School Furniture Blog // Blog

Building the Bridge City

07//19//2011 //Mark Hubbard

In September 2008, Hurricane Ike swept through southeast Texas destroying homes, businesses and the schools of Bridge City, Texas. Clearly, this was an extraordinarily trying time, especially for the local independent school district. At the time that Ike wreaked havoc, Bridge City had two elementary campuses: Sims and Hatton, both of which were almost completely destroyed. So, for the past 3 years, teachers, staff and children have been in portable buildings…not exactly the most conducive environment for learning.

Too damaged to make repairing Sims and Hatton schools a sensible investment, Bridge City ISD leadership charted a bold new course of action: build a single, state of the art school, Bridge City Elementary, to serve over 600 children of the community in grades Pre-K through 2nd. Funded with monies from FEMA and insurance, Bridge City Elementary will open for business in August of 2011.

The overall interior design of Bridge City Elementary was especially important to the project planners. Led by the talents of Creative Arts Unlimited, Inc, transportation is the School’s overarching theme. Working closely with BCISD and furniture and equipment project specialists, Contrax (www.contrax.com), Creative Arts Unlimited built 3 dimensional transportation displays for use throughout the School, with each grade assigned its own transportation identity. Importantly, all of the artwork was drawn to inculcate elements of the Bridge City community: bridges, boats, wetland wildlife, etc. Perhaps the crowing jewel of the School’s design, however, is the library. Set up as a Train Depot, kids will enjoy a “story time stage” with their bird mascot, Li’l Red.

The furniture and equipment selected for the School was equally important as the artistic and architectural designs. Starting in September of 2010, Contrax Furnishings’ specialists, Liz Bolton and Alicia Fisher, worked closely with BCISD key decision makers to present, narrow, and select furniture that adapted to the very latest in teaching methods, including technology usage. The classroom furniture is Paragon, Furniture (love these guys☺), Invincible, Media Tech and USA Capitol. The administration wing selection is National Office Furniture.

The excitement is building for the first day of Bridge City Elementary. The School is a physical manifestation of the unerring drive to rebuild the foundation of any strong and growing community: the place where children go to learn. Congratulations to Bridge City ISD!

Paragon Top Picks: School Furniture Resources Online

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05//31//2011 //Mark Hubbard

Top School Furniture Resources Online Seems like the “smartest” folks we often know are the same folks who have the greatest internal and external resources. Only a couple decades ago, only the hives with the largest stockpiles of honey could afford access. But now, with all these incredible advancements in technology, the honeycomb has been leveled to such a degree that virtually all of us have an unfettered flight path directly to some of the richest information resources imaginable. At Paragon, we RELY on the ability to mine the very best ideas available…many of which bubble up from within our talent pool…and many of which come from customers, suppliers, competitors, product testers, industry reporters, and many more. For those you who honor us with your patronage, we thought you might like to see some of the resources we consider most useful in our day-in/day-out activities here at Paragon. Check these links out and we’re sure you’ll find the nectar just as sweet (alright…alright…I’m done with the whole honeybee metaphor…I only did it to show my retired teacher mother that I paid attention in her class…once). Beezout!

WorkSpace Resources – Education : Great source of information on space planning in today’s electronic classroom.
The NSSEA Network : The National School Supply & Equipment Association’s answer to social networking online … Its Facebook for School Furniture!
MAS Certified Green : Find out what it takes to “Go Green” and enter the green market with low VOC emitting products.
Federal Schedules – GSA Resources : Everything you need to know about “getting on schedule” with GSA.
Intertek – Furniture Testing : The complete testing source for ANSI/BIFMA, GSA, and more!
Contract Magazine – TALKcontract Blog : Get inspired by the latest innovations in commercial design.
The Heart of America Foundation : Learn about The READesign Initiative … HOA’s library makeover program!
School Planning & Management : The “one-stop shop” for news and information on educational planning and design.
LibraryWorks – Cartoons & Humor : Who knew librarians had a sense of humor?!!

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Paragon Supports Heart of America… READ-IT and you can too!

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04//18//2011 //Steve Pryor

Heart of America - READesign Founded in 1997, The Heart of America Foundation (HOA) began with one mission. To “teach the values at the heart of America and help people, particularly children, learn that they help themselves when they help others.”

Combining volunteerism and literacy, the focus of HOA is to provide children in need everywhere with the tools to read, succeed and make a difference.

Just walk into the library of a school that has benefitted from a READesign from Heart of America. The READesign® Library Makeover program engages volunteers, especially local youth, as well as corporate team members and other members of the community, in service and community involvement through library beautification and improvement activities, book distributions and one-on-one reading activities with children. The project provides tangible results in the form of a revitalized library, as well as the intangible results of engaging people in caring, compassionate community service to children in need.

Paragon has been a proud supporter of the READesign and is taking the commitment one step further. Now you contribute to Heart Of America every time you buy a READ-IT table. The generational friendly reading table that is part of our acclaimed Intuitive line, will be our flagship for promoting literacy.

Now, every time you buy a READ-IT table, Paragon will donate $5 from each sale towards the tireless efforts of Heart of America.

We can’t think of a better organization to support.

For more information on Heart of America and the work they do, please visit http://www.heartofamerica.org/

Heart of America - READ-IT table

Below the Surface

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04//01//2011 //Steve Pryor

BELOW THE SURFACE. STORAGE AT STUDENT LEVEL

LEARN-IT bookbox Snacks, turtles, hamsters and love notes. These are just a few of the things that have spent time inside a school book box. We all know that the work surface of a desk is the place for brilliance to be explored, but what are we to make of the space that sits below it?

From the archaic lift top desks of the 50’s… or the guillotine for the modern teen as some have called it… to the cavernous dark black spaces that collect dirt from generation to generation, the bookbox has seen very little change in the classroom. Like a student with 3 hours sleep, it just sits there.

Classrooms are rapidly changing. Technology is taking over, yet there is often still the need for flexibility in storage solutions contained within the student space. Books are still here, not everyone has a laptop or “pad” to work with, and teachers have to maintain classroom management with a minimum of disruption. Students can’t keep getting up to get the tools needed to work on the next part of the lesson.

Paragon’s Intuitive line has a creative perforated bookbox that is student safe, yet allows for the future ability to let charging cords enter the compartment. The perforations allow not only for great design, but give electronics the much-needed ventilation they need. For now, it might just be for books, but when technology comes to your classroom, you are already prepared! There is no need to reinvent what you are doing with each student’s space and you are not spending additional funds.

But maybe you want to live outside the box? Paragon offers the option of a backpack hook that keeps bags off the floor yet still gives you room to store. Oh, Who could want more? (Perhaps, I need to lay off the Cat in the Hat …how about that?)

So, what have we learned this time? (besides the bad rhyme)

Paragon is dedicated to helping you with your storage solutions in the classroom space. To us it is not just a box or a hook. It is another tool that holds the information that students use to enlighten and mold their future.

Ok…it is just a box and a hook… but they really do their job!

What is Information Commons? To us, it is Intuitive.

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03//22//2011 //Steve Pryor

Intuitive-IC shelving Paragon’s Intuitive-IC is the system designed to help you prepare for the move from a traditional Library and Media Center to the technology driven environment of the Information Commons.

Taking its roots from simpler times when communities shared communal land, the Information Commons is the modern academic equivalent of a common space used for the processes of information gathering and social collaboration. It is where enlightenment meets interaction. Knowledge fosters education.

Intuitive-IC let’s you address your current storage and display needs while offering collaborative working spaces, technology hubs and seating solutions. You have the tools for practical transformation of your space in the digital age.

Let Paragon move you furniture forward with the planning of your new library or media center, as you make what has been uncommon become Information Commons. That’s the Intuitive-IC way. For tomorrow and today.

Intuitive-IC shelving

5…4…3…2…1…Impact!

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03//18//2011 //Mark Hubbard

Impact On Learning

This week, the Peter Li Education Group, publishers of educational industry-focused magazines School Panning & Management and College Planning & Management, released a special multimedia program entitled “Impact On Learning.”

To kick off the program, Editor, Deb Moore and her team of researchers, inculcate their findings in a thirty-one page examination of various case studies surrounding the impact of the physical environment on a student’s ability to learn and (equally important) an instructor’s ability to teach.

The publication’s first real-world look at how the physical properties of a school are planned, manufactured and delivered features the winning (and not in the Charlie Sheen kind of way!) combination of Paragon Furniture and Contrax Furnishings on the Cedar Creek High School project in Cedar Creek, TX (part of the Bastrop ISD).

The key takeaways from the project snapshot are:
• Open environments where learning can break out in any and all spaces.
• Student collaboration requires flexible furniture that can reconfigure on the fly.
• A clear Supplier-Project Manager-End user communication channel greatly increases a project’s success rate.
To read more about the Cedar Creek High School project, check out www.planning4education.com, keyword “Impact on Learning.”

Color Me Paragon!

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03//09//2011 //Mark Hubbard

At Paragon, we’re known for being a little “off-color” (which we blame squarely on our parents). But, that’s changing starting today, folks! Introducing four new vibrant paint colors: Orangesicle, Bluescape, Fire Truck Red, and Green Bean. These colors are so tempting you want to lick ‘em.

Educators and interior designers alike are specifying vibrant colors now more than ever. Neuroscience research supports the claim that the brain increases its capacity when subject to certain wavelengths of color. A little known point of interest is that colors actually emit tiny vibrations that can activate certain nerves, and even molecules, when taken in through our eyes. The influence of color on our physiology and our psychology (ie mood) is, therefore, widely accepted as fact. The following colors are believed to:

• Green = calms the nervous system
• Orange = promotes spontaneity
• Red = kicks the doldrums to the curb
• Blue = decreases anxiety

With all the positive influences of color at our disposal, why not use it to improve our learning spaces? Let Paragon help you broaden the color pallette from which you paint. We’ll thrown in the colorful language for free!

Paragon Furniture’s Hubbard Announces The Company Is Taking Over!

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10//10//2010 //Mark Hubbard

THIS JUST IN… BREAKING NEWS!!! LOOK OUT EDUCATIONAL FURNITURE WORLD!!!

ARLINGTON, TX (aka the Philtrum of DFW) – In a statement issued at 3:50pm CST, Wednesday, Oct 6th, Paragon Furniture President, Mark Hubbard, announced the company is going to become the leading supplier of furniture built for education and training environments. Curiously, the statement was issued only moments after right handed flame-throwing Texas Ranger pitcher, Neftali Feliz, recorded the final out in game 1 of the Rangers 5-1 American League Division Series win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Clearly buoyed by only the 2nd playoff victory in Texas Rangers’ history, Hubbard said, “Ya man, we’re just going to lace ‘em up, go out there and play our game to the bestus of our ability.” In describing Paragon’s strategy for what would be unprecedented growth in a mature industry, Hubbard answered with a question of his own: “We finally figured out that we can only grow if we sell more than we used to. So, we’ve decided we’re going to do more selling and take over the world, like Hans Gruber commanded the feathered hairstyle in ‘Die Hard’, you know what I’m sayin’?”

Misquoting President John F. Kennedy, Hubbard attempted to rally Paragon employees, while speaking in Irish accent: “Ask not what Paragon can do for you – ask everybody you know to do more buying from Paragon.” Undeterred by the audible and collective groan from the audience, Hubbard went on to parody Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA,” by substituting “Please Buy From Us Today.”

Asked about Paragon’s unsurpassed reputation for making quality computer lab tables, school desks, workstations, library shelving, and media cabinets, Hubbard credited the hard work of all Paragon employees (excluding himself), double rainbows, and pine tar.

For more about Paragon Furniture and its world domination plan, please visit www.paragoninc.com.

Paragon Supports Groundwork Music Project

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10//08//2010 //Ricky Kassanoff

For four years, Paragon has been contributing to the Groundwork Music Project, an organization that provides free music classes to preschool aged children. The organization recently released a new recording for children in the classroom and for families to enjoy together.

CLICK HERE to enjoy their songs for young children free of charge!

Early childhood music education offers tremendous benefits and we hope you will enjoy the music. We also urge you to consider donating to this worthy cause just as we have.