environments where students can regulate, learn, and thrive. A school sensory pathway is one example of a proactive support that gives students access to movement before dysregulation interferes with learning.

Whether you're looking for a full hallway transformation, a Starter Set, portable sensory paths, calming stations, or faith-based movement experiences, every product is designed with one goal in mind:

Preparing school environments that support every child before they need help.

If you'd like help choosing the best fit for your school, I'd love to connect with you.

👉 Explore Sacred Steps Sensory Paths

About the Author

Trisha Klausing, OTR/L is a pediatric, school-based occupational therapist with more than 10 years of experience helping students develop the skills they need for success. She is the founder of Sacred Steps Sensory Paths, where she combines occupational therapy expertise with faith-filled and inclusive movement experiences designed to help schools create environments that support every child.