OU Interior Design Associate Professor Mia Kile is a leading co-principal investigator of the Happy Teacher Project: Happy Teacher Wellness Intervention initiative. This project focuses on improving the well-being of early childhood educators by creating dedicated wellness rooms — spaces where teachers and staff can rest and recharge, helping to address the physical, psychological, and professional demands of their work.
The Happy Teacher Wellness Intervention project is funded by the Early Childhood Education Institute, the OU Research Council, the Associate Vice President and Academic Affairs at OU-Tulsa, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The fund came in the form of grants equating to over $2 million to support the interdisciplinary multifaceted project over the span of three years. The wellness rooms are a component of the holistic approach the research team implemented. So far, the program and Professor Kile have completed 12 wellness rooms for Head Start centers in urban, rural, and tribal communities across Oklahoma.
A room before and after the redesign.
With over 24 years of experience as an interior design educator – 14 of which have been at OU – Professor Kile brings a wealth of expertise to the project. She holds professional credentials as a Certified Healthcare Interior Designer (CHID), Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC), and National Council for Interior Design Qualifications (NCIDQ). As a registered interior designer with experience in the fields of healthcare design and educational environments, her contributions on the Happy Teacher project considers the impact of the built environment to support teacher well-being.
Early findings from the wellness room intervention found that 96% of participants are satisfied with the implementation of a wellness room within their center.
“The wellness room was such a blessing. It really helped on those harder days when I just needed a few extra minutes.” – participant quote from focus group interviews.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.
