A collaboration between Clearview Elementary and the Four Rivers Career Center has resulted in an innovative new tool to help young students better understand emotional regulation and the brain.

Clearview Elementary counselor Aubrey Holt reached out to staff across the School District of Washington seeking help creating a device that could visually represent how the emotional and thinking parts of the brain work together. Within a day, Four Rivers Career Center Engineering instructor Dr. Nick Straatmann responded, offering his students’ help with the project.

After connecting through two virtual meetings - one to discuss the concept and another to review a prototype - Straatmann’s engineering students quickly brought the idea to life. The result was a colorful and creative device now known as the “Brain Box.”

Constructed with 3D-printed green and gold components, the Brain Box provides a hands-on way for elementary students to see how the “emotional brain” (amygdala) can quickly take control in moments of stress, and how the “thinking brain” (prefrontal cortex) requires effort and time to regain control. The model effectively illustrates how these two systems have an inverse relationship - when one is active, the other must work harder to take over.

“The students really knocked it out of the park on the first try,” Holt said. “Their design perfectly captured what I hoped to show kids - that calming down and getting back to thinking clearly takes patience and practice.”

Straatmann said the project was a great opportunity for his students to apply engineering principles to a real-world problem.

“Our class enjoyed the challenge of turning an abstract idea into something functional and meaningful,” Straatmann said. “It was a fun way to connect what we learn in engineering with something that helps younger students in a completely different subject area.”

The project is an example of cross-school collaboration, combining elementary learning with high school engineering and design. It also highlights the value of real-world applications for students in both classrooms - whether they’re learning about mechanical design or emotional awareness.

Photos of the Brain Box and the collaboration between Clearview Elementary and Four Rivers Career Center are available below.

 

 

Zoom meeting in November 2025 to view the “Brain Box” prototype. Pictured are Hunter Schweich, Dr. Nick Straatmann and Aubrey Holt.

 

 

 

Four Rivers Career Center engineering students, from left, Levi Bankhead, Nickoli Nolan, Wes Hecktor, Ben Bylina and Hunter Schweich worked on the Brain Box project.  The students were led by the FRCC engineering instructor Dr. Nick Straatmann.

 

Clearview Elementary counselor Aubrey Holt, with students, from left, Ash Long, Mikayla Taber and Mazie Johnston as they explore the Brain Box and discuss the different brain states.