A Year in Review: 2020 at MiEN Company

Author: Dr. Christina Counts

Every year as we come upon the end of December, we like to look back to reflect upon all that we have been able to accomplish throughout the year. 2020 has been a year like no other, with COVID-19, social movements, and a historic election changing daily life for students, schools, and communities alike.

While students, families, educators, and districts have all faced unique challenges this year, they have also persevered to make great strides in learning space design, health and safety, and educational equity and accessibility. Here at MiEN Company, we have also made the best of an unprecedented year and are ready to embrace a new year with all of the changes it will bring.

Reflecting on 2020, MiEN Company has had many exciting moments developing new products, creating innovative learning spaces, and working to create helpful resources for schools and districts.

In March, we welcomed Dr. Christina Counts as Vice President of Education at MiEN Company, bringing with her a successful background in transforming learning spaces into modern engaging learning environments.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, MiEN Company began sharing resources to help schools and districts maintain health and safety in their communities through learning space design, proper cleaning and disinfection, and mindful material selection for school furniture. Our July feature in Spaces4Learning featuring Dr. Christina Counts and architect Manuel Cordero outlined 5 key ideas to keep COVID-19 from negatively impacting school space design. Then, in October, Dr. Counts shared her ideas for school library design during the coronavirus pandemic in SmartBrief.

In June, we were featured in eSchool News, where a MiEN Company customer discussed how our design team and flexible furniture options helped to make a successful media center renovation.

In November, MiEN Company introduced four new seating product offerings to help schools solve current and future learning space challenges. These seating options can be paired with MiEN’s vast range of other furniture products to create flexible spaces in a variety of settings. And with the wide range of height, size, and mobility options available, these products can fit a variety of functions and spaces ensuring that there’s a seat for everyone in MiEN’s product line-up.

To close off the year, we released a new white paper this December that outlines how flexible furniture creates active learning environments. The white paper––co-authored by Dr. Christina Counts, the vice president of education at MiEN Company, and Dr. Kristen Brittingham, the chief learning officer for Modern Teacher–– explores the benefits of “flexible furniture,” as a tool in designing active learning spaces that encourage classroom peer interaction, fostering collaboration and empowering students to become builders of knowledge.

Here at MiEN, we have so much to be grateful for in 2020, and we are looking forward to the exciting new opportunities that 2021 presents. We hope you all take the time to reflect upon the impact you have made on the students in your life and the support that you have provided to their learning throughout this unprecedented year.

On behalf of all of us at MiEN Company, we want to wish you all a joyful holiday and a happy new year!