After 35 years, cop still has time to play
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Seven years ago, a student came down from the bleachers during an Eastlake basketball game and challenged Stan Chapin in pingpong. Chapin, a Sammamish police officer, was working the game, but he agreed to play afterwards.
Much to his surprise, a group of teenagers was waiting at the student’s house to see the match.
“I kind of walked into a trap,” Chapin said. “He was good. He took the lead and then I came back and then I finally beat him.”
Chapin, a righty with a strong backhand, prides himself on his pingpong prowess. He still owns a paddle he bought in 1969, which he prefers because of its leather wraparound grip. The rubber surface has worn smooth over time, he said.
“He’s not really like any other cop,” Eastlake High School sophomore Alex Gibson said. “I think everybody likes him.”
The city of Sammamish certainly does. On Oct. 20, the City Council recognized Chapin for 35 years of service in the King County Sheriff’s Office. For the last 10, Chapin has served as the school resource officer at Eastlake and at Inglewood Junior High where he patrols the schools and acts as a liaison between the Sammamish Police Department and the Lake Washington School District.
Students, school officials and co-workers describe Chapin as fun, accessible and capable of laughing at himself.
Chris Bede, an associate principal at Eastlake, said Chapin exercises compassion in how he works with struggling students.
“He’s great at addressing the issue and not necessarily having that jade his perception of that kid,” Bede said.
“He’s wonderful with the kids,” said Alana Hall, Sammamish’s school resource officer in the Issaquah School District. “One of the things that it (the job) requires is an outgoing personality, and he absolutely has that.”
In reflecting on his 10 years as a school resource officer so far, Chapin first mentions the school championships he’s seen, the girls soccer team that took first in state, the football team that went undefeated one season.
“I like being around high school sports because they’re playing for the love of the game,” he said.
Sports have been an ongoing thread in Chapin’s life.
Chapin was a guard on the Odea High School basketball team when they won the 1968 conference championship against the other catholic schools in the Seattle area.
Chapin, 59 and longtime Bothell resident, became a police officer in 1972 but took a two-year leave of absence in 1978 to train for the Olympic trials. He wanted to qualify for the marathon, which required running a bit more than 26 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes. He ran a pace of about 5 minutes and 45 seconds per mile, but missed the qualifying time.
“My husband is very competitive,” observed Susan, Stan’s wife. “He runs. He used to run in races all the time. Now he doesn’t race as much because he says, ‘If I want to race, I want to win.’”
Chapin’s sense of play is evident in his YouTube videos, Susan said.
“I call him Peter Pan. He’ll never grow up,” she said. “Watch those and then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Two short clips show a screeching Chapin, neck extended, arms folded up, imitating a velociraptor. In another clip, Chapin in lipstick and a blonde wig dances before a gym full of students — he agreed to the stunt if students raised a certain amount of money for cancer research.
In the weeks prior to his performance, Chapin watched the music video of Hannah Montana’s “Nobody’s Perfect,” memorizing the choreography and lyrics.
“He kind of went overboard, I thought,” Susan said. “He’s going, ‘How do you think this makeup looks? Is this too much lipstick?’”
Sgt. Robert Baxter, of the Sammamish Police Department, said it’s typical of the way Chapin can let loose.
“He can be crazy and loony and all that sort of stuff, but he can also be very serious,” Baxter said.
Chapin’s work hasn’t always been teen-focused. Before joining the Sammamish Police Department, Chapin spent time on the county’s fugitive task force and the major crimes unit and on a drug abuse resistance education program.
Susan, a 911 center dispatch supervisor for the King County Sheriff’s Office, said her husband has learned to assume different personas, depending on the situation. She said she’s noticed that some cops have a more difficult time shedding the serious, officer-like attitude when they are off-duty.
“He can be one of the kids. But then, when something happens, it’s like flipping a switch … He’s really good at it. He wasn’t at first,” she said. “I remember saying to him, you’re not on-duty, knock that off.”
Having children helped, Susan said. The Chapins have three children, the youngest being a 15-year-old attending Inglemoor High School, a rival of Eastlake.
Baxter said Chapin’s ability to connect with students is invaluable to the police department.
“It gives us a very big edge,” Baxter said, adding that having a school resource officer allows teenagers to feel comfortable around police.
“It’s letting the kids know that we are there to help them. I think that’s what Stan gets across so well.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Seven years ago, a student came down from the bleachers during an Eastlake basketball game and challenged Stan Chapin in pingpong. Chapin, a Sammamish police officer, was working the game, but he agreed to play afterwards.
Much to his surprise, a group of teenagers was waiting at the student’s house to see the match.
Stan Chapin admires the award the City Council gave him. Photo by J.B. Wogan
Council allows reader boards
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Ruth Weaver, a senior at Eastlake High School, waited for two hours on a school night for a chance to talk about electronic reader boards with the Sammamish City Council. Weaver has been in student government since ninth grade.
“I’ve been in leadership in four years. I’ve been changing the reader board for four years. That has not been fun,” Weaver said, describing weekly efforts to change the school’s current sign by 228th Avenue and Northeast 4th Street. Weaver said students have to climb a ladder amid rain and wind for more than an hour at time.
“It’s just an unpleasant experience, but it’s something that we do because we care about the community,” she said. Weaver was one of a handful of residents and school officials that spoke in favor of making an exception in the city’s sign code to allow high schools to have electronic reader boards.
Administrators at Eastlake and Skyline high schools said electronic reader boards would save students class time, make changing the signs less dangerous, and provide an opportunity to advertise the school’s full range of weekly events, not just a football game or a weekend play.
They got their wish.
The City Council voted 6-0 in favor of a five-year pilot program that allows high schools on 228th Avenue to use electronic reader boards. (Councilwoman Kathy Huckabay was absent.) The signs can be 10 feet tall and up to 32 square feet in size with static messages that change once a minute.
While the end vote was unanimous, the council hammered out the specifics of the code allowance before making a decision.
City Councilwoman Nancy Whitten asked a troubleshooting question about the city’s commitment to electronic reader boards in the future.
“How many nonprofits, churches, schools, that kind of thing, might be looking to put up an existing sign?” she asked. “What happens after five years? At five years, are you going to tell everybody to take down these signs?”
Community Development Director Kamuron Gurol said that if the council opted to cancel the program after five years, the schools that built electronic reader boards would be able to grandfather in those signs.
City Attorney Bruce Disend declined to comment on the full ramifications of Whitten’s questions — whether local organizations might sue the city over a sign code that grants exceptions to high schools, but not churches or nonprofits. (Businesses can post electronic reader boards under the current code.)
Disend did say that after the five-year trial period, the city could not limit electronic reader boards to only high schools on 228th Avenue.
City Councilman Mark Cross said he was skeptical about giving the schools the height they had requested — above six feet — because he didn’t think they would be more effective.
But Cross’ major concern was the frequency of changing messages. If they changed too fast, they could be distracting to drivers, he said.
“I do not want to use Sammamish citizens as crash testers,” he said.
The council changed the minimum message time from five seconds to one minute.
Frank Santoni, who lives on Southeast Sixth Place, urged the council not to allow electronic reader boards. He was the only person who testified against them at the Oct. 20 meeting.
“These signs will proliferate and radically change 228th,” Santoni said.
He said that Sammamish’s main street could end up looking like Aurora Avenue in Seattle, if the council wasn’t careful. To allow the electronic reader boards would be “giving in to the special interests of the few,” he said.
Stan Bump, who lives near the intersection of 228th Avenue and Southeast 4th Street, suggested that the council avoid questions of fairness by erecting its own city-owned electronic reader board by City Hall.
The board could broadcast messages for schools, churches and nonprofits from one central location.
Bump is also a member of the Planning Commission, which recommended against allowing electronic reader boards.
In a previous public meeting, Bump rolled out a map showing roughly 50 different places that might want electronic reader boards in the city.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Ruth Weaver, a senior at Eastlake High School, waited for two hours on a school night for a chance to talk about electronic reader boards with the Sammamish City Council. Weaver has been in student government since ninth grade.
“I’ve been in leadership in four years. I’ve been changing the reader board for four years. That has not been fun,” Weaver said, describing weekly efforts to change the school’s current sign by 228th Avenue and Northeast 4th Street. Weaver said students have to climb a ladder amid rain and wind for more than an hour at time.
Eastlake senior Michael Russo (in white) an sophomore Yazem Rashid change the sign in front of Eastlake that will likely be replaced by an electronic readerboard. Photo by Christopher Huber
King County property taxes due Nov. 2
October 27, 2009
King County property owners must pay 2009 second-half property taxes by Nov. 2.
Payments would have been due Oct. 31, but because that date falls on a Saturday, the deadline was extended to the following Monday.
King County officials have developed several ways for taxpayers to pay:
u By mail, if the envelope is postmarked no later than Nov. 2. Taxpayers should include the tax statement and write the property tax account number on a check or money order.
u In person, at the King County Administration Building, Room 600 – Treasury Operations, 500 Fourth Ave., Seattle Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
u At community services centers. Locate King County Community Service Centers at www.kingcounty.gov/csc/
u Through the online eTax application, with a credit card or an electronic debit from a checking account. Delinquent accounts are not payable through the online payment system. Visit www.kingcounty.gov/propertytax
To contact King County Treasury Operations with questions call the automated voice system at 206-296-0923, customer service at 206-296-3850 or visit www.kingcounty.gov/propertytax.
King County property owners must pay 2009 second-half property taxes by Nov. 2.
Payments would have been due Oct. 31, but because that date falls on a Saturday, the deadline was extended to the following Monday. Read more
Sammamish feeling out suggested Klahanie Park transfer
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
With Klahanie Park’s future still uncertain, Sammamish elected officials are mulling over the potential pitfalls of becoming its owners.
King County Executive Kurt Triplett has suggested closing it, along with 38 other parks, to help fill a county budget shortfall.
Sammamish’s discussions are preliminary in nature, as King County hasn’t officially relinquished ownership of the park yet.
Even if the county does, the city of Issaquah would have to pass on annexing the park, since it’s in Issaquah’s potential annexation area.
The King County Council is scheduled to make budget decisions affecting Klahanie Park’s fate in late November.
Sammamish City Councilman Lee Fellinge questioned whether it was a good deal for Sammamish.
He pointed to potential capital costs, in addition to annual operations and maintenance costs.
“Many of the users are not Sammamish citizens and their taxes are not supporting that park,” Fellinge said.
The park, built in the early 1990s and located between Southeast 32nd Street and Southeast Klahanie Boulevard, is 64.11 acres with one baseball field, two soccer fields and a restroom.
The fields are natural grass and are not lighted.
The park costs about $95,000 a year to operate, according to King County Parks. The transfer of ownership would not cost Sammamish anything.
City Manager Ben Yazici said he’s contacted Triplett about Sammamish taking over Klahanie Park.
“He feels that they have budget crunches, they cannot maintain this park, and he feels very fortunate that Sammamish stepped up to the plate,” Yazici told the council.
But Yazici said he has also discussed the matter with representatives from the Klahanie Homeowners Association, and they were less open to Sammamish owning the park, he said.
“I don’t think we should take them lightly,” he said.
Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger said the Issaquah City Council has not discussed a transfer of Klahanie Park, though she suspects Issaquah would be open to having someone else take it over.
“My guess is that the city might, based on discussions the city had on the whole Klahanie annexation topic,” she said.
In 2005 and 2006, Klahanie voted to annex into Issaquah, but then refused to take on new costs associated with joining Issaquah.
The annexation process fell flat and hasn’t resurfaced since.
Yazici said that if neither Sammamish nor Issaquah took over the park — assuming the King County Council does actually mothball it in the first place — the homeowners association would likely work out a lease agreement with the county.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
With Klahanie Park’s future still uncertain, Sammamish elected officials are mulling over the potential pitfalls of becoming its owners.
King County Executive Kurt Triplett has suggested closing it, along with 38 other parks, to help fill a county budget shortfall.
Sammamish’s discussions are preliminary in nature, as King County hasn’t officially relinquished ownership of the park yet. Read more
Sammamish City Council changes advisory boards
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
The City Council took steps to simplify its advisory board system Oct. 20, limiting the number of positions and staggering terms for one of its main boards.
The change would also allow a non-Sammamish resident to make recommendations on local parks decisions.
The council has five acting advisory boards, which study art, land-use, parks, Beaver Lake, and youth issues.
Most of the council’s changes regard the size and timing of turnover in the Parks Commission.
“The council wants everybody on the same page,” Parks Commission Chairman Hank Klein explained.
The Parks Commission is a body of nine citizens appointed by the council to mull over parks and recreation issues and make recommendations to the council. The Parks Commission also has three alternates, something the council decided to change. Alternates, also appointed by the council, would attend meetings and step in to take a vote if a sitting commissioner was absent.
“In essence, that means you’re doing a lot of the work, but you don’t really count,” Klein said.
There was also the sticky issue of whether alternates deserved full-time seats when regular commissioners left. The council created the alternate positions in 2002 as a way to quickly replace commissioners with other knowledgeable citizens, according to Parks Director Jessi Richardson.
The council picked a new applicant over an existing alternate in December 2008.
“Given that this action was inconsistent with the original intention of the alternate positions, we feel it is unnecessary and perhaps unfair to continue these positions,” Richardson wrote in a memo to the council.
The council is also changing when commissioner terms expire. Six commissioners’ terms were set to expire in 2010 and another four would expire in 2011. Richardson wrote that staggering the terms would minimize the impacts of commissioner turnover.
“The current rotation could result in 100 percent turnover within a two-year period,” she wrote.
In future years, no more than three commissioner terms will expire at any one time, with three of four years having just two terms expire.
The staggering of four-year terms, plus eliminating alternates, will make the Parks Commission more like the council’s land-use advisory board, the Planning Commission.
The consistency will not exist at the Arts Commission, however. That advisory board, which helps plan for public art installations and art exhibitions at City Hall, chose not to do away with its alternates.
“Their attitude was, the more the merrier,” said Lyman Howard, finance director and Arts Commission staff liaison. He said the commissioners considered alternate positions a good training opportunity for future commissioners.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
The City Council took steps to simplify its advisory board system Oct. 20, limiting the number of positions and staggering terms for one of its main boards.
The change would also allow a non-Sammamish resident to make recommendations on local parks decisions.
The council has five acting advisory boards, which study art, land-use, parks, Beaver Lake, and youth issues. Read more
New hospital on its way near Sammamish
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Officials from Swedish Medical Center promised an economic engine in the form of a hospital was coming to the plateau.
Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the hospital, said the new facility in the Issaquah Highlands would create about 1,099 jobs in the areas of construction, architecture, health care, ambulatory care and art. Brown speculated that another 1,500 jobs might spring from other businesses related to medicine in the area.
“It’s a great stimulus program,” Mayor Don Gerend commented Oct. 19 when he and the rest of the Sammamish City Council listened to a presentation about the new Issaquah Swedish Medical Center.
Brown said the ambulatory care center, where patients could seek treatment for issues that don’t require an overnight stay, would open July 2011. The portions with hospital beds and overnight care would open March 2012. The hospital should have 175 beds when complete.
Once completed, the hospital would be the closest to Sammamish.
Swedish Medical Center also operates a standalone emergency room along Northwest Sammamish Road. Hospital executives plan to expand the primary care clinic at the existing ER and shift specialists to the highlands campus. Brown said the existing facility will be renamed Swedish/Lake Sammamish after the highlands hospital opens to avoid confusion between the locations. The new campus will be known as Swedish/Issaquah.
At the back of the City Council chambers was a small cardboard model of the horseshoe-shaped hospital, with two above ground parking lots. A video of the hospital design is available online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHOVoyspb3w. The property itself is about 12.5 acres.
Gail Twelves, a Sammamish resident, asked how the new hospital would impact Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
Brown said he thought the new Swedish facility would improve business for both hospitals.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Officials from Swedish Medical Center promised an economic engine in the form of a hospital was coming to the plateau.
Kevin Brown, a spokesman for the hospital, said the new facility in the Issaquah Highlands would create about 1,099 jobs in the areas of construction, architecture, health care, ambulatory care and art. Brown speculated that another 1,500 jobs might spring from other businesses related to medicine in the area. Read more
City to purchase 5 hybrid vehicles
October 27, 2009
By J.B. Wogan
Expect to see five gas-electric cars with the city logo roving Sammamish streets soon.
The City Council approved the purchase of five Ford Escape Hybrids for a price tag of $155,893 Oct. 20.
Federal stimulus funding, stemming from the Energy Efficiency Block Grant, would account for $60,000 of the overall purchase.
The purchase comes after a consultant reviewed the city fleet and said five vehicles had too-high maintenance costs, according to Deputy City Manager Pete Butkus.
Four of those vehicles dated back to 1999, and one was from 2002.
Butkus said they would have to be replaced, regardless of whether the federal stimulus funding was available.
Mayor Don Gerend asked about purchasing vehicles that run on diesel fuel, as well as electric-only vehicles.
Butkus said diesel was not considered for this purchase.
He said that the consultant recommended the city purchase the Ford Escape Hybrids because it was a proven model.
“I wouldn’t advocate that you go with the first edition of software,” he said.
The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District already owns one Ford Escape Hybrid. General Manager Ron Little said it’s one of three energy-efficient vehicles the district has purchased in recent years.
“We bought the hybrid to see how reliable it would be,” Little said. “It’s pretty clear that the hybrids save gas, particularly in an urban area.”
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.
Expect to see five gas-electric cars with the city logo roving Sammamish streets soon.
The City Council approved the purchase of five Ford Escape Hybrids for a price tag of $155,893 Oct. 20.
Federal stimulus funding, stemming from the Energy Efficiency Block Grant, would account for $60,000 of the overall purchase. Read more
Missio Lux surpasses 40,000 meals for children abroad
October 27, 2009
Members of Missio Lux, the Sammamish church without walls, recently surpassed their summer/fall humanitarian goal of packaging 40,000 meals and raising $10,000 for needy children around the world.
At its Oct. 25 meal packing party, working with Silverdale-based outreach organization Children of The Nations, Missio Lux added 2,320 meals and $580. As of Oct. 26, the church had totaled 42,180 meals and $10,545.
That’s enough to feed 115 children for one year, said pastor Tamara Buchan.
She said Missio Lux plans to have three more “Parties with a Purpose” meal-packing events, with numerous others pending.
The meals, which contain chicken, spice, lentils and rice, later mixed with nutritious vegetables and grains, will be shipped in the next few months to Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda and the Dominican Republic, said Fraser Ratzlaff, Seattle feeding coordinator for Children of the Nations.
The organization feeds and educates poor children through village partnerships in each country.
It also provides medical care and community development resources.
Watch a video of packaged food from a similar Seattle-based event arriving in Sierra Leone at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl834TSR8Lc.
Members of Missio Lux, the Sammamish church without walls, recently surpassed their summer/fall humanitarian goal of packaging 40,000 meals and raising $10,000 for needy children around the world.
At its Oct. 25 meal packing party, working with Silverdale-based outreach organization Children of The Nations, Missio Lux added 2,320 meals and $580. As of Oct. 26, the church had totaled 42,180 meals and $10,545. Read more
Eastside Catholic students serve the community
October 27, 2009
By Christopher Huber
Of the four Peace and Justice Day community service projects Sammamish resident Kelsey Mikolajewski has participated in, her time spent planting trees along Issaquah Creek Oct. 23 had the most impact, she said.
As the Eastside Catholic senior dug up wet soil and grass with about 30 fellow students to transplant saplings at Lake Sammamish State Park, she said she was glad to be outside, even though it was raining.
“I haven’t really worked in a park before. This (project) is the one that’s going to most affect me,” Mikolajewski said while loosening the root-ball. “It’s nice to get some time off school.”
The students didn’t exactly get time off school, but they did get to spend most of the school day away from their regular classes. The Issaquah Creek group was but one of 36 community service “families” that spread across King County.
The entire Eastside Catholic High School student body — close to 600 people — and their teachers volunteered at local organizations like food banks, retirement communities and parks.
“It gets kids who don’t usually get out, out,” said junior and Sammamish resident Maggie Fearon.
The work counted toward their required annual community service hours and taught them the importance of serving others, said Micah Richardson, a teacher at Eastside Catholic.
“It’s good for them to go out and fulfill our social mission,” Richardson said while working with the students at Lake Sammamish State Park. “(It’s good to) walk the talk. It’s cool to get them doing something they wouldn’t do otherwise.”
After a morning assembly, the students spent about three hours planting fir, snowberry and other varieties of trees for the Mountains to Sound Greenway organization. Organization members had previously laid out 8,000 trees and shrubs along Issaquah Creek.
Eastside Catholic’s Peace and Justice Day group was one of numerous volunteer groups helping the cause throughout the fall.
“The ultimate goal of this project is to restore Issaquah Creek,” said Jenna Goodman, the organization’s volunteer program associate.
The new trees will help better protect salmon habitat, as well as re-introduce native plant species to the park, she said.
It’s important to reduce the prevalence of the park’s invasive species, said Jesse Miller, the organization’s youth volunteer coordinator.
The project also creates a sense of stewardship for the students.
“It’s extremely important,” he said. “Not only to get them out and working, but for them to be able to come back in 40 years and see the trees they planted. We’re all about creating partnerships, especially with local schools.”
While most of her fellow students were volunteering indoors for Peace and Justice Day, Mikolajewski, Fearon and their crewmates seemed OK getting a little dirty for the sake of a good cause.
“This one is good,” Mikolajewski said. “A little rainy, but it’s good to help.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.sammamishreview.com.
Of the four Peace and Justice Day community service projects Sammamish resident Kelsey Mikolajewski has participated in, her time spent planting trees along Issaquah Creek Oct. 23 had the most impact, she said.
As the Eastside Catholic senior dug up wet soil and grass with about 30 fellow students to transplant saplings at Lake Sammamish State Park, she said she was glad to be outside, even though it was raining.
Eastside Catholic students Maggie Fearon, foreground, and Kelsey Mikolajewski, both Sammamish residents, transplant saplings along Issaquah Creek Oct. 23 as part of the school’s annual Peace and Justice Day of service. Photo by Christopher Huber
New ‘chairs’ help Carson students focus on work
October 27, 2009
By Christopher Huber
Carson Elementary teacher Linda Hart’s classroom was silent as her first-graders focused on their writing assignment Oct. 21. Many wiggled on their seats as they held pencil to paper, but they seemed content at their desks for the task at hand.
Besides the extra sense of calm in the room, the only thing that seemed out of place was the lack of the standard-issue, four-legged plastic and metal chairs.
No shoes were clunking on chair legs, no thuds from the metal feet pounding the floor.
These students were sitting — or bouncing — on bright yellow exercise balls.
While they still have the option to use traditional desk chairs, most students in Hart’s and Jodie Brown’s classes have begun using the balls, also known as stability balls, for their every-day chairs.
“I like this because it’s like a soccer ball,” first-grader Wyatt Bickford said. “When she’s (Hart) not talking, we can bounce like this.”
Bickford pointed to his big yellow ball and lightly bounced up and down as he and classmates finished writing before lunch.
Brown introduced the balls as seats about seven years ago after she saw a story about it on television. She began with one, letting each student use it for half a day at a time. The next school year, she bought three more and her students gave her affirming feedback.
While, there wasn’t much formal research, she found the balls could help them pay attention in the classroom. First-graders need to fidget, and the balls give them an outlet for that. Additionally, constantly adjusting their center of gravity helps develop their core muscles.
“They’re able to focus for a longer period of time, as well,” Brown said.
For this school year, Brown sought out PTA funds to purchase a class set after attending a seminar on brain function. The presenter offered insights on children’s need for motion and activity when trying to focus, she said.
The idea stems in part from research conducted by John Kilbourne, a professor of movement sciences at Grand Valley State University, in Allendale, Mich.
He found his own students paid more attention and were more engaged in class discussions when using the stability balls.
“We did not evolve to sit at chairs all day at school. We’re movement beings. We need to move,” Kilbourne said. “I know a lot of elementary teachers who are incorporating them into their classrooms.”
There could be some discrepancies, since elementary schoolers’ bodies are different from college-age ones. Some exercise scientists warn there may be the potential to develop posture problems.
But, Sally Westcott McCoy, an associate professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Washington, said bad posture could come from numerous other habits outside of sitting on stability balls for long periods.
“It depends on the individual and the other things they do in their lives,” she said. “Staying in any position for a long period of time is probably not the best idea.”
The option to use the balls may help children avoid problems with bad posture, McCoy said.
In the end, McCoy said there needs to be more research on the budding national trend.
After the first few days in use at Carson, the plan seems to be working, according to teachers and administrators.
During a recent class, some children rolled in place as their hands and arms anchored them to the table. Some sat straight and upright as they pondered the next sentence.
“They’re bouncing, but they’re still focused on work,” said Mary Cronin, Carson’s principal.
During many activities, like reading, Brown and Hart give students the option to sit in the comfortable chairs in the corner or on the floor.
Since introducing these students to the stability balls Oct. 19, Brown said they seem to prefer staying at their desks.
It used to be a novelty to their students, but this year, the first-graders seem to treat the balls as their real chairs, the two teachers said.
“I like usually sitting on here,” first-grader Ben Wiljanen said, gesturing to the exercise ball. “Because I can’t bounce on the regular chairs.”
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.sammamishreview.com.
Carson Elementary teacher Linda Hart’s classroom was silent as her first-graders focused on their writing assignment Oct. 21. Many wiggled on their seats as they held pencil to paper, but they seemed content at their desks for the task at hand.
Besides the extra sense of calm in the room, the only thing that seemed out of place was the lack of the standard-issue, four-legged plastic and metal chairs.
No shoes were clunking on chair legs, no thuds from the metal feet pounding the floor.
Isabella Oosterhof does her school work while sitting on the exercise ball. Photo by Christopher Huber
