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Danielle Knox: Well, the kids are in school and deep into learning this morning.
But did you know their environment could be hindering them
from absorbing all of that necessary information into those little brains there?
Well, one aspect of creating a learning atmosphere that is often overlooked is the furniture.
Yes, the furniture in the classroom.
Joining us in our parent-teacher corner this morning to talk about the well-designed classroom for better learning
we have John Musso from the Association of School Business Officials
and Saul Wagner from Hertz Furniture, a provider of furniture solutions for the educational market.
Gentlemen, good morning. Good to see you and have you on the show this morning.
John Musso and Saul Wagner: Good morning; thank you.
Danielle Knox: You know, something I really never thought about: the well-designed classroom
or the furniture that my children are sitting on.
Why should parents be interested in the furnishings in a classroom?
John Musso, CEO, Assoc. of School Business Officials: Every parent is concerned about how their child learns
and their education and their test scores, obviously.
But what we seem to; don't put together is the furnishings, the classroom environment, has a direct relationship
not only on how children learn but on their behavior. And teachers can't teach unless a student's discipline is in order.
Danielle Knox: Maybe because I guess they have to be comfortable in what they're sitting on, right?
Saul Wagner, CEO and Owner, Hertz Furniture: That's definitely what it is. And if we think about it for a moment,
our children are spending eight hours a day in the classroom.
And if students are comfortable, they will learn better in that environment.
Danielle Knox: That's true. All right. So, what can schools do to create a well-designed classroom?
John Musso: Well, several things. I mean, first of all, I think schools have to be strategic in how they plan their classrooms.
Strategic in how they purchase and what they purchase.
Really important, especially today when budgets are dwindling.
Danielle Knox: Yeah, and you talk about dwindling budgets but you also talk about what you said, which is so important, Saul,
which is, you have to kind of find furniture that works but that you can also repurpose and that you can continue to use.
Saul Wagner: There's no question about that. And today's designers of furniture have taken all of that into account.
We've looked at how the industry has changed; how the classroom has changed over all these years; how technology has come into the classroom.
And furniture has; there's so many different options in furniture today to take advantage of all those changes.
So, a school needs to say,
"What are we going to be doing with this room, what are the teaching styles that are going to be going on in this classroom."
And then they need to come to a furniture specialist such as us at Hertz Furniture and say,
"This is what we want to use this room for today and in the future."
And we have furniture solutions for every type of environment for every type of teaching style.
Danielle Knox: All right, so, Saul, we visited multiple classrooms
as examples of different ways to utilize furniture for different age groups. Could you tell us what we found?
Saul Wagner: Well, we found that in the younger age groups, the furniture is designed in such as way
that the desks are not moved that much during the day.
The same desk can be used in a podded environment or a group environment or as standalone environments,
whereas in the older age groups, the students can be moving those desks around.
Danielle Knox: I do want to talk a little bit about the budget constraints.
When you're talking about creating a flexible or new classroom learning environment, what should parents be aware of?
And I want both of you to chime in on this one.
John Musso: We've been cutting for the last couple of years because the economy, and now we're cutting at the classroom level.
We're cutting teachers, we're cutting aides, we're cutting textbooks.
And so when schools put forward budgets that have things in them that may seem like fluff,
like flexible and great-designed classroom furniture, typically those are the types of things that people criticize.
But we need to be more holistic in looking at that budget and analyzing why it's there.
Ask more questions before we start to criticize.
Danielle Knox: Mm-hmm. Saul?
Saul Wagner: Yes. I definitely would agree with what John has to say.
And, in addition, the schools should be making sure that they're looking for value.
Value in terms of what the product costs us over the lifetime of the product, making sure that the product has a warranty,
making sure that they're meeting with a furniture specialist who can provide them with the solutions
that will give the value over the term of the product.
Danielle Knox: So, let me ask you, then, as a parent: Is there anything that I can do to ensure that my child is getting, you know,
more comfortable furniture; is maximizing their education where furnishings are concerned?
John Musso: School now are going to different types of tax overrides that voters need to approve, and it's to either fund
current teachers and textbooks or to fund the capital items like buildings and furniture and equipment types of things.
And so when parents go out and vote yes or no, they need to make sure that they're educated
in terms of why are we asking to put these types of things in the budget? Why do we need additional dollars?
And sometimes we don't understand that a teacher's teaching style directly affects a student's learning ability.
Danielle Knox: And you're nodding your head "yes" to that.
Saul Wagner: Yes. I agree a hundred percent. Parents should be conveying to the schools what's important to them.
The comfort of their children is important to them.
If environmentally friendly products are important to them. If made in the USA is important to them.
Convey what's important to you as a parent to the administration of the schools.
Danielle Knox: Good information, gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming by and sharing it with us on the show this morning.
John Musso & Saul Wagner: Thank you.
Danielle Knox: I appreciate it.
And for more information on student furniture, simply log on to the website HertzFurniture.com.
Oh, and don't forget to log onto TheBalancingAct.com for more information and tools in our parent-teacher corner.