Grant allows students at one Corbin school to trade in chairs for exercise balls

Step inside Tonya Proffitt’s fifth grade language arts and social studies class at Corbin Intermediate School on a typical school day and it isn’t what you see that is so surprising so much as what you won’t see.

There are no chairs.

Instead, the 26 focused, happy students in Proffitt’s sit on individualized exercise balls, purchased with grant funds designed to promote health and wellness in our nation’s schools.

"They came and asked me if I wanted to try it out and I said sure," Proffitt said. "I’ve seen a great improvement since we started using them. Anybody that had trouble focusing it really seems to help them stay on task. Things like doodling or kids laying their heads down because they are tired … that just doesn’t seem to happen anymore."

The idea sprang from a Mayo Clinic study that showed students seated on the balls were able to be more attentive, less tired and more engaged in the academic process. When the school’s Family Resource Center procured grant funds to purchase the balls, Proffitt’s room was tabbed as a good test center.

Only two schools in the nation have chosen the exercise balls in favor of chairs, Profitt said; they are in West Virginia and Florida. Corbin Intermediate School is the first in the state to give it a shot.

"I showed them a video about the classroom in West Virginia that was doing it and asked them what they thought about it," Proffitt said. "They thought it was a neat idea and that it would be cool to try it. I said, ‘Well, guess what, we are going to do it.’"

All the balls were purchased from Wal-Mart and they are the same exercise balls used at Baptist Family Fitness Center, Proffitt said. Students were given different size balls depending on their height and weight.

Chairs are still optional. Students are never forced to sit on the balls, but Proffitt said the instances of a student switching back to chairs are now few and far between.

"At first, the kids seemed like they got kind of tired sitting on them so it took a little getting used to," Proffitt said. "Now, it’s a big difference. Their posture has improved and they seem to be able to concentrate better. They are constantly stimulated with some type of movement."

Mayo Clinic researchers found the balls had physical health benefits because they forced students to sit up straight since they could not slouch in a backed chair. Also, it helps to strengthen their core muscles throughout the day. In addition, the balls allow energetic young students the ability to have a release by bouncing slightly. Proffitt said at first, the bobbing heads in her classroom was a little distracting.

"I had to get used to it," she said. "They would be there bouncing up and down and they would not even notice it. Now, I don’t really notice it either."

Ten-year-old Madison Davis, a student in Proffitt’s classroom, said now that she is used to sitting on a ball rather than a chair, she will miss it when she graduates to sixth grade next year.

"I think they are better," she said. "They aren’t hard like a chair. They are easy to sit on and you can just bounce around. It’s fun. I think I’m going to miss them."

Already, other teachers in the school district are asking to use the balls as well.

Proffitt said originally, her classroom was only slated to use the balls for four weeks. Now eight weeks in, she still has them and said it’s been agreed that she can keep them as long as she wants.

"We still have the chairs. They are hidden, but anytime a student wants one we will get them one," Proffitt said. "It’s not too often that happens. They prefer the balls."

Money from the grant was also used to create the Redhound Runners – a fitness club for students at staff at the school.