Fauquier County Public Schools News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 20, 2016

Karen Parkinson, Coordinator of Information Phone (540) 422-7031 [email protected]

FITNESS BALLS REPLACE CHAIRS FOR CLASS OF FOURTH GRADERS AT WALTER ELEMENTARY You might say the fourth-graders in April Jenkins’ class at Walter Elementary School are on the ball. You might say it because it’s true – literally and figuratively. In a break from the traditional classroom scenario, whenever Jenkins’ students enter her classroom, they no longer take a seat on a desk chair. Instead they sit on stability balls that she purchased through a grant from DonorsChoose. org with matching funds from Disney. “I’m always reading about different classroomteaching techniques, behavior management strategies, and student focus research,” said Jenkins, now in her sixth year of teaching. “This idea has been something I’ve seen a lot over the last few years with a lot of supported data, and I recently had the chance to speak with teachers who have implemented this in their own classrooms. The positive change they saw really stood out to me.” The idea is that the balls allow movement during class time, increase blood flow to the brain, and increase the amount of learning. The goal is to get students to focus better, longer and more effectively by removing the expectation of sitting still. Jenkins’ students are clearly on board with replacing old-school chairs with new-strategy balls. They can hardly contain their enthusiasm and words of praise. “The stability ball helps me because I move a lot,” said Asya Thomas, “and it helps me focus more because I’m not staying still in my chair.” Jasmin Corez Lainez wholeheartedly agreed: “The ball helps me pay attention more because as I’m bouncing, I am sending blood to my brain, and I feel like I’m more focused,” she said. Students say their thoughts are not wandering as often as before. “It helps me to not daydream in class,” Kailee Andrade said, “because I’m moving around on the stability ball. It helps me get my assignments done.” After talking to teachers in Cumberland County who had been college classmates – teachers who have used the stability balls successfully in their classrooms, Jenkins was convinced the idea was worthwhile. She decided on a whim to set up a DonorsChoose account in December to see what kind of end-of-year donations she might get. She knew the price of funding a class set of stability balls was a bit steep, just under $1,000 – definitely not within a teacher’s classroom supplies budget. “I thought that maybe the donations would be something I could implement during the next school year. I had no idea that the donations would come so quickly,” said an astonished Jenkins. “Disney ended up matching dollar for dollar each donation that was made, and in less than two days, the project was paid for!” Jenkins said that before the balls arrived, she brought in a stability ball from home and spent quite a bit of time modeling how students should use the balls and care for them. Each student had a chance to practice with the ball. Even with the practice, she Continued on next page

expected students would need at least a week of adjustment time, but to her surprise, no adjustment time was needed whatsoever. “The students came in Monday morning [Jan. 11, 2016] and totally blew me away with their behavior!” she said. “We have had no issues, no one has fallen, and everyone has been using them correctly.” Even when the balls aren’t in use, their rolling nature doesn’t present a problem. When students get up from their desks, they push the balls under their desks between the desk legs; the ball wedges between the desk legs which hold the ball from rolling around the room. In the evenings each student stacks the ball on top of his or her desk atop a Frisbee turned upside down. Jenkins confirmed that her students’ participation in class has noticeably increased since the stability balls first rolled onto the scene. “I’ve noticed that more students are on task, especially those who have the tendency to fidget or move throughout the day,” she said. “I had a substitute during the first week of using them, and even the substitute was impressed with their behavior and participation while using the balls.” Students enthusiastically attest to the impact the balls have had on them individually. “The stability balls are good for my posture and that helps me pay attention,” Ethan Fauber said. Diego Santana Casiano added, “The stability ball is helping me learn and think faster because when we had the chairs, I wasn’t thinking well because I wasn’t moving.” While Jenkins has already seen improvement in her students’ classroom participation, she said that over the next quarter she will continue to monitor their participation and track their classwork and quiz grades. The stability balls are a cause for curiosity among other staff and students at Walter. “A lot of teachers have stopped by my classroom to see how they work and ask how it’s going. Some have said they’d like to start using them in their classroom next year,” Jenkins said. The balls have another feature beyond focus – it’s called fun. As student Charlie Ponce Martinez said, “The stability ball is good for me because it helps me focus, and it is better than a chair, and more fun!”