Don't rule out plastic as a classroom conversation piece. School supplies can double as teaching tools that encourage parental involvement in education. Treadway Graphics, a distributorship in Fairbault, Minn., discovered the benefit of pairing historic icons and just-say-no awareness messages on plastic rulers.
Treadway Graphics' Smart Choices line support existing messages for anti-drug and violence programs. Ron Skinner, the company's national program manager, says the visual aids serve a dual purpose. "The educators appreciate them from the classroom vantage point, and there is a take-home value to the rulers," he says.
Role models line one side of the company's hottest selling awareness ancillary item: rulers. Teachers can choose among designs with 40 American presidents, a collection of African American leaders or a selection of influential Hispanics. The rulers' flip side features police department or program logos--D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training), for example.
Communication is the goal, Skinner says, and when students take home the rulers, the classroom aid catches parents' attention. "The goal we had with the G.R.E.A.T. program was to have an item that could be used for interaction between the child and parent--something they could share together," says Skinner, a former school teacher. "We found that the presidents and African American rulers both fit that need. Kids are taking them home, sitting down with their parents, using the rulers and going over the information."
The vinyl rulers are a sure sell for Treadway Graphics, especially in large, inner-city markets where police-sponsored awareness programs are centered, Skinner notes. Police departments in Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Boston and Miami order them.
Skinner says the rulers appeal mostly to students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, who attend the 9-week sessions. During these programs, officers hold weekly presentations based on curriculum set by local departments. Some districts also sponsor summertime activities, weekend programs and after-school sessions that deliver anti-drug and anti-gang messages. "These programs create an effective interaction between police agencies and kids who are prone to gang activity," Skinner notes. "They break that us-against-you attitude and position police departments as helpers rather than adversaries."
Smart Choices, which includes more than 200 different items, literally sends the point home to parents. Treadway Graphics added the rulers, which are made by manufacturer Pilgrim Plastics, Brockton, Mass., to its product portfolio this year. "Officers explain the meaning of the rulers and say to the students, 'Take this home, show it to your parents and look at it with them,'" Skinner says.
Presidents and famous faces pique students' curiosity, and many images are personalities they recognize from history classes. Skinner says police officers can assign an icon on the rulers to each student, who then can collaborate with their parents to write a book or internet report to present to classmates. "The goal is to reinforce interactivity and build a better relationship between schools, parents and children," Skinner says.
Market demand drives the products' designs. Presidents appeared on the first rulers, but the Smart Choices line since has expanded to represent other demographic groups that can benefit from positive messages. The African American leaders ruler targets students in inner-city classrooms. This year, Treadway Graphics added a Hispanic leaders ruler to its line, responding to the growing population of students and parents who can relate to these historic figures. "We think we will have a home-run with the [Hispanic ruler] because generally family ties in this community are very strong--stronger than any other ethnic group we deal with," Skinner notes. Still, the president ruler is a top-seller because of its historic value. This year's election also has generated interest in the product, he says. Compared to other items in the Smart Choices line, including T-shirts, rulers don't yield top profits, but unit sales top any other item, Skinner says.
Visibility is the crux of the product, both in communicating awareness and securing sales. Skinner spends time on the road supporting the programs and promoting the product to school resource officers. "Hardly a week goes by that I'm not out somewhere," he says. Showing and telling customers about the goals for Smart Choices products seals deals, he says. He attends state and local police and teachers' conferences, toting examples of the tool and offering suggestions on ways customers can use the rulers to accentuate awareness messages. "I'll do 15 to 20 conferences each year, and we'll have exposure to 1,000 to 2,000 police or sheriff's departments over that time frame," he notes.
Besides presenting the products in person, Treadway Graphics mails catalogs to its national customer list and presents Smart Choices items on its web site, www.treadwaygraphics.com. Fliers that announce back-to-school specials also bring in business, Skinner adds. "These products are available for more than just police agencies," he points out. "We sell them on a custom basis for political customers and schools."
--Kristen Hampshire
Thanks to Pilgrim Plastics Products Co., Brockton, Mass., for assistance.
