Sophomore Alana Ipolito said she sometimes comes home with a sore back after sitting in traditional steel-framed chairs in Baldwin classrooms. Lately, though, Ipolito has been able to experience the comfort of new seating in Stephanie Tarpey’s chemistry class.
“I used to find it really hard to focus in class because the chairs were really uncomfortable and hard. I would come home with back pain, which made it harder to want to be in school every day,” Ipolito said. “The soft seating and high top tables in Mrs. Tarpey’s room really helped me focus because of how comfortable I was. I didn’t have to adjust as much as I did before because it is so soft and more supportive.”
Tarpey and English teacher Caitlin Dee are piloting new classroom furniture, with the possibility of more classrooms getting similar furniture in the future.
“There have been many student complaints about how uncomfortable the chairs are – especially for long periods of time now that we are in a block – how bulky the tables were, and how that makes it hard to collaborate and talk across the table,” Tarpey said. “So this is going to be a much-needed change to enable students to collaborate and be able to work together.”
Dee believes the effects are already showing in her classroom.
“So far, all of the students are really excited about the new furniture. They say the chairs are so much more comfortable than the chairs that they used to sit in,” Dee said.
Supt. Dr. Randal Lutz has been interested in starting the process of getting some new classroom furniture in the district. The district took teachers from several schools to look at new furniture at a company called Scholar Craft in Alabama.
While visiting the furniture company, Dee and Tarpey were able to work together to create their ideal classroom setup for class furniture.
“Ms. Dee and I worked together to put together two different kinds of classrooms that have lots of different options, so we could see what students would respond to best,” Tarpey said.
Tarpey selected furniture based on what might best suit the students’ needs.
“We intentionally picked a variety of different pieces, so that we could see what students responded to the best – what was most comfortable, and what helped them focus the most. But we also wanted to have a focus on having the ability to move around the furniture in the classroom to have different configurations for different lessons,” Tarpey said.
Dee agreed.
“I wanted to find a diverse set of desks and chairs because I know from teaching that all students learn differently. Because of that, the students would pick different seating based on their comfort level in each option.” Dee said. “It also made the room more versatile because it was easier for us to move the furniture around to fit the lesson given.”
Their pilot classrooms have now been set up with the new furniture. Dee said that even in just a short time, she has seen that it is making a difference in the students’ work ethic.
“With the new furniture, my goal is to increase the Journey of a Highlander competencies of collaboration and effective communication,” Dee said. “So I like the fact that I can put (the furniture) into groups, and students are already seeing that it’s easier to work with each other,” Dee said.
The pilot classrooms are select classrooms with different kinds of furniture, in each Baldwin Whitehall building, to see how the students respond.
Lutz and the administrators spoke with the owner of Scholar Craft, Clint Hobbs, to discuss which of the options provided would best support student engagement during instruction. Hobbs provided the furniture for the pilot classrooms, so students can test them out and provide feedback.
Lutz believes this new implementation will be successful.
“I’ve seen how students react to the comfortable seating in the overlook and in the atriums, but students shouldn’t have to move around the school to be comfortable,” Lutz said. “I want kids to collaborate and communicate with each other and the teacher. So instead of sitting and looking at the back of somebody’s head for 80 minutes, sitting next to others in a comfortable atmosphere will hopefully increase student engagement,”
Sophomore Joshua Reeves explains how the new furniture has increased collaboration between students and teachers.
“I enjoy the high top tables and couches way more than the old seating just because it’s easier to work and talk with my friends during projects,” said Reeves. “There are also cool attachments on the new furniture to help organize our (bookbags) more when we’re working, which is a nice way to keep the classroom cleaner.”
