John Cotten Tayloe Students Are "On The Ball!" | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release

    John Cotten Tayloe Elementary School third grade teacher, Jessica Crocker, received a PIE grant from the Beaufort County Schools Education Foundation. The Education Foundation was established in 1990 and proudly supports educational excellence through a granting process that rewards innovation and creativity that goes beyond the scope of the regular classroom. Operating independently of school administration, the Foundation represents a partnership between the community and our local educators as they join together to provide the children of Beaufort County with the quality education that ultimately benefits us all.

    Upon receiving this grant, Mrs. Crocker was able to purchase 11 exercise/stability balls from a company called WittFitt to use as chairs in her classroom. Instead of sitting in the normal, hard chairs all day long, students are able to sit on these balls for half of the day. The balls are made of high-quality, lightweight plastic, are burst resistant, and have small feet to provide stability and easy storage on the desktops.

    Research has shown that using the exercise balls in place of chairs can help students perform better in the classroom and helps improve student learning. Proven benefits of "learning in motion" with the WittFitt balls include promoting learning through movement allowing "active sitting" with little disturbance, enhancing attention and concentration, assists in improving posture, improves blood flow to all parts of the body, especially the brain, strengthens core (posture) and back muscles, improves balance and coordination and adjusts for customized fit.

   "I like to sit on the ball instead of the chair because it helps me focus better on what Mrs. Crocker is saying and helps me to focus on my work," said Braulton Dixon.

    When asked about the stability ball, Aeron Wright said, "My favorite part of sitting on the ball is that I can bounce a little when I feel like I need to move. I used to get in trouble because I was getting out of my seat and distracting others, but now I can move a little on the ball without distracting people. Mrs. Crocker says she likes it when I am sitting on the ball because she doesn't have to call my name as much!"

    "Having a ball" in the classroom makes sense. There is a growing body of scientific knowledge that affirms the positive benefits movement has on wellness, learning and teaching. Students are required to sit for long periods of time and often have far less physical education and recess than they need. The evidence-based data supporting the many health and learning benefits are valuable for all students, but can be invaluable for students with attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities.

   "Switching from the traditional classroom chair to a stability ball has had an enormous impact on my classroom. It allows students the opportunity to have a little movement without distracting others. This has drastically reduced the amount of behavior issues in our classroom, and has enabled us to have more time for learning. It is my goal to replace the remaining 10 chairs with stability balls next year. I am very grateful to the Education Foundation for providing this opportunity for our classroom!" stated Mrs. Crocker.
Chrystal Grizzard, Alejandro Monreral, Tristen Youmans
Braulton Dixon, Zentiva Hopkins
Payton Weatherington



    Call/email if you have questions.

    Sarah Hodges
    Public Information Officer
    Beaufort County Schools
      252.946.6593 office
      252.402.5834 cell
      shodges@beaufort.k12.nc.us e-mail