Classroom of the Future Roundtable

Armstrong joins forces with McKinstry and 9 Foundations to unite school leaders, built environment innovators, public health and sustainability thought leaders in finding solutions for K-12 schools.

LANCASTER, Pa. — Armstrong World Industries (AWI), in partnership with McKinstry and 9 Foundations, hosted a virtual “Classroom of the Future” roundtable on Sept. 30, 2024. Panelists addressed improvements that are urgently needed in the built environment of K-12 classrooms and the challenges that make them difficult, including insufficient funding and staff shortages.

The event provided high-level public school district leaders and industry experts for an open exchange of ideas on critical topics such as resiliency, decarbonization and indoor environmental quality in K-12 schools.

“We are in a time of unprecedented climate challenges with extreme heat, wildfires and flooding events creating even more difficulties for K-12 school districts in the United States,” said Mark Hershey, Senior Vice President at AWI. “While much attention is focused on educational tools, curriculum and other instructional resources, we know that the physical building and indoor environment is equally critical to ensuring students can learn and thrive while they are at school.”

The Classroom of the Future Roundtable was moderated by Hershey and featured the following prominent panelists:

• Anisa Heming, Director of the Center for Green Schools, U.S. Green Building Council
• Leslie Larocque, Senior Vice President, McKinstry
• Dr. Joseph G. Allen, Director of the Healthy Buildings Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Each of the topics discussed in the Classroom of the Future Roundtable are available to watch and share on YouTube

• Weather Impacting Classrooms
• Healthy, Equitable and Resilient: Classroom of the Future
• Key Elements of Healthy Classrooms
• Equity in Education
• Underfunding of Schools
• Impacts of School Deferred Maintenance
• Balancing Health and Energy Efficiency in Schools
• Classroom Technologies Today and Tomorrow
• Who’s Driving Modernization in K12 Schools?
• Planning Future Classrooms

“We need to make modernization easier and more efficient for K-12 schools. You can always build new, but what about the other schools in your district,” said Larocque. “It’s an equity issue as well. How can we modernize schools faster and at lower cost without interrupting learning? Those are all things we need to focus on.”

To learn more about AWI’s solutions for K-12 schools, please visit https://www.armstrongceilings.com/healthyschools