KI Classroom Furniture Giveaway to Award Combined $200,000 to Transform Learning Spaces
Furniture company KI is launching its fourth annual Classroom Furniture Giveaway, which will award four K-12 educators $50,000 each to redesign their learning spaces. The program is open to K-12 learning environments across the United States, including classrooms, libraries, makerspaces, esports labs, art rooms, and more.
Entrants will use KI's Classroom Planner tool to design their dream classroom — "one that fosters collaboration, inclusivity, adaptability, and sensory engagement," the company explained in a news announcement. Their submissions will be reviewed by KI's education team and a panel of architects and designers, who will select three classroom design finalists and one library design finalist for each of three geographic regions: Eastern, Western, and Central. The finalists will be put to a public vote, and four grand prize winners — one Eastern classroom, one Western classroom, one Central classroom, and one library — will be revealed on Nov. 19. Classroom installations will be completed in 2026.
"Classrooms are the engine rooms of learning, yet many don't reflect how students learn today," said Bryan Ballegeer, KI's vice president of education markets, in a statement. "Rows of rigid desks and a lack of flexibility don't support modern teaching modalities or today's students. This giveaway provides educators with the power to redesign spaces that support creativity, collaboration, well-being, and meaningful learning."
The entry period will open on Monday, Sept. 29, and close Friday, Oct. 17. For more information and a gallery of past winners, visit the KI site here.
About the Author
Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].