California School Stands Up to Sitting Desks

By MARTIN HENDERSON (Patch Staff)

A Northern California organization that believes sitting is the new smoking is standing up childhood obesity by taking its fight to the classroom.

Citing problems with a sedentary lifestyle, StandUpKids.org has successfully turned a San Rafael school into the nation’s first with standing classrooms. That’s just what it sounds like: No sitting allowed.

Vallecito Elementary School has converted 19 of 22 classrooms so far and will convert the remaining three to stand-up desks before the end of the year. It is the current pride of Juliet Starrett, whose goal is to have all California public schools converted to standing classrooms within 10 years. Her StandUp Kids organization is hoping to raise $1 million through donations and corporate sponsorships to make grant money available for teachers who want to convert their classrooms with standing desks. It can cost up to $6,000 to convert a classroom.

But even if the fundraising is slow going, Starrett says her ultimate goal is to have the federal government take notice, and that whenever new schools are built, “it’s a given that standing desks will be the norm.”

According to studies cited by StandUp Kids, allowing students to move during the day can improve grades up to 15 percent; additionally, normal sized kids can burn up to 25 percent more calories while obese children can burn 25-35 percent more calories, that kids are more engaged while standing in class, and that standing prevents orthopedic degradation including back and neck pain among other ailments.