Atmosphere Commercial Interiors Launches Classroom Makeover Contest

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Flip Your Classroom contest is open to public, private, charter and magnet schools with enrollment of over 125 students total, serving students in grades K-12 in the Greater Twin Cities Metro Area. One winner will help design the classroom of their dreams and receive new classroom furniture for up to 30 students, valued at over $50,000. The runner-up will receive furniture valued at $2,000.

Schools are challenged to deliver high quality educational experiences as well as recruit and retain talented staff on very tight budgets. Granting an active learning space to a school will help students and teachers experience the benefits of this approach to classroom design.

"Our wish is to support the schools in our communities by demonstrating the possibilities through co-designing an active learning space that can help maximize student achievement and learning outcomes," said Carlene Wilson, President and CEO of Atmosphere Commercial Interiors.

An active learning space is any space that is designed to foster collaboration, teamwork, or peer-to-peer communication. Because learning and teaching needs vary throughout the day, and access to technology and power are critical, active learning spaces are built to be flexible, mobile and zoned.

Students can thrive in active learning environments where they can move beyond being consumers of information to becoming active creators and collaborators. Adding choice and control over the classroom environment creates ownership of the learning process and ensures individual needs are met–and a greater level of student engagement in the learning process makes a successful outcome much more likely.

The Flip Your Classroom contest runs from November through January 4, 2019. A panel of judges from the Twin Cities design and educational communities will select the winning and consolation prize entries. Atmosphere Commercial Interiors will not participate in the selection process.

The design team at Atmosphere Commercial Interiors will ensure the new classroom concept blends with the existing facility, and the project manager will coordinate delivery and installation. "Decommissioning services for old or outdated furniture are not included in the contest, however our operations partner, A&M Business Interior Services, is a market leader in environmentally-friendly furniture disposal through donations, recycling or reselling," said Greg Whitehead, Vice President of Sales for Atmosphere Commercial Interiors. "Sustainable practices are important to us, so we aim to avoid contributing to landfills."

As an authorized Steelcase dealer, Atmosphere Commercial Interiors engaged Steelcase as a key partner and sponsor of the Flip Your Classroom contest. Steelcase is the world leader in office furniture, architectural and technology products for office environments and the education, healthcare and retail industries.

"The classroom transformation process begins with a discovery and ideation workshop, where the winner will participate in envisioning their ideal environment," said Juli Olson, Workplace Consultant for K-12 and Higher Education at Atmosphere Commercial Interiors. Juli has over 20 years' experience as a teacher, technology director and school administrator with firsthand experience of evolving teaching and learning methodologies.

To learn more about the Flip Your Classroom contest, visit https://www.atmosphereci.com/event/flipyourclassroom/

About Atmosphere Commercial Interiors

Atmosphere Commercial Interiors partners with leading organizations to create inspiring, high performing workspaces. They are a subsidiary of Omni Workspace Company with seven locations across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Arizona. 

They serve Corporate, Government (Federal, State & Local), Healthcare, Education, Hospitality, and Sports markets, providing furniture specification, space visualization, budgeting, user workshops/surveys, furniture installation, disposition, relocation, warehousing, asset management and workplace occupancy analytics.

SOURCE Atmosphere Commercial Interiors