Idaho School Trades Chairs for Exercise Balls

Milwaukee Public Schools might want to look into this idea.

It would save lots of money.

MOSCOW, Idaho. -- Most teachers will tell you getting young students to sit still is next to impossible.

So a school in Moscow, Idaho, is trying something new.

At the J. Russel School, they’re replacing classroom chairs with exercise balls.

Principal Eric Hudleson's students sound more like senior citizens than 6th graders when they talk about sitting in their chairs.

"Sometimes it hurts my back,” said one.

But since they’ve switched to exercise balls, students are wiggling, bouncing and believe it or not - learning more than before.

"I've fallen asleep in this class before we got these,” one student said.

Hudelson says he was skeptical when the chairs were pulled out and the balls were rolled in about a month ago.

"It looked like a concert in here, everyone bouncing in unison,” he said.

But when teachers passed out a science test recently, most students sat still and sat upright.

"They pay a lot more attention and they participate in a lot more classroom conversation,” Hudleson said.

...Hudelson says a classroom of school chairs costs close to $2,000. The same number of exercise balls is just $200.

I think it would be uncomfortable to sit on an exercise ball while taking a test. Penmanship might be a problem. It must be hard to write while rolling around. If a kid shifts position too quickly, he could slip and slide off. Of course, kids fall off chairs, too.

But it still has to be somewhat distracting to have the students on exercise balls. Are there "no bounce" times, or is it a bouncing free-for-all?

Can the kids move around the room on the balls, or must they stay in place as if it were a chair?

The principal claims the kids are paying attention better than before.

One kid said he used to fall asleep in class when he sat on a chair.

Maybe exercise balls are the way to go in other places, too.

Replace the chairs in offices. It might increase productivity.

Instead of pews, churches might want to consider exercise balls. People would pay attention and be less likely to nod off during sermons.