Stand-Up (Desks) For Our Students!

In the Media 2/6/2016 Longmont Daily Times-Call and Boulder's Daily Camera Article: Longmont Times Call Newspaper 2/23/2016 Denver7News story aired on 6:00 news and posted on website: Denver Channel 7 News Story

2/26/2016 FOX31 News aired story on the 5:30 news and posted on website:
Fox 31 News Story (Video Embedded)

3/1/2016 9News aired story and posted on website:
9 News Coverage (Video Embedded)

School's Website Coverage: Imagine's School Website Coverage


The research is staggering. Studies have shown that sitting for 2 hours continuously can lead to heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, orthopedic dysfunction and cancer, not to mention back and neck pain. Alarmingly, most school-aged children sit for 85% of their waking hours, this sedentary time greatly impedes the ability to learn. This demands a call to action, but what can we, as educators/parents do about it?

One researcher described physical activity as “cognitive candy.”  If students are given the opportunity to move throughout the day, they will do so. As students increase movement, their education improves from the change in focus alone. It has been shown that classroom management becomes more effective by minimizing disruption and encouraging focused engagement.  Our goal is to create an environment that fosters engagement and active learning, in turn improving test scores, generating creative thinkers and most importantly, contributing to the health and happiness of our students. We are committed to adding brain and movement breaks into our daily routine, but continually exploring ideas to foster active minds for learning while decreasing chances of disease and ailment! 

The solution we at Imagine Charter School at Firestone  have found is stand-up desks and workstations.  We are currently piloting a stand-up desk in a first grade class and stand-up workstation in a full day kindergarten class.  These 2 desks were so generously donated to us by JRBS Studios in Pineville, LA for our pilot program. We have a passion for this initiative, the end goal being multiple desks for each classroom. Currently, we are researching multiple grant opportunities in hopes of meeting that goal for our school.

In our first grade class, it is being observed that having multiple desks or workstations would be beneficial as so many kids are showing greater focus and productivity while standing. Ryan, a first grader, says, "Doing my work is a lot better when my back isn't hurting! This desk is awesome sauce!"  In kindergarten, our decision-makers (students) have implemented their own rules for their multi-person workstation is inclusive so all students get the opportunity to stand at it each day.  Ms. Baker, the kindergarten teacher, has noted that the kids who are standing are more focused, on task, and less disruptive than their sitting counterparts.  It is also noted that the students are more content doing pen to paper work, given the choice to stand to complete the activity.  Ms. Baker also says that it has made a huge difference on class behavior because kids are less fidgety and more settled!  Logan, a kindergarten student, says that he “loves how it exercises his legs and he loves that standing up makes him healthy!”  Jasper adds to that “sitting hurts me and standing lets me stretch and feel good!” Aubrey says that she loves standing up at it because it is “better than that hard chair.”

All generously donated funds will go exclusively to the procurement of additional desks for our school to promote happy, healthy students who will get more out of classroom time. If you're unable to donate, please share/educate/advocate to the simple cause for kid's as those efforts are equally valuable! These kid's our the future advocates of education and healthy lifestyles, at Imagine, we strive to give them a headstart.

* Each workstation is approx. $478 / Each Individual desk is approx. $440 each. Hoping to raise enough for a few desks for each class K-5, as well as our tech lab!*

It’s an exciting time being able to incorporate these into our classroom and we are looking forward to being able to expand, giving more classes and more students access to this incredible opportunity!

Gofundme asks that we include the following:
1. Who we are - ​Stacy Coats (Parent of student at Imagine Charter), running the GoFund me page and working hand in hand with Imagine Charter teacher Kristen Baker to procure desks and educate the public.
2. Where you're from - Imagine Charter School in Firestone, Colorado
3. Your relationship to the parties you're raising funds for - Parent of student at Imagine Charter (Ryan, mentioned in description page)
4. How the funds will be spent - 100% of funds raised will go toward purchasing of desks from JRBS Studios in Pineville, LA

Thanks for reading!!