After recess, a student returns to the classroom with a tense posture, quick breathing, and a searching gaze. Perhaps a lively game, loud noise, or extra stimulation has left them feeling heightened. In this moment, they need time to settle before they can fully engage in learning. Scenes like this unfold every day in classrooms. What is often mistaken for misbehavior is actually a struggle to manage emotions, without the skills to handle big feelings, regulate energy levels, and refocus. Emotional regulation is not something children develop on their own. Like reading or problem-solving, it is a skill that requires nurturing. That is where The Zones of Regulation gives students a way to understand their emotions and take action. Through a simple, color-based system, learners recognize how they are feeling, build strategies that support their needs, and regulate to a state where learning is possible. It turns feelings into something students can name, talk about, and manage with the support of the adults around them. “We are all working on regulation. It is a skill that we develop over the course of our lifetime. What is distinct about The Zones of Regulation is that we empower learners of all ages to understand their full range of feelings and explore meaningful tools and strategies to support their well-being,” says Leah Kuypers, founder and CEO. While working as an occupational therapist and autism resource specialist in public schools, Kuypers saw the need for a practical way to teach emotional self-regulation, sparking the creation of The Zones of Regulation. It equips students with a framework of four color-coded zones that represent different states of alertness and emotions. Blue signals low energy, such as sadness or fatigue. Green reflects a calm and focused state. Yellow includes feelings like nervousness or excitement. Red covers intense emotions such as anger or panic. Instead of melting down or shutting off, students learn to describe what is happening inside with colors. For example, instead of shouting,” a child might say “I’m in the Red Zone.” If they are tired, they might point to or say “I’m in the Blue Zone.” Most importantly, they then learn strategies that work for them in moving across and regulating their Zones, such as moving their body via a walk or jumping jacks or asking for space. With the right support and practice, they move from frustration to focus, ready to rejoin the class and take on the day.

Only one percent of U.S. students who study a second language in classrooms go on to achieve fluency, highlighting the need for innovative solutions like FabuLingua. For Leslie Omaña Begert, co-founder and president of FabuLingua, this statistic highlights a flawed educational system. “Language that sticks is not memorized—it’s absorbed. FabuLingua creates the perfect conditions for language absorption,” she says. Her company has developed a patented platform that reimagines second-language learning by utilizing interactive stories, aligning itself with decades of research on how children naturally acquire their first language. FabuLingua is a language-learning app and platform that teaches Spanish and soon will expand to English for Spanish speakers. It serves families, teachers, and homeschoolers. Parents gain a structured way for children to learn at home. Teachers have access to dashboards, resources, and progress tracking, which saves them time while enriching their lessons. Homeschoolers can guide instruction even if they do not speak the target language. Employing the Science of Storytelling Instead of Memorization Instead of relying on memorizing vocabulary lists and grammar drills FabuLingua ensures that language is absorbed by creating an environment where students are deeply engaged with stories they can understand. Fun and interactive narratives provide learners with a vibrant and beautiful context to absorb language - rather than just memorizing isolated words and rules. FabuLingua's unique methodology, protected by a utility patent, has been recognized in expertled competitions such as the Language Flagship Technology award, underscoring its innovative approach. This recognition and endorsements from language educators and linguists highlight FabuLingua’s differentiation in a crowded edtech market. FabuLingua’s design reflects the science of second-language acquisition, specifically around what linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen refers to as “comprehensible input. Fluency develops when learners engage with input that is “comprehensible”, that is—that makes sense in context. To deliver this, the platform features “Magical Translations”, which provide spoken translations that offer clarity without interrupting immersion in the target language.