How Wells Fargo and Green Standards went green for the BGN!Meredith Williams - Principal, NRHS North Rowan High School (also known as the Big Green Nation or BGN) was opened in 1958. The dedication packet included these pictures and text describing the classroom areas: In celebrating the school’s 60th anniversary this year, our yearbook staff in particular has enjoyed comparing these pictures to the current day and seeing how much, and in some cases, how little has changed. When we attempted to convert a set of four classrooms (one of which is shown in the pictures above) and a media center into a 9th and 10th grade design lab, we found that much of the same furniture pictured in the rooms 60 years ago is still in use today. Design labs, which encourage critical student-driven thinking, would certainly need a different kind of furniture to create an appropriate space for creation and collaboration.
The need for so much furniture became a design challenge in and of itself. The funds in our school are almost completely dedicated to the purchase of instructional supplies for our classrooms. Rarely is there much left over that could be considered for furniture. Enter the nonprofit, Green Standards whose solution to our need for furniture matched us with the Wells Fargo who had a need to dispose of surplus office furniture in an environmentally friendly manner. Through this innovative approach, Green Standards facilitated the delivery of over 50 surplus office cubicles from Wells Fargo to North Rowan High School in the fall of 2018. The cubicles and file drawers found their way into each design lab, fulfilling a multitude of needs. Cubicles became watering holes in the 10th grade design lab (see blog Designing our Design Labs). The counter tops created workspace for both cave and watering hole time in the 9th grade lab. The lateral files not only stored all the materials and supplies needed in the spaces, but pillows on top could turn the file drawers into extra seating for campfire moments. All the furniture, though large, is glideable, meaning with two people it can be moved around the room into different configurations often as the needs change. The partitions provide acoustical control of the spaces, where anywhere between 30 and 70 students can be working at a time. The 84” long countertops of each cubicle provide work space for up to three students (a typical group size). Wells Fargo’s choice to use the services of Green Standards for upcycling their extra furniture was both a generous and environmentally friendly decision that provided our students to the furniture necessary to support their 21st century learning. And that’s how Wells Fargo and Green Standards went green for the BGN!
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AuthorMeredith Williams is the principal at NRHS. A graduate of NRHS and an community member, Mrs. Williams is invested in the success of the NRHS student population. ArchivesCategories |