Westlake 4th Graders Win Grant Prize

WESTLAKE, OH — A class of fourth graders at Bassett Elementary School recently won first place in the FriendsOffice W.R.I.T.E. (We Reward Innovative Teaching Endeavors) Program. As a prize, teacher Leah Burke's class received seven Runtz Ball Chairs.

The W.R.I.T.E. grant program allows classrooms to use the products available through the FriendsOffice in Findlay, Ohio. Burke's class won the grand prize for their grant application, "Empowering 4th Graders to Be Agents of Change in Their Learning Space.”

“From our research, we learned that kinesthetic and tactile learners like to learn in similar ways because they both like to fidget. Students with autism could use the Runtz Ball Chairs to bounce up and down slightly and move back and forth. All students with different learning styles should have the chance to learn in a way that works for them,” they wrote.

Burke wrote the first and last paragraphs for the grant, and invited her students to explai how they would use the energy ball chairs. Students Anna Mancino, Annabelle Samide, Bella Puchmeyer, Gabriella Cutter, Samantha Lundell and Kaylee Fogarty wrote, “If we had Runtz Ball Chairs in our classroom, we could take action within our project-based learning experience, have more flexible seating in our classroom, support students with different learning styles and disabilities, and create different and new ways to learn.”

The grants were rated on 10 components, including innovative ideas, creative presentation and selection of products form the FriendsOffice catalogue. Schools in Indiana, Wapakoneta and Findlay won second, third and fourth prizes.

Photo from Westlake Schools