ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Classrooms at Mangrove Bay Middle School in St. Petersburg have traded in traditional desks for ones that keep students moving while they learn.
“Some days, we’ll do math problems where, if the answer is odd, we’ll do a certain activity on a Boomerboard,” student Reid Meyer said.
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Big picture view:
The school introduced the Action-Based Learning approach in February. It includes equipment like pedal desks, balance stations, boomerboards and treadmills.
“I remember the first day we got it,” math teacher Carolyn Roselli said. “They were like, ‘can we get on the bikes? Can we get on the bikes,’ and it was a really exciting transition for our school,” she said.
The magnet school focuses on health and wellness, and partners with the YMCA.
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What they’re saying:
“It’s a little bit of a paradigm shift,” Principal Brett Patterson said. “The students are going to move one way or the other. So, for us to have structured movement and utilize, again, the training and the equipment to incorporate, that has been tremendous. It’s had a positive impact on our academic success. We were an A last year as a first-year open school, and we’re on a better track this year,” he said.
Patterson said it keeps the students focused.
“It’s more fun for me, because usually I sit and do work, and sometimes I fall asleep when I’m bored,” student Miracle Brown said.
It gives them a “brain break,” as Roselli calls it.
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“Sometimes when you step away from a problem, and you revisit it, you kind of say, ‘oh, that’s where I messed up,’ or, ‘oh, my first step should be …,’ And so, I think the equipment gives them an opportunity to have that in the classroom,” Roselli said.
She said the movement learning also keeps students more engaged.
“I’ve noticed the fidgeters. Once they get on the bikes they’ll get there and they’ll immediately start pedaling and then once they focus in on their work they stop. It’s like you can tell when they’re really focused,” Roselli said.
They’re focused and excited for school.
“Coming to school for some people might seem boring or dreadful, but for me, I think it’s awesome, because it’s not that boring, because you get to do all these fun activities at the same time getting a good education,” Meyer said.
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Patterson said behavioral issues have also decreased since adding the equipment.
What you can do:
Mangrove Bay Middle is part of Pinellas County’s Magnet District Application Programs. You can find out more about the programs on Wednesday at the South County Magnet Fair at Boca Ciega High School, located at 924 58th Street South in Gulfport from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Source: This story was written with information provided by Pinellas County Schools.Â