Archive for the ‘classroom furniture’ Category

Building the Bridge City

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07//19//2011 //Mark Hubbard
Posted in: classroom furniture, colorful school furniture, innovative furniture design

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!

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Below the Surface

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04//01//2011 //Steve Pryor
Posted in: classroom furniture, innovative furniture design, intuitive by paragon furniture, paragon furniture, school furniture, space planning

BELOW THE SURFACE.  STORAGE AT STUDENT LEVEL

LEARN-IT bookboxSnacks, 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! :)

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5…4…3…2…1…Impact!

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03//18//2011 //Mark Hubbard
Posted in: classroom furniture, eco friendly school furniture, innovative furniture design, paragon furniture

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.”

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The Gravity of the Situation

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05//05//2010 //Steve Pryor
Posted in: classroom furniture, collaborative learning, computer lab furniture, education technology solutions, innovative furniture design

The Gravity of the SituationThey say that Isaac Newton was first inspired to study the effect of gravity while watching an apple fall while sitting under an apple tree.  Apparently, he didn’t get outside very often.  Considering he was never married, there was probably no need to make an excuse to leave the house.  Judging by the picture, he spent most of his time brushing his hair in the mirror.

The CEO of Bretford, Dave Petrick, once said that “the sole purpose of  our product was to keep stuff off the floor.”  Yes…find something to keep off the floor and there was likely a furniture solution to solve it.

So, here we find ourselves today.  Still fighting gravity.  Still trying to keep stuff off the floor.  It comes down to this:

I/A = Paragon Furniture

Item/Application= Paragon Furniture

Just think of what you are using (laptops, computers, books, lab equipment), know your application (storage, classroom, collaborative learning, computer lab) and you will always find a solution at www.paragoninc.com!

Now imagine what would have happened if tree chopping George Washington had been Isaac Newtons neighbor?  We would be talking about how birds inspired the study of gravity…and dry cleaning.

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Creative Environments for Team and Collaborative Learning

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01//28//2010 //Steve Pryor
Posted in: classroom furniture, collaborative learning, ergonomic school furniture, innovative furniture design, intuitive by paragon furniture, paragon furniture, school furniture, space planning

collaborative desks for learning

As history would demonstrate, the Paragon guys were educated while sitting at the back of the classroom.  Since we spent so many years looking at the rows of furniture between us and our teachers, it was destiny that we would end up making educational furniture as adults.

The days of fixed rows of combo desks will hopefully be a scene of the past.  Learning time is valuable and the need to engage students and offer educators flexibility with classroom management is key.  That is why Paragon believes that the solution is INTUitIVE.

LEARN-IT, COLLABORATE-IT and TEAM-IT desks  can be used to develop creative learning environments for students and teachers alike.  Students of all ages and sizes can connect to the lesson plan in more ergonomic postures when used with the right seating.  Thanks to the innovative shapes of COLLABORATE-IT and TEAM-IT, students can be placed together in groups of two or more to share and encourage each other during the learning process.

A classroom that sits in rows for testing can easily be rearranged to adapt the environment and get ALL students involved in the learning process. No longer will a student get lost in the back of the class.

As I like to say, your SAT score can be affected by where you SAT.  Classroom management will no longer be limited by the furniture and educators will be able to focus on the job of investing their time into the next great generation.

Now imagine, if the Paragon guys had INTUitIVE furniture when they were in school?  You would be buying furniture from a doctor, a lawyer and…. hmmm…. a very well educated PhD rock star. 

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