In Kristy Genung’s second grade classroom at Linkhorne Elementary, it’s all about choices. Rather than having assigned desks, students can choose if they want to sit on bouncy ball chairs, corner tables, standing desks, and now, thanks to a collaborative effort with Heritage High School teacher Jerry Dudley, a specially made reading loft.
Ms. Genung is constantly in search of furniture that adds to her classroom’s unique setup. This time, she wanted to give her students an extra space where they can read or work on journals during the class’s independent learning time. Also in search of a high quality product for a bargain, Ms. Genung reached out to Mr. Dudley, the Building Trades teacher at Heritage High School. Mr. Dudley’s students were up to the task, and in a matter of weeks, built a reading loft on sight in their Heritage classroom. Then, at the end of an early dismissal day on their own time, the students joined Mr. Dudley to deliver and assemble the loft inside Ms. Genung’s classroom.
This collaboration between schools not only benefited Ms. Genung and her students; it also allowed the Heritage students to apply their classroom skills toward real-world job experience.
Click here for the news coverage from WDBJ7 and to see video of the students assembling the loft.
