Standing Desks Make Positive Impact In Bartlesville Classroom

What if students had the option to stand up in class instead of just sit hour after hour?

A Bartlesville teacher thought it was a good idea, so she wrote a grant to pay for some stand-up desks.

Lyndsey Stuart said the desks are paying off in her American History classroom at Bartlesville High.

"I had some students who were begging me to be able to stand up in class," she said.

Stuart had no options, there were no stand-up desks. But, she did some research and wrote a grant to the Bartlesville Education Foundation; they gave her money for three.

"I've had them for two weeks now, and they've changed the game for some of these students," she said.

She said some students stand for just a few minutes, some for the whole class. Some will stand one day and not the next, it's an option.

"When you're standing up you're just much more engaged and focused,” one student said.

They said it particularly helps toward the end of the day.

"You're tired, you gotta stand up and get your mind awake," said another student.

Stuart said it's not a punishment - you’re not focused, go stand up. It's just an option. And it's working - grades among many who use the desks are going up, as she hoped, and the kids are proving her right.

“It's nothing for me to be able to have the students stand in the back, but it's everything to their future," she said.

Stuart said the desks are so successful she'd like a few more. She also said, other teachers she's talked to would like a few standup desks for their classrooms, too.