Donation comes at just the right time
Leaders of Friends Christian School in Yorba Linda, California knew they needed to renovate their classrooms, but assumed it would have to happen over three or four years for budgetary reasons.
That timeline was accelerated when Fleetwood offered a donation of 350 student desks – enough for 14 classrooms in grades 4-6 and a couple of middle school labs.
Says Todd Perkins, Head of School at Friends Christian, “Many of our student desks were 25 years old. And as we moved more to project-based learning and small-group work, teachers wanted to reconfigure the classroom for different activities, but the old desks just weren’t easy to move.”
Fleetwood has always believed in mobility, and desks on casters offer greater flexibility. One teacher tells us she also appreciates that the casters can also be locked when the desks need to stay in place. Todd says Friends Christian teachers have identified other benefits, including:
- A larger desk surface supports student laptops and backpacks
- The height-adjustable element was fine-tuned for each user
- Less classroom noise from opening old desks with creaky lids
Or, let’s ask a fifth-grader: “I like the new desks because they are clean, smooth, and fit all my stuff. So, if I want to eat more ramen noodles at my desk, I can.”
The donation opportunity came after the school year began, but the Friends Christian community pitched in to make the swap with very little disruption. Older students helped carry materials to the appropriate room, and parents, with professional supervision, completed a few final assembly steps using their own tools.
“This was an unexpected blessing,” Todd says. “It was an incredibly generous donation, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Located in Orange County in Southern California and across the street from the Richard Nixon Memorial Library, Friends Christian School provides an accredited academic program, taught from a Christian worldview, for more than 1,100 students in grades K-8 and two preschool programs.