Fillmore Central trials ergonomic standing desks

When Fillmore Central High School English teacher Gerri Nielson decided that it was time for a change in her classroom, she started researching flexible seating options for her students. She began her search online, but wasn’t impressed with what she saw.
“They all looked like they would break easily,” Nielson said. So she decided to take her search local. Her first step was to contact Shelly Topness, the Sales Director at Valley Design in Fountain. Topness spoke to her manager about the possibility of making some ergonomic desks, and they decided to go for it.
Valley Design came up with two different base designs for Nielson to choose from. After reviewing the details of each one, Nielson decided to go with the pneumatic bases that had a ratchet option, making them easy and quiet to raise or lower. Topness than contacted Tuohy Furniture in Fountain to make the tabletops for the bases. Both Valley Design and Tuohy sold the desks to the school at cost.
“It’s about our connection with Fillmore Central,” Topness remarked.
Before ordering the desks, Nielson asked the school custodians what they thought about them. “I didn’t know if they would be too hard to move and clean under,” she said. But the custodians were all for the change. One even made the comment that he wished they’d had desks like those when he was in school.
Nielson applied for and received a $2,600 grant from the Education Minnesota Foundation, which helped pay for the desks.
Nielson was able to get three desks for her classroom for the 2015-16 school year to try them out and see how they worked. This year, she added three more for a total of six ergonomic desks in her classroom. After her students had spent some time getting used to the new desks, she conducted a survey among them, which provided valuable feedback for Valley Design.
“We mainly sell to the office industry,” Topness said. However, designing and selling the ergonomic desks to Fillmore Central allowed Valley Design to test the waters on the educational market. “The desks are a good marketing research tool,” she added.
Each desk fits two students. Nielson had concerns at first about how that would work out. “I was worried that they would be talking or looking at each other’s papers,” she admitted. But that hasn’t been an issue at all so far. “The kids work together well,” said Nielson.
The desks have flexible heights so students can choose how high or low they want them to be. The kids can sit at the desks or raise them up higher so they can stand. Depending on their height and how they want to sit or stand, they can change the desks to fit them perfectly.
The desks are sturdy and heavy, but have gliders on the bottom so they slide easily. The gliders can be adjusted to account for uneven floors. “The desks do take up a lot of room in the classroom,” Nielson noted, adding that the benefits of having them outweigh the space issue.
“It takes a little organization to put two kids together at a desk,” Nielson commented. She pairs students who are similar in height so they can use the same setting on the desk.
The students are free to choose their desk arrangement in class. Depending on their activity level that day or mood, some may prefer to sit while others choose to stand. “I’ve noticed that more kids like to stand in the afternoons than in the morning. The younger kids stand more than the older ones,” she laughed.
“I like to move around,” high school junior Taylor Willford commented about the flexibility in seating arrangements the desks provide. “I like being able to choose whether I sit or stand,” added junior Katie Gatzke.
Nielson has noticed that, since adding the ergonomic standing desks to her classroom, her students have been more focused. “What I like best is that they’re always looking at me,” she added. “When the kids are sitting down, they tend to look down.” The standing desks also make it easier to help students with their work. “I can stand and talk at their level instead of leaning over and getting in their space,” Nielson said.
Phy Ed teacher Andrew Pederson has also seen the value in the standing desks and is looking for grants so he can help get them into more classrooms.
If other school districts are interested in ordering ergonomic desks, they can contact Shelly Topness at Valley Design at (507) 268-4221 extension 1136 to discuss options.