Salisbury Middle School Principal Ken Parliman addressed members of the school board during the operations committee meeting April 3 at the administration building.

Parliman said two years ago, SMS entered a pilot program creating a new purpose for two rooms at the school, as well as new furniture for the spaces.

Since the inception of the pilot, Rooms 102 and 104 at the school have been used as flexible learning space for the students and professional development for the faculty. Using the Google calendar, faculty can reserve the space for their use.

Parliman introduced two faculty members – David Byer and Kathy Yurconic, who have both utilized the space for their classes.

Yurconic, a sixth grade Social Studies teacher at SMS, said the furniture currently in use at the school in the majority of the classrooms is outdated and has not changed with the needs of the students, many of whom use laptop computers or work collaboratively in groups with other students.

Students and faculty have also become more transient during class, according to Yurconic, and need furniture that moves along with them or can be easily moved.

The furniture and white boards outfitted in rooms 102 and 104 as part of the pilot program allow students to move about more freely, and to “generate ideas and pick out key points” from other students in the classroom.

Yurconic said she signs out one of the two rooms for the week-long Chinese New Year project as well as the Egyptian Funeral project where teachers and students work collaboratively and several classrooms use the space. The furniture in the two rooms, including chairs that allow additional storage and desks that can be configured to accommodate small or large groups, makes the space easily adaptable for a “theater in the round” atmosphere, according to Yurconic.

Reading teacher David Byer shared Yurconic’s thoughts and said a classroom can dictate the manner in which students learn.

Citing David Thornburg’s three archetypes of learning, Byer said that depending on the configuration of the furniture in the room and it’s adaptability, students can learn in “caves, campfires or watering holes.”

Should the student’s desk face the wall, the student learns independently without distractions, representing the cave archetype.

The campfire configuration has students working collaboratively in a large groups with desks placed in a round facing inward.

The watering hole archetype has students pushing furniture to work together in smaller, more intimate groups.

Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Lynn Fuini-Hetton complimented the team for their work on the pilot program and feedback on the furniture in the space.

Director George Gatanis asked the group whether there was anything that needed to be changed in the room.

Parliman responded the tables could be more mobile, while Yurconic replied the furniture color would need to be changed, as the color of the furniture in the pilot program is easily marked by pencils and pens.

The furniture was described by the group as durable and of high quality and the team involved in the pilot program said it was beneficial to their classes.

Parliman noted seven faculty members have requested the furniture for their classrooms.

The operations committee approved the purchase of the furniture for the seven classrooms at a cost of $100,000, which will come out of the district’s capital fund.