School system buys interactive gym wall games for elementaries

With a special projector, students at Oak Ridge’s elementary schools will play interactive games on their gym walls.

Oak Ridge Board of Education bought the technology, called Lü Interactive Playgrounds, with a set for each school. The full cost is $126,841.04 from Howard Technology Solutions.

Kelly Williams, executive director of teaching and learning, explained that this technology will allow for interactive learning games. These games, she told the Board of Education at a recent meeting, will involve students throwing balls at projected targets and teach multiplication, along with social and emotional learning, depending on the game.

The funding came from three grants. The Best for All Grant provided $80,000. Two other grants to pay for the equipment came from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, one for $10,000 and another for $36,841.04.

In addition to a projector, each Lü Interactive Playground includes a movement detecting camera allowing the students to interact with the projections, the official website for Lü stated. The systems also include a sound system in addition to other hardware.

Oak Ridge Board of Education approved the expense unanimously at its April meetingVice Chairwoman Laura McLean made the motion and School Board Member Erin Webb seconded.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal and email him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: School system purchases gym wall games for elementary schools