Belgreen receives innovative playground

Belgreen High School has become a leader in innovative classroom and physical education technology for the state of Alabama by being the first school in the state to acquire a Lü Interactive Playground System.

Lü is an immersive system that incorporates sound, lights and projections to create physical activities with an educational focus.

“The objective of this is to really get kids engaged at a higher level,” said Joseph Sylve, head of USA business affairs for Lü. “You’ll see there are opportunities for them to learn and reinforce what they’re seeing in the classroom.”

Belgreen has set up a dedicated playroom where Lü is installed. The program is controlled via a special remote controller, and a projection system is set up that projects the games and lessons onto the wall that acts as a touch screen. Students can use many different applications to learn and be active.

One game involves two teams guiding their ships by throwing balls at the “screen” to a certain destination, where they have to answer questions ranging from math to sports to history.

“I’m learning a lot about it today,” said Franklin County school board member Shannon Oliver. “It’s a great idea. It could also be used in other ways, like educating parents at meetings.”

School counselor Georgia Jeffreys agreed the multifaceted program could even be used with her counseling efforts – with the meditation app, for example.

“What’s impressive is that they’re incorporating multiple subjects into it and getting them active at the same time,” said Rep. Jamie Kiel, who attended the unveiling in support of the new program.

Sixth-grader Katie Smith said Lü is a lot of fun and has really improved Belgreen’s PE time.

“I like that it’s fun and educational too,” she said.

Students have been using Lü for a couple of weeks now, but the school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and kickoff Feb. 8.