New desks help encourage students to learn

FRESNO, Calif (KFSN) -- Digital photography and marketing students at Sunnyside High School are on the move.

"I was really excited I couldn't believe it," said student Enrique Villanueva. "At first, I didn't know the set up to move it, if I would mess it up. They're really cool chairs, we are able to move them around. You can put your water bottle there. It's a good atmosphere in class."

Enrique Villanueva is one of the students taking advantage of the new flexible workspace, whether he's sitting down or at computers editing photos for the Fresno Football Club and Fresno Grizzlies.

Teacher Tamela Ryatt says her classroom needed a facelift and those traditional row of seats would no longer work.

"It needed to mimic the real world because isn't that what we're preparing the kids for?" said Sunnyside teacher Tamela Ryatt.

Ryatt met with Tangram Interiors of Fresno to find a solution and found these desks called nodes.

"This is movable, cup holder," said Kellie Reed of Tangram Interiors explaining how the node works. "We can move this in an environment with three students working together. We can move them into a group with four folks. We can move them into a circle."

Students can sit at the desks and move or use other stations including the digital photography room.

The remodel was paid for by funds for career technical education programs, which is growing in popularity.

"To encourage them to experience at an early age what they like and what they dislike so upon graduation they have a path into employment or a college major or into certification," said Sally Fowler, Fresno Unified's College & Career Readiness Executive Officer.

It's helping students get those picture perfect moments while pursuing career-technical fields.

The classroom at Sunnyside High School is just one of many that are getting a facelift. Tangram is working on several collaborative classrooms.