By Rachael Ochoa
The Arizona Republic.
SCOTTSDALE -- Angie Fernau's sixth-graders are bouncing up and down for social studies.
Eager to learn, they jet into the classroom, crack open their books and hurriedly write down instructions form the chalkboard.
It's been the same uplifting scenario daily for Fernau since her students traded their black, hard plastic chairs for black bouncing rubber balls three weeks ago.
The PostureBalls, sold by the Valley-based Fitness Co., are designed to help posture, eliminate back pain and increase energy.
These bouncy chairs already are a hit in corporate offices across the nation. Now they are making headway into Northeast Valley classrooms.
Desert Canyon Middle School, 10203 E McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, is the fourth school in the area to join in the fun and the first school to use the balls in a regular class. Other public and private schools are using the balls in special-education classes.
Deby Harper, who owns Fitness Co., started donating the balls to classes three years ago.
She will track 60 Desert Canyon students until they are in eighth grade, noting behavior, posture and stress. The students will have the same two teachers.
Harper hopes to publish the results.
Ultimately, Harper wants every child to have a choice in school. Her child is a former student of Fernau.
"Sitting on a hard plastic chair, the (students) cringe. The get tight, and their brain shuts down," Harper said.
Schools are reporting better attention spans with the use of the balls. Teachers don't have to nag students to sit still in their chairs.
"It really soothes their little bodies and it helps them keep on task." teacher Patsy Heberle said. She uses the balls in her special-education classes at Sonoran Sky Elementary School, 12990 N. 75th St.
Fernau and her teaching partner, Diane Wolin, are eager for similar benefits. The two split the group of 60 children. "I'm open for anything that makes them more excited to come to class," Fernau said.
Students had been using the balls for only y half a day . This week, they plan to use them both in Fernau's and Wolin's classes. Not every student is required to sit on a ball.
It's easy for kids to want to bounce feverishly all day long. But they must observe ball etiquette.
Both feet need to be on the ground. When they first sit on the balls, Fernau gives students 30 seconds to get the bouncies out.
If need be, students can bob ever so lightly to let out anxiety or frustration.
Those feelings typically are associated with learning something new, Fernau said. Using a ball had helped 12-year-old Gus Leal-Isla, who used to nibble on his nails and pinch his eyebrows, to stay alert.
Now the ball does the job, and he's paying more attention.
"I learn a lot better. Stuff we did last week, I remember," he said.
Eleven-year-old Robyn Alli's mom calls her a soldier because she sits straight at the dinner table. Robyn notices she no longer spends half of her time or energy fidgeting in her chair trying to get comfortable.
The new chairs are a natural fit, her classmates agreed. "You can't push down on a chair. With a ball, you can make your butt comfy," said 12-year-old Drianna Romano.