• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Resources
  • Podcasts
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
Facility

Standing Desks Simplify Collaboration and Get Kids Excited to Learn

One Florida elementary school reports students were more focused and better engaged while using standing desks.

April 16, 2015 Chrissy Winske Leave a Comment

Sitting at a desk for hours a day isn’t good for your health. That’s one reason the the standing desk phenomenon has taken off in the corporate world. Studies show standing throughout the day increases blood circulation, burns calories and helps to maintain insulin effectiveness. When the Belle Terre Elementary School of the Florida-based Flagler School District saw this trend, members of the technology staff thought, why can’t we do that here? If standing desks benefit the health of employees, they can benefit the health of students too.

Joey DiPuma, Flagler’s district Technology Innovation coordinator, was convinced standing desks could have a positive impact on the classroom so he conducted an experiment.

“We went to the cafeteria and we found this really disgusting cart that had a tipped over cup of pudding on it and we cleaned it the best we could,” he says. “Then we picked two staff members and we asked if we could film them for an entire day.” The two staff members were instructed to use the cart as a movable standing desk and to go about their day as usual. When DiPuma reviewed the tape, he noticed the students were moving about the room and following the teacher as she wheeled her desk around the classroom. It wasn’t until about a week later, however, that DiPuma really knew he had stumbled onto something big.

After a week away from work for a conference, he stopped by the classroom piloting the standing cart desk to see how things were going. The teacher told DiPuma that the standing desk was so popular she had to actually create a seating chart because so many students wanted to try it out.

“That’s when I knew that buy-in was not going to be very difficult,” DiPuma says.

He got approval to pilot real standing desks in the classroom and chose the adjustable Ergotron LearnFit. These desks were piloted in a second grade classroom belonging to teacher Melissa Irving.

“In the beginning, I was just thinking this is going to be really cool for the kids who have a hard time sitting in their seats. I didn’t realize just how much my average student would benefit from it, quite honestly,” Irving says.

When the LearnFit desks arrived, the school decided to make an event of it. While the students were at lunch DiPuma and others emptied their classroom of any desks and set up a row of boxes containing the LearnFits outside. Then they led the students outdoors and allowed each child to open a box and see what was inside before moving everything indoors and finishing the set up.

At first, some of the students were concerned. They asked questions like, “what if my feet hurt?” Irving told them that of course they could sit down, but asked the children to try to stand and listen to their bodies. The students ended up standing about 80 percent of the day and were not as tired as they feared. The students were also more focused and more engaged, a side effect that was not necessarily expected, but was welcomed nonetheless.

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our digital newsletters!

Tagged With: Furniture, K12

Related Content:

  • Singlewire Software mass notification interview Singlewire Software on Mass Notification Solutions
  • Engaging virtual meeting with diverse participants discussing creative ideas in a bright office space during daylight hours Diversified Survey: Workplace AV Tech is Falling Short,…
  • Software License Spending, SaaS, cloud apps Your Guide to Choosing the Best Cloud Security…
  • An overwhelmed businessman in a headset shows frustration while working at his desk filled with sticky notes in a modern office. Five Common IT Issues Everyone Hates at Work

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • Workplace Collaboration Tools for Corporate SpacesWorkplace Collaboration Tools for Corporate Spaces

    From lobbies and shared spaces to conference rooms and multipurpose facilities, you need high-performing AV technology to effectively share information. From the initial design and evaluation process through installation, you need the most reliable and high-quality display and image processing products possible. This new download, “Workplace Collaboration Tools for Corporate Spaces,” provides examples of successful […]

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Downloads

Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces
Practical Design Guide for Office Spaces

Recent Gartner research shows that workers prefer to return to the office for in-person meetings for relevant milestones, as well as for face-to-fa...

New Camera Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow
New Camera System Can Transform Your Live Production Workflow

Sony's HXC-FZ90 studio camera system combines flexibility and exceptional image quality with entry-level pricing.

Creating Great User Experience and Ultimate Flexibility with Clickshare

Working and collaborating in any office environment today should be meaningful, as workers today go to office for very specific reasons. When desig...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

AV-iQ

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Contact Us
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!
Emerald Logo
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All rights reserved.