SAN ANTONIO – When you walk into Ms. Lankes' Pre-AP biology class, you're greeted with streamers and a disco ball. The students in the class are treated like superstars.
Then, when the show is over and the lights come up, you notice one more unusual thing: the students are sitting on yoga balls -- instead of regular chairs -- at their desks.
"I come in and I (say,) 'Yeah, Ms. Lankes' class!'" said Julia Ortiz, a Fox Tech freshman.
This is the second year Lankes has gone to the yoga ball bounce to help her students.
"When I started (using) the yoga balls, I spent the first two weeks of school nauseous," Lankes said.
Now she glides around the class on a four-wheeled yoga ball.
Lankes got the idea from a trade magazine she was reading a couple of summers ago that talked about the use of the yoga balls.
"It increases you heart rate, it sends more blood to the brain (and) the brain likes blood and it makes the brain aware and it retains the knowledge," Lankes said.
"(It's) more fun learning like this because you're bouncing and reading," said Elija Ramirez, a Fox Tech freshman.
Until last year, Lankes always had two or three students not pass the state exams. After using the yoga balls last year, she said she reached 100 percent.
"They are awake, alert and doing the work," said Lankes.
Lankes said use of the yoga balls is not mandatory. Students can use a regular stool or chair if they wish.