A cool desk top will go a long way with elementary students.
In a collaboration between Santa Rosa Correctional Institution (SRCI) and JayElementary School, students received new desks constructed by inmates of SRCI as part of Jay Elementary’s path following the county’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) initiative. According to teachers at the school, the new desks will allow greater collaboration between teachers and students and between students.
The desks themselves are not the standard rectangular surface, but have a trapezoid shape. Setting several edge to edge creates an arc so students sitting at them see each other easier as well as a teacher standing inside the arc. Adding more desks, a circle of 10 desks with no gaps between surfaces is possible.
Principal Kelly Allen said the desks would have cost around $100, but they were able to cut the cost to $54 per desk with the help of the prison providing inmate labor. “It’s a unique community partnership,” she said. “Warden Coker is totally invested…(and) the prisoners are excited to help with the kids.”
Warden James Coker said the prison is continuing to provide this kind of tangible support for schools with Holley-NavarrePrimary School next on the list. “We’re proud to do it,” he said and praised the members in the prison’s woodworking shop and inmates for their creations.
Kristen Davis, first grade teacher, and Brooke Steele, fifth grade teacher, just received several desks for their classrooms Thursday afternoon and already arranged in ways the old desks would have left gaps. Davis said, “It’s like Christmas. We’ve been waiting a long time.” She said the desks allow more interaction. She can work with some students while other students are working on their own collaboration.
Steele’s class had another new item to go with the desks, small square ottomans. Her class used them for seats as well as storage. Steele said the mobility of the desks and ottomans allowed her class to change formations for various kinds of lessons much faster and so gained back class time otherwise spent rearranging furniture.
The Santa RosaCountySchool District partnered with Discovery Education on a five-year STEAM initiative in which these desks are a part. Another element is the BYOD, or bring your own device philosophy Steele mentioned. “Kids have their own devices,” she said. She said it was ironic in the past for the school to tell students not to bring smart phones or iPods while at the same time asking the district for more devices. Allen said, “Technology was taboo.” Steele said under the umbrella of the school’s firewall, “They (students) can use the internet for positive. They can find answers on their own.” She said encouraging students to use the internet teaches independence and critical thinking skills.
Jay Elementary made a name in STEAM by its fourth and fifth grade team placing second in a math competition held at PensacolaHigh School this spring. Megan Bethea, Allen said, placed first in the fifth grade individual component. Allen said the community needs to encourage competition not only on the basketball court but academically as well.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Cool desks make a difference for students