February 2022
FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS, PARENTS AND SCHOOLS
Chad and Diane
The Weisbrodts, mother and son, usher in the 31st year of The “Teach Me” Store.
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THE ISSUE
by Kevin Fahy
The Long Goodbye
In 1967, the late Joan Didion published an essay entitled “Goodbye to All That.” It was about leaving Manhattan, and her young adulthood as it had been spent there. The title was not original, but borrowed from the 1929 autobiography of Robert Graves. The British novelist was also referring to lost youth and innocence, but in his case, it had taken place in World War I France. Don’t worry, I’m not about to discuss my own coming of age (some things are best left unsaid). The thing I’m anxious to leave behind is the year 2021, and all of the pandemic jargon that came with it. Let’s start with the obvious, and proceed in no particular order. I’m so over the omicron variant, which is raging outside my windows at the moment. I know that there’s a popular narrative being constructed in which omicron is some sort of blessing in disguise. In this scenario, the mutant strain will quickly infect nearly everyone, providing immunity from the other variants without killing (very many) people. If that’s going to be the case, great, let’s get it done. Then omicron can go back to being a letter in the Greek alphabet that nobody has any use for. While we’re consigning pathogens to the dustbin of history, let’s not forget about the coronavirus itself. One of the characteristics of the pandemic is that the end of it always seems just a few months down the road, but as of right now the carrot
is still out there on the same stick. One thing it helps me to keep in mind is that every pandemic in history has eventually come to an end, whether anything was done to stop it or not. That includes the 1918 pandemic, which lasted about two and a half years, depending upon which historian you believe, and killed more than half a million Americans. Considering that our total population was less than a third of what it is now, that was an awful death toll. Other than some sporadic use of masks, doctors did little to prevent the spread of the disease, and yet the pandemic ended. Perhaps the population just built up enough natural immunity to stop the virus, or perhaps the virus mutated into something less lethal. Perhaps it was some other factor that we still don’t understand. In any event, the medical and healthcare communities have made heroic efforts to contain COVID-19, most notably the development of highly effective vaccines. It’s been amazing to see what science can do when confronted with a dire threat and unlimited resources. I think Pfizer deserves a special shoutout, not only for developing and manufacturing a spaceage vaccine in record time, but also for turning down government assistance. The company relied instead on old-fashioned capitalism, basically saying, “We’ll bet our own money on ourselves.” Not only did the bet pay off, but now the company is coming out with a treatment,
It’s been amazing to see what science can do when confronted with a dire threat and unlimited resources.
(continued on page 6) February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 3
FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS, PARENTS AND SCHOOLS
3
February 2022
The Issue
The Long Goodbye by Kevin Fahy
8
Learn a Lesson or Two from The “Teach Me” Store
13
“A Lot of Optimism” in the Industry at EDspaces
14
18
Chad Weisbrodt discusses the winning formula behind the success of his family’s business..
14 18
With 170 exhibiting companies and nearly 2,500 total participants, the in-person EDspaces matched the size of the show pre-COVID.
Innovative Furniture & Equipment Products Receive Awards at the Show The Best Products for Teaching at We Connect
Presenting the Top Picks chosen by buyers at the 2021 school supply conference.
19
Mentoring for Employee Retention
30
Endcap
23
Authors of a new how-to discuss mentoring’s merits for keeping and training your best employees.
Operable partition walls are the hottest design trend for schools.
Departments
21 23 24
Business Notes Eye on Education Cool & Hot
innovations in the furniture and equipment category
26
New & True
28
Index of Advertisers
the best in instructional materials
4 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
29
THE ISSUE (continued from page 3)
called Paxlovid, that could finally put an end to most severe cases. As we say goodbye to the pandemic, we will also be dropping our masks, and with them a lot of confusion, argument and misinformation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an anti-masker, and I’ve worn one where it was called for. I’m just, well, sick of them. When I was a kid, I thought of masks as an entirely positive thing. Batman wore a mask, and the Lone Ranger, and Zorro. Knights had masks attached to their helmets (even their horses wore masks) and so did football players, with the exception of Bobby Layne. The one night when we all got to wear masks ourselves, Halloween, was the best night of the year. But any sense of fun or novelty to COVID masking has long since worn off. I’m tired of having to raise my voice to be heard, tired of my glasses fogging up, tired of feeling like John Dillinger when I pull up to a store and slip into a mask. I’m looking forward to the day that we can toss the things into the trash, but I suspect that it could still be a ways off. Meanwhile,
there are a couple of other COVID side effects that are likely to be hanging around a lot longer than we would prefer. One of them is inflation. Most Americans are too young to remember the 1970s, when inflation ran rampant, but unfortunately, I am not. The year I graduated from college the Consumer Price Index rose 12.3 percent, and in two of the following six years it actually exceeded that rate. I won’t go into all the gory details of what that does to the economy, but trust me when I say that it was not a great time to find a job, buy a home or start a business. By the time we started this company in 1984, it had calmed down to 3.9 percent, and it has remained pretty tame ever since. Yes, we have supply chain problems, and COVID is partly responsible for that, but make no mistake. The main driver of inflation is excess demand. We actually delivered more products last year worldwide than we did in 2019, but couldn’t keep up with the orders. A lot of that demand was caused by the U.S. government, which distributed trillions of dollars to consumers and businesses.
To be sure, this is not the first time we have experienced divisiveness in this country.
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It was done to avoid a severe recession and massive unemployment, and it seems to have worked, but you can’t inject that much money into the economy without some unintended consequences. In the case of inflation, it may have been unintended but was certainly not unexpected. One way or another, almost everyone in America got some sort of government subsidy over the past two years, including many of us who didn’t really need it. Nobody should be surprised that a lot of people spent it, and that too much money chased too few goods. Let’s hope we can say goodbye to the “specter of inflation” in 2022, and if so that would leave me with just one more element of 2021 to which I would like to bid adieu. I’ll call it “polarization,” for lack of a better word. To be sure, this is not the first time we have experienced divisiveness in this country. The Civil War comes to mind, but even within my own memory there have been periods of dramatic schism. If you’re too young to remember, Google the 1968 Democratic Convention, or the Watts riots, or Kent State. Having seen all that, however, and even having been caught up in a riot once myself, I can tell you that our current situation seems pretty bad. It’s not simply that there are radicals on the right and left, or even that they hate each other so comprehensively. It’s that there doesn’t appear to be anyone in the middle. In the school supply industry, like society in general, there used to be a pretty broad spectrum of opinion, and wherever your views fell along that spectrum, you were treated with respect, or at least courtesy. I have not noticed much of either quality lately. As we say goodbye to COVID, wouldn’t it be great to say farewell to tribalism as well? Perhaps we could all start thinking for ourselves again.
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www.dealerSF.com February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 7
Learn a Lesson or Two from The “Teach Me” Store by Michael Nocella
T
hirty years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina, Diane Weisbrodt was having a hard time finding educational toys for her kids. No store in the city sold the kinds of products the teacher-bytraining was looking for, so she and her husband Rich opened their own. Over the years, the “Teach Me” Store for teachers and parents seems to have adapted to every curveball thrown its way. It has outlasted its closest competitors, survived a pandemic, and is ready today to face the new normal. When Rich decided to step back from his role in the business, their son Chad stepped up. He’s been managing the store since the early 2000s. We talked to him recently about “Teach Me’s” longevity and what the Weisbrodts do every day to make it successful.
Above: In 2021, The “Teach Me” Store had its best back-to-school season ever, reports Chad, pictured here with his mom Diane.
They know what their customers need and want “Customers are always first,” explained Chad. “We make time for everyone who walks through our door. Whether they are looking for classroom supplies, need help with a particular subject, or are selecting a birthday gift, we listen to their needs to help find the item or solution that works best for them. “We base our extensive product selection on what we hear from our customers,” he continues. “Because our essential focus is on educational content, they know what we offer has value – not the hottest fad or the kind of toys sold in bog box stores.” As for the kinds of people who shop at The “Teach Me” Store, it’s easier to list the kinds who don’t. The store serves parents, grandparents, teachers, tutors, homeschoolers, and children. “They choose to buy from us for a variety of reasons, but I’d like to think it’s a tie between how they are treated when
8 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
they’re here and our understanding of what we carry,” says Chad. Out of the store’s six employees, four work part-time. Their years of service at “Teach Me” range from two to more than 25, off and on. “We only hire personnel who have had prior experience as a teacher, or who are currently teaching,” he explains. “Their understanding of students’ needs is a great asset when it comes to making product recommendations. We strive to build long-term relationships with our employees so that customers can count on them whenever they visit.” Their product mix is extensive “First and foremost, we make sure that every item sold in our store serves a purpose,” Chad says, explaining that each product must be educational in nature, and must add value to either a child’s day or a teacher’s classroom. “That being said, we offer a huge selection of teacher supplies and resources, materials to reinforce/facilitate learning at home, plus educational gifts, toys, games, and more. We sell classroom decor, workbooks, learning games and manipulatives, science kits, puzzles, globes, arts & craft supplies, preschool toys, a ton of children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction, and a whole lot more.” Fidgets and children’s books sell very well throughout the year, but classroom decorations are the solid number-one during July and August. In 2021, the store had its best back-to-school season ever, reports Chad. The hottest sellers were classroom decorations. “2021 was so crazy. By the time back-to-school season came around, teachers were ready to put virtual behind them and start fresh in their classrooms with a brand new look.” “We could have had an even greater amount in sales if there not been so many product shortages and order delays,” he continues. “We would have stocked up early if we knew it would be so strong. But there was too much uncertainty leading into the ’21/’22 school year due to COVID and the ever-changing policies of our local school system.” 2022 already feels like things are returning to normal, Chad says. “We are expecting more requests for educational items for the home, and decor and resources for classrooms.” In the 1990s, Christmas was also a big selling season for “Teach Me.” “It’s no surprise that nowadays, competition from the internet and big box stores have slightly diminished our sales during the holidays,” says Chad. “On the flip side, our back-to-school season has increased each year. More and more families are moving into the Raleigh area,
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February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 9
The “Teach Me” Store
which has translated into more schools and more teachers.”
Rich and Diane Weisbrodt, pictured here with their children, opened in a 2,800 square-foot space and just kept expanding. Chad, age 9, is on the right.
Their store is large, but easy and fun to navigate Customers who walk through The “Teach Me” Store doors will find a lot of store. The 12,800-square-foot space – located about 7 miles north of downtown Raleigh – is very visible and easily accessible from several major roads. The store wasn’t always huge. Diane and Rich started with 2,800 square feet in a local shopping center. A year later, they expanded next door to add 2,000 square feet. Looking to expand again in 2008, they moved to their current location. “It was a risk to nearly triple in size,”
Chad recalls, “but we were able to bring in tons of new products that we didn’t have the capacity for before. At least 11,000 square feet are dedicated to retail space. It’s open and colorful to invite exploration, and it’s easy for customers to navigate – we’ve color coded the sections of our store based on product type and/or a child’s age.” That’s where the fun begins. For instance, the area with orange walls is dedicated to preschool products and puzzles. The green area is dedicated to science and nature-related items. Yellow is grade-school workbooks, manipulatives, and classroom decorations, and the blue area features children’s fiction, felt sets, plush, puppets, and musical toys. There’s also a section with fidgets, history and geography items, arts & crafts, Christian material, and teacher/ classroom supplies. Within each section, every row or aisle is organized by product type or theme (games, rocks & minerals, community helpers, poetry, etc).
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teachmestore.com is as helpful to shoppers as the store itself. “For a while we relied on third-party designers and then Creative Catalog Concept’s web-store platform, but the results either did not adequately reflect our in-store experience and/or had technical issues,” he explains. “Eventually, I With more than 12,000 square feet of retail space The “Teach Me” Store gives decided to give it a go shoppers room to explore. myself, and designed our current site using WIX.” The first iteration did not have a shopping cart option – its goal was to provide a clean, bright, and colorful depiction of the physical store. “We saw it more as a necessary advertising Their website is appealing, technically and opportunity that would, hopefully, entice local customers into emotionally our store, rather than keeping them watching a screen as they You can have the most creative brick-and-mortar in the browsed our many items.” world, but you can’t make it in 2022 without also having a When Chad eventually added an e-commerce component, strong website presence. The “Teach Me” Store is no exception. it ran well for a year or two. Then they noticed a steep decline Thanks to Chad, who designs and manages the store’s website, “Our aisles are spacious and open, and products are easily accessible and well displayed,” explains Chad. “Our counter is located in the front center, so that customers can stop there and ask for help during their visit, and have their purchases gift-wrapped with no additional charge.” Also fun is the store’s ceiling, an open tile-grid affair in which dozens of interesting items have been hidden for visiting children to discover.
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February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 11
The “Teach Me” Store
in business from They stick to what certain school systems. they know “The website worked, Going forward, Diane technically, but there and Chad will continue to lean was never any joy in on the retail skills, product running it. It completely knowledge, and customer lacked the human side of service principles that have helping customers.” served them well thus far. Luckily, Diane Chad acknowledges that it and Chad figured out remains a crazy time for the the perfect recipe for classroom supply industry, their website menu just which leads to uncertainty. The “Teach Me” Store is color-coded based on product selection. The yellowbefore the world – and wall section is dedicated to grade-school workbooks, manipulatives, and “I have traveled the their industry – changed. classroom decorations. state a bit in the last year and In 2019, they reached have found that while certain out to Catalog Solutions, and launched a new sales/catalog independent businesses are thriving, others have shut their doors component. for good,” notes Chad. “I believe each independent retailer needs “We had no idea that only a couple of months later, we to keep a thumb on the pulse of their community/market, and work would find ourselves relying so much on our website to reach hard to actively engage with their customer on a regular basis customers and bring in sales. The paired approach – using WIX (in-store and via social media). Yes, the internet continues to cut to create a personal and welcoming site, combined with the into small-business sales, but people still love the experience of full spectrum of sales-based tools from Catalog Solutions – has visiting a good, local store. We’re just gonna keep focusing on our worked quite well for us. Right now we’re comfortable knowing customers, and provide them with the best product selection and we can update our website as we choose or as needs dictate.” level of customer care that we can.”
12 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
“A Lot of Optimism” in the Industry
at EDspaces
by Michael Nocella
“T
he pent-up demand for both meeting in person and seeing new products up close to test, compare, and evaluate was evident on the EDspaces 2021 trade show floor,” said Adrienne Dayton from the Education Market Association. She recently reported that the combined EDspaces and Campus Safety exhibit floor last November featured products from 170 companies. In attendance were nearly 2,500 participants, both exhibitors and attendees. (Coincidentally, those numbers match figures from the 2019 event.) EDspaces is known as the premiere conference dedicated to understanding how the intersection of space, pedagogy, and technology impacts student performance. Owned and operated by exhibitions giant Emerald X, the show includes invaluable educational components – tours, educational sessions and the Educational Distribution Symposium –managed by the Education Market Association. In a interview in January, Adrienne filled us in on the hot topics in school spaces and the new and award-winning products on display in Pittsburgh. (continued on page 14)
EDspaces, which was held November 3-5 in Pittsburgh, featured 170 exhibiting companies and hosted nearly 2,500 participants — numbers on par with the last EDspaces in 2019.
February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 13
Award Winning Designs from EDSpaces Best in Show
Third Place
The CORE16 USB from PowerGistics is a wall-mounted charging and storage tower for Chromebooks and tablets. The space, time, and cost-saving solution includes a USB power strip and 20 USB-A to USB-C cords. Special features reduce touching, and keep devices at the front of the shelf for easy access.
After observing how college students study on campus, KI designed its C-Table Max. The c-shaped base easily slides under the lounge seating students love, so they can draw the table closer and sit up straight while they work. It’s height adjustable, and the tabletop shapes fit together for collaboration.
Second Place
CEF’s Chameleon Classroom System of mobile pods with multi-positional tops provides customized seating and storage for classrooms at every grade level. Pod configurations are designed in two- or three-seat increments, giving teachers the ability to change their instruction style from lecture to testing centers and everything in between.
The People’s Choice Award
The KIO Tinker from MiEN Environments combines a large surface area with a variety of storage possibilities. The inner storage compartment lid sits flush with the table top, increasing surface area and keeping resources organized. Additional storage on the exterior of the table provides for quick access to materials.
14 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
EDspaces Now Virtual!
What trends were most visible on the trade show floor? Adrienne Dayton: With health and safety still a top-of-mind concern, many products emphasized the ease of transforming educational spaces from collaborative learning areas to studentcentered and socially-distanced ones. Among them were learning pods, nooks, and outdoor classroom furniture & equipment. The exhibit floor was filled with colorful products in fun and functional shapes and sizes for kids from pre-K to college. The colocation with the Campus Safety Conference was excellent timing. School violence continues to be of high concern to school administrators who are looking for product solutions to help protect their students and staff from outside threats.
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What new products generated the most excitement among buyers? Among the awesome products on display were three standouts chosen by a panel of designers. These EDspaces Innovation Award winners were recognized in partnership with Learning by Design Magazine. • The C-Table Max Personal Work Surfaces by KI: Best in Show • the Chameleon Classroom System by CEF: second place • the Core16 USB by PowerGistics: third place During EDspaces, attendees had the opportunity to vote for their favorite products. The People’s Choice Award went to KIO Tinker by MiEN Environments.
Made in the USA What COVID-related furniture trends are here to stay? With the exception of short-term solutions such as Plexiglass dividers, many health-driven school practices will remain a mainstay of classrooms including antimicrobial surfaces and fabrics that can be wiped off between uses, moveable partitions,
2022
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and sanitation stations. In addition, outdoor classrooms were gaining popularity even before the pandemic and will continue, particularly in warm-weather locations. Products such as Adirondack-style chairs, benches, lounge seating, and log stools for collaboration and group discussions outdoors were popular and will likely remain so. Biophilic design – incorporating elements of the natural world into the built environment to positively impact human well-being – continues to be a trend displayed in several designed classrooms and exhibit spaces.
What educational sessions at EDspaces were most popular? Some of the more well-received education sessions reflected current challenges school administrators face in planning, designing, and managing their educational facilities. Here’s a list of the specific topics. • The “S” Stands for State-of-the-Art Signature Career Academies • Designing Sensor-Rich Environments to Transform Active Learning • Learning Playground: Adaptable Design Strategies for Equitable Access • Perception is Reality: How Design Can Impact Perception of Safety • Hey, Students! Design Your New School • Rethinking K-12 Design to Sync with Changing Instructional Trends Bill Strickland, the founder of adult career training Manchester Bidwell Training Academy, gave a riveting presentation about raising children from all backgrounds to thrive by surrounding them not only with love and respect, but excellent learning environments, quality food, and adult mentors. Education sessions, workshops, mini-sessions, and deep-dive learning events were held throughout the event in six designed classrooms, and in specialty spaces on the exhibit floor.
What was the buzz – what were attendees talking about in terms of both products and business? There was a lot of optimism. Business is brisk and orders have been healthy. That’s due to the school funding available; part of the nearly $200 billion that congress allocated for COVID-relief aid to public schools in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). While some construction projects tracked ahead of schedule due to buildings being empty for part of the year, the most disruptive impact on equipping and furnishing schools was due to supply chain delays.
What will 2022 be like for the school equipment & furniture? The supply chain will likely still be an issue, and challenges remain in keeping students in school for in-person learning going into the third year of COVID. Despite these challenges, the future is bright for companies delivering solutions for the next generation of schools from pre-K through higher ed. We are excited to be bringing EDspaces to Portland, Oregon this year. The Northwest
is a hub of innovation in school design. Architecture and design firms, along with school purchasing officials, have been approaching the EDspaces team to show off their creative solutions for learning spaces.
EDspaces is scheduled for November 2 through 4 at the Oregon Convention Center. For more information, visit ed-spaces.com.
What were some of the highlights of the school tours? The Educational Facility Tours provided something for everyone with a variety of alternative, elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the Pittsburgh area, along with higher-ed venues. With two major universities downtown – Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh – and the Frick Environmental Center on the Higher Ed Tour, attendees witnessed sustainability initiatives including the use of recycled materials in building construction, outdoor classrooms, solar panels doubling as a parking carport, learning stairs, sustainable gardens, and more. The K-12 schools also showed a commitment to the use of sustainable materials and energy-efficient systems for conserving natural resources, reducing the carbon footprint, and saving school districts money. Pittsburgh’s local EDspaces advisory group was instrumental in researching and recommending the region’s best facilities.
February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 17
The
Best Products for Teaching at
We Connect
A
fter a year-and-a-half of mostly Zoom encounters, professionals in the instructional materials industry met to conduct business in person at We Connect in November. The invitation-only school supply conference is the only traditional tradeshow focused on classroom resources for grades pre-K through 12. Hosted by Catalog Solutions, it provides a rare opportunity each year to meet, learn, network and re-establish friendships. The conference was held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando and featured nearly 75 manufacturer booths showcasing new and best-selling products. The three “best” products, based on dealers’ votes, were honored with a Top Pick award. Here are the first-, second-, and third-place winners.
Second Place: Lite Blox from E-Blox Lite Blox is a new invention for building awesome lightup pictures and patterns. It stimulates creativity and builds fine motor skills, and is the perfect toy to support STEAM. The set includes a power board, battery module, a removal tool, three AAA batteries and 30 colorful LED Blox. Some of the Blox even flash and change colors! For the classroom, multiple sets can be put together to create large displays. Designed for kids ages 5 to 14. myeblox.com
First Place: The Fidget Box from Teacher Created Resources Tactile tools that facilitate fidgeting – squeezing, stretching, spinning, pushing – have taken the toy and school supply market by storm in the past few years. It’s no wonder – research shows that fidgets not only help reduce stress, they also build fine-motor skills, coordination and dexterity. Students, especially those with extra energy and hyperactivity, report that fidgets help them focus and give them a sense of calm. That’s why TCR created the Fidget Box, effective for children, teens and adults in the classroom, at home, or in the office. The colorful box offers a diverse selection of fun but quiet devices, include two spiky rings, two stretchy noodles, a ball with cylinder bumps, a ball with round bumps, a cube snake, a marble in mesh, a finger stretcher, a round snake, two squishies, one wrist lanyard, one flip chain, and four pencil toppers – a total of 18 fidgets. Teachers can also use the items as student incentives, rewards, and classroom prizes. tcrdealer.com
18 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
Third Place: Earth by Plus-Plus This 800-piece puzzle is a new Plus-Plus concept that combines the satisfaction of puzzle building and the creativity of mosaic making in a unique “puzzle by number” activity. Just match colors with numbers. As a creative construction toy, it provides hours of play. Designed and made in Denmark, the pieces are BPA- and phthalate-free. plus-plus.com
Mentoring for Employee Retention
L
ike most business owners, you’d love to start the new year out strong, but the effects of the Great Resignation, the ongoing talent shortage and the lingering pandemic may be dragging you down. If that’s the case, Dr. Sherry Hartnett, a marketing and leadership expert, encourages you to explore mentoring. “It’s one of the most powerful things you can do to create a more productive, engaged, and committed workforce,” says the coauthor of High-Impact Mentoring: A Practical Guide to Creating Value in Other People’s Lives, a book she co-wrote with former Waffle House President and COO Bert Thornton. Here, she answers six common questions about formal mentoring programs.
1. What is mentoring, anyway?
It’s a personal, helping relationship between a mentor – an experienced and trusted advisor, and a mentee – someone who is willing to learn from that experience. Effective mentoring
encourages and nurtures mentees by enhancing their knowledge, expertise, and attitudes to enable them to grow and develop.
2. Is there a difference between mentoring and coaching?
Yes! Mentoring is aimed at long-term growth and facilitates broad development and career progress. Coaching is typically for short-term performance. “The way I see it, the difference between coaching and mentoring is the same as the difference between training and development,” says Thornton. “Coaching is more about training to task, while mentoring is about developing someone to their full potential.”
3. What functions does a mentor provide?
Mentors provide role modeling, advice, and friendship. They help develop the mentee’s sense of competence, confidence, February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 19
Mentoring for Employee Retention and effectiveness. Mentors are teachers, guides, exemplars, counselors, and supporters.
4. What’s in it for a business owner?
Mentoring improves employee engagement and drives up performance. It also makes your workplace more attractive to job seekers, and helps you retain your high performers.
5. What’s in it for mentees?
It helps them to learn the ropes of the business and develop a sense of competence and effectiveness. Mentorship shows them how they should behave in management roles and handle increased responsibility. It also provides employees with an opportunity to develop a network with a broad range of people, which can help with resources, ideas and advice, feedback, and career affirmation.
6. What causes mentoring programs to fail?
• Not enough buy-in at the top. • The program was thrown together by overextended and overwhelmed people who’ve never built a mentoring program. • Not training participants enough. • Mandating that people participate
How to Start a Mentoring Program
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20 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
Today’s employees, especially younger ones, are looking for companies that provide connection, feedback, and an active interest in their growth and development. They want a strong relationship with their boss, and they want to feel cared about and valued. Mentoring is a way your business can give them all of that. HighImpact Mentoring lays out the steps to building a solid program from the ground up. Here’s a quick overview of that framework. Define your “why.” For instance, do you want to retain valuable employees or onboard high-potential new hires? By articulating how mentoring will improve your business, you can thoughtfully shape a successful program. Set goals and metrics. You might want to increase employee retention by 10 percent, or double the number of women managers within 18 months. Tracking this data will tell you whether your program is succeeding and what you may need to change. Start small. Systems should be in place for selecting mentors and mentees, training and communicating with participants, and evaluating the program. Remember, the enemy of greatness is perfection. It’s okay to start with a small pilot program to work out any kinks.” Recruit and connect. It’s essential to attract, screen, and train mentors, but don’t make it compulsory. Likewise, decide what your ideal mentee looks like then, thoughtfully match mentor resources to mentee needs. Both parties must understand up front what the length of the mentorship will be (how about a renewable 12-month period?), how often meetings will take place, what the goals are, and that there will be work involved. Nurture your people and your program. Provide plenty of ongoing support. Find ways to invite regular feedback from each participant and use that information to improve processes. Measure to improve. Data allows you to review, revise, and continually improve your mentoring program. Informally poll and interview participants throughout the year, and try measuring outcomes semi-annually or annually. Don’t underestimate the little things – small tweaks can lead to significant results!
BUSINESS NOTES A Retail Pep Talk from Target’s CEO
Back a few years ago when brick-andmortar shopping was all but declared dead, Brian Cornell planned a retail resuscitation. In a keynote session at NRF 2022: Retail’s Big Show in January, Target’s board chair and CEO discussed his proposal in 2017 to invest billions of dollars in Target brands, develop talent, remodel stores, add stores in urban and college settings, and use stores as fulfillment hubs. “It wasn’t very well received,” he told his audience on January 16. “But those investments Brian Cornell we’ve made have certainly helped us accelerate Board Chairman and CEO, Target Corp. during the pandemic. While Cornell acknowledges the challenges stores face right now – pandemic variants, inflation, and supply chain and labor issues – his presentation at the annual convention of the National Retail Federation was optimistic. During the recent holiday shopping season, shoppers continued to show that retail is an important part of their lives, he said. They shopped early, they shopped late, and they used both physical and digital channels. “They came out to shop,” he said. “They were engaged. They wanted to be out there enjoying what retail can provide. It gives me incredible optimism for the future.” He reminded his audience that they’ve been through inflationary times before, and experienced how consumers adapt by driving fewer miles, consolidating shopping trips, eating at home more, and making tradeoffs with what brands they purchase. Ultimately, he said, consumers get to vote “with their wallet and their footsteps,” and it will be essential to listen to what they want, to be adaptable and to adjust as needed. Cornell was the recipient of The 2022 Visionary Award, given each year by the NRF to an outstanding retail industry leader.
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Warehouse Demand Outpaces Supply
In response to the online shopping surge that occurred in 2020 and 2021, U.S. retailers are accelerating their investments in warehouses, reports Bloomberg. The high demand for logistics centers to store merchandise drove industrial space prices higher than prices for (continued on page 22) February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 21
BUSINESS NOTES (continued from page 21)
offices and apartments for most of 2021. In mid-2020, e-commerce sales surged to a record 15.7 percent of total U.S. retail receipts. The percentage is lower today as shoppers return to brick-and-mortar stores, but they remain elevated based on Commerce Department data, says Bloomberg. Pandemic-era warehouse purchases by the five biggest retailers on the S&P 500 index are three times the number compared to the pre-pandemic period. “Amazon.com snapped up the lion’s share of 21 facilities compared with four before,” according to a January 11 article, which pointed to data from Reonomy, a New York-based analytics company specializing in commercial property data. Walmart is the next-biggest buyer with 11 facilities from the start of the pandemic through November last year, compared with four in the prior period. “With supply chain bottlenecks and rising transportation costs, there’s an increased push toward building resilience,” said an article in Commercial Property Executive in December. “As a result, companies are switching from a just-in-time inventory to a just-in-case supply chain strategy, pushing up the need for space.” According to research by Cushman & Wakefield, the U.S.
market absorbed a total of 140.7 million square feet of industrial space in the third quarter, while overall absorption is predicted to reach 507.3 million square feet of space in 2021. “Meanwhile, the national vacancy rate stood at 4.1 percent at the end of the third quarter, down 110 basis points year-over-year,” according to Commercial Property Executive.
Office Depot Considers Spin Off and Two Purchase Offers
ODP Corp. has announced that it is delaying its plans to spin off the consumer side of its business, which includes the Office Depot and Office Max retail brands, reports Retail Dive. The delay will give its board time to consider two other acquisition offers: $1 billion from Staples, owned by private equity firm Sycamore Partners; and another offer from an unnamed party, said the article. “The Company’s Board of Directors is carefully reviewing both proposals with the assistance of its financial and legal (continued on page 27)
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EYE ON EDUCATION Virginia Tech Provides Easy Access to Creative Tools
At Virginia Tech last fall, a new Prototyping Studio opened on the fourth floor of Newman Library. It is the newest in the library’s network of studios that includes the Studios Technology Lending Desk, Media Recording Studio, Virtual Environments Studio, and Fusion Studio, and will absorb the library’s 3D Design Studio. The goal of the technologypacked space is “to give students, faculty, and community members the ability to stretch their imaginations and prototype as easily as possible, all while building their confidence as creators and innovators.” All library studios are free for patrons to use. The Prototyping Studio features 3D printers (FDM, metal, resin, and bio-resin), a CNC milling router, laser cutter, vacuum former, PCB
since 1970. American students pay an average of $10,560 annually for tuition and fees, while students 50 years ago only paid $394. The cost of tuition at private institutions has also increased by 2,107 percent, from an annual cost of $1,706 in 1970 to $37,650 in 2020. Research shows that the disparity is even more extreme at private institutions. In 2021, students would have to work 100 hours a week, 52 weeks a year at the minimum wage to afford the average private-school tuition. Conversely, students in 1970 could afford college if they worked full time over the summer and 15 hours a week for the rest of the year. The report suggests that the current wage-to-tuition ratio makes it nearly impossible to afford private school tuition on minimum wage without external financial support. Intelligent.com collected the data for the report from the National Center for Education Statistics, the United States Department of Labor, EducationData.org, and the Economic Policy Institute. To access the complete report, visit intelligent.com.
Trends Emerge as Schools Pivot Between Remote and In-person
Former educator Abbas Manjee, cofounder of Kiddom, recently discussed four trends he’s spotted during the first post-COVID school semester.
Students work together in the Prototyping Studio at the Newman Library. Photo by Trevor Finney for Virginia Tech
mill, PCB printer, a large collection of electronics equipment, and a variety of hand tools for foam cutting, clay molding, carving, resin casting, sewing, and the ability to make both hard and flexible boards to accommodate devices such as wearable technology. It will also be the only place on campus that provides all library patrons access to do metal 3D printing. “The Prototyping Studio is special because of our access model,” said Jonathan Bradley, a member of the University Libraries team that developed the concept. “Other makerspaces exist on campus, but our goal is to be available to everyone and to make getting started as easy as possible. We think the studio will greatly expand the reach of our experiential learning opportunities and help the University Libraries reach some of the goals of the modern research library, which includes providing access to more than just books and articles.”
New Research Reveals Lopsided Wage-to-Tuition Ratio
Intelligent.com, a resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has published a report on the rise of university tuition. According to the study, average in-state tuition and fees for one year at a public non-profit university have increased by 2,580 percent
1. Double-planning for constantly shifting environments “Even if schools are fully back in person, teachers are trying to stay prepared to serve students virtually at any moment. Lack of access to substitutes, coupled with adjustments for quarantined students, adds up to even more planning than a typical year for teachers – which is already heavy on planning.” 2. Finding ways to leverage technology in a helpful way “In the event of a school closure, access to digital resources is needed to pivot from in-person to remote learning. However, finding the best technology tools is a major pain point for teachers. Decisions on which tools to utilize are at the forefront of their minds.” 3. Increased demand for digital curriculum “Most schools believe technology should be used to enhance delivery and methodology, not to replace teaching, so we’re seeing a great need for digital versions of popular curriculums that are both student and parent-friendly.” 4. Streamlining tools for guardian visibility, student ease and better data “Parents and students need one location to check for messages, assignments, etc. Streamlining tools not only helps the end-user experience, but also leads to better data. Now more than ever, making data-driven decisions is critical in identifying gaps to maximize the day-to-day.” Kiddom, headquartered in San Francisco with an office in New York City, provides an educational platform that delivers digital curriculum and engages students at home or in the classroom. February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 23
Cool Hot innovations in the furniture and equipment category 1. Ideal for breaking up spaces in schools, Hufcor’s movable glass partition walls offer flexible space and daylight benefits. Top-supported walls eliminate the need for floor tracks. hufcor.com 2. Revolution Shield Flip-Top Tables, fitted with Amulet Ballistic Barriers, are designed to stop bullets fired from a handgun. They are very lightweight – two-thirds lighter than traditional particleboard or MDF tables of the same thickness. When combined with Amulet’s ballistic barrier, a 6-foot by 24-inch Revolution Shield table is 20 pounds lighter than the same size laminated particleboard table. psfurniture.com
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3. With Teknion’s UnTethered product portfolio, spaces can be reconfigured in a matter of minutes and as often as needed. Furniture can be rearranged without considering its proximity to electrical outlets because everything is powered by longlasting batteries. When power dips, just swap in a fresh battery from the charging station and you’re good to go. untethered.teknionmarketing.us 4. The Jonti-Craft Tabletop Discovery Lab adds science discovery to any tabletop or storage unit. It includes two sections with clear acrylic covers and two open sections with a removable divider on each end. jonti-craft.com 5. Screenflex portable room dividers help your customers make more efficient use of their space in an attractive, efficient and economical fashion. They’re available in several lines, options and colors. With a five-star Google review, they’re the clear choice. Screenflex has been helping school administrators solve space and budget problems across the globe for more than three decades. dealersf.com
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6. The Angeles Student Desk has an oak-look laminate top with modern black and chrome legs. The 6-foot by 6-foot desk is adjustable in 2-inch increments to the perfect height for children ages 3 and up. It includes a roomy storage compartment for personal items. childrensfactory.com 7. The new Time Timer Learning Center Classroom Sets come in multipacks of three visual timers of different colors to aid in center work, color curriculum, and classroom time management. timetimer.com/distributors 8. AWT’s Racks are perfect for your classroom, workshop, studio, home, print shop or office. You won’t find a wider selection of drying and storage racks anywhere. They offer hundreds of uses for drying, storing, and transporting rigid or semi-rigid objects. dryingandstorageracks.com sales@dryingandstorageracks.com
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9. The Illumi Mite Table from ChildBrite helps children experience how the color of light interacts with other colored objects. The table can be set to white, in addition to several other colors. childbrite.com 10. The Premier Series Tables from Marco Group Inc. provide modern styling and durability, plus several other features that make them perfect for any classroom environment. There are many styles to choose from: 40 different tabletops, nine laminates, nine edgeband colors, leg height options and optional locking casters. 1-888-627-2601 marcogroupinc.com
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New True
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the best in instructional materials
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Tac A Tile from Learning Advantage is an open-ended activity set that helps develop reasoning, imagination and fine-motor skills as children tap and tack designs! It includes 100 wooden tiles, 100 easyto-tap tacks, one mini hammer, one corkboard and instructions. learningadvantage.com
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Social and Emotional Learning Activities from Evan Moor helps students identify and practice positive behaviors and develop empathy. Research shows that SEL experiences improve student achievement, reduce stress, and increase positive behaviors such as kindness, gratitude, and empathy. evan-moor.com
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26 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
Wikki Fun For Seniors! is much more entertaining than watching TV all day … or staring out the window. It’s a fun, creative, indoor pastime that gives seniors a sense of accomplishment. info@wikkistix.com
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The 500-piece Puzzle by Number Set from Plus-Plus combines the artistry of a paint-bynumber project with the satisfaction of a puzzle. The result is a unique creative experience! Using the enclosed pattern, you just fill in the design by matching each number with the corresponding color. MSRP $24.99 plus-plus.us
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The Reusable Arts & Crafts Activity Placemats from StationAmerica help get students excited for math. Side 1 features math concepts while Side 2 includes a step-by-step hands-on project – a great way to transfer math knowledge into real life! Size 12 by 18 inches. For students age 3rd grade to 12th grade. stores.stationamerica.com/spa
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Sandtastik’s Peel ’N Stick Sand Art Boards come blank or in themed, pre-cut designs: space, dinosaurs, flowers, holiday characters, and more. Just peel off the paper layer to reveal the sticky surface of the 5- by 7-inch or 8 by 10-inch adhesive boards. Then, sprinkle with colored sand. For ages 4+, certified nontoxic, conforms to ASTM D 4236. sandtastikproducts.com
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Removable Mounting Tabs from Miller Studio are perfect for school, office and dorm rooms. The value pack includes 480 tabs, size 1/2inch square. Hang posters, charts, calendars and more. They’re easily removable and don’t damage walls. magicmounts.com
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Bouncy Band’s SensiPod Desk Fidget Toy enables kids to fidget and receive instant calming sensory satisfaction. The flexible spikes and bumpy knobs on the nonskid base provide gratifying relief from anxiety and tension. Size: 5 by 5 inches. bouncyband.com
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The Mickey Mouse Throwback Theme from Eureka School is already a favorite among dealers for Back to School 2022. The line includes 17 brand-new items that will stand out on your shelves. The Giant Mickey Bulletin Board Set is more than 3 feet tall when assembled! eurekaschool.com brian.roberts@dgamericas.com
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BUSINESS NOTES (continued from page 22)
advisors to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders,” ODP said in the spin-off delay announcement. “While the company has previously been focusing on completing the public company separation during the first half of 2022, it has determined to delay further work on the separation in order to avoid incurring potentially unnecessary separation costs while it focuses on a potential sale of the consumer business.” According to Retail Dive, “The decision to delay follows months of pursuit by Staples and public demurring by ODP, which, after receiving an offer from Staples in early 2021, announced plans to break itself up. ODP previously signaled the separation would be complete in the first half of 2022.” In its press announcement, ODP CEO Gerry Smith said that if the company doesn’t ultimately sell its consumer business, the board will “reevaluate the advisability and timing of the public
company separation.” Staples proposal came on June 4, 2021: $1 billion in cash to purchase approximately 1,100 Office Depot and OfficeMax retail stores, officedepot.com, and the Office Depot and OfficeMax intellectual property, including all brand names. According to Chain Store Age, it is the third time Staples has tried to buy its rival. In 2016, a $6.3 billion Staples and Office Depot merger was called off after a federal judge issued an injunction over antitrust concerns. Regulators also raised antitrust concerns when Staples tried to acquire Office Depot in 1996. More recently, Staples said in a release that that it had filed the necessary governmental approvals with the Federal Trade Commission in November 2020, and has made “substantial progress” responding to the government’s data requests and inquiries in connection with the proposed acquisition.
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Company
ADVERTISER INDEX
Page
AWT World Trade, Inc. 29 9 Bouncy Bands 3 Catalog Solutions / Toy Collection Certwood Ltd Inside Front Cover Childbrite by Manta-Ray 17 Children’s Factory 6 5 ECR4Kids 7 Educators Resource Endless Possibilities, Inc-Boinks & Fidgets 29 Eureka / Css Industries 10 Hufcor Inside Back Cover 15 Jonti-Craft
Website
Company
awt-gpi.com bouncyband.com catalogsolutions.com certwood.com childbrite.com childrensfactory.com ecr4kids.com erdealer.com boinks.com eurekaschool.com hufcor.com jonti-craft.com
Learning Advantage 20 Back Cover Marco Group Inc. 15 Miller Studio Inc. North Star Teacher Resources 15 One Up Innovations 16 Plus-Plus USA 9 20 Sandtastik 22 Scholastic Teacher Resources Screenflex Portable Partitions Inc. 7 Station America 21 Time Timer LLC 11 12 Wikki Stix
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Website learningadvantage.com marcogroupinc.com magicmounts.com nstresources.com jaxxbeanbags.com retailer.plus-plus.us sandtastik.com scholastic.com dealersf.com stationamerica.com timetimer.com wikkistix.com
Educational Dealer Welcomes Four new Advertisers Endless Possibilities For 25 years, this award-winning company has created Boinks! – colorful and springy plastic mesh tube toys that are fun to squish and launch. Designed for ages 5 to 105, Boinks have become proven stress relievers and helpful focus tools. Pets love them, too! Boinks are great in the classroom as silent fidgets and as a warm-up to handwriting practice.
A brand of Fahy-Williams Publishing About Fahy-Williams We’ve produced custom publications for organizations large and small, in addition to our own magazines, for 37 years. We fund them through advertising sales – that’s our superpower. Advertising is the reason all of the directories, magazines, and industry publications we create generate revenue for our partners. If you can imagine a publication that builds your brand, communicates with your members or customers, AND makes you money, we can deliver it. For more information, visit fwpi.com.
ECR4Kids ECR4Kids produces highquality preschool and children’s furniture backed by thoughtful design and efficient production and distribution. Its goal is to deliver high-quality products at an affordable price. From chairs and rest mats to library tables and cots, it offers a large selection of products that are safe, durable, affordable and accessible.
About Educational Dealer Educational Dealer Magazine has supported the school furniture/ classroom supply/teacher resource industry since 1976. Its profiles of people in our industry, education market updates, and product features strike a winning balance that meets the needs of retailers, catalogers, resellers and online merchants. We also publish Around The Table a publication of the Game Manufacturers Association Art Materials Retailer for People Who Sell Art Supplies edplay Dedicated to the Specialty Toy Industry
Copyright © 2022
ASTRA Toy Times The Magazine of The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
28 February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
Hufcor Hufcor is the world’s most installed brand of operable partitions and movable glass walls. Based in Janesville, Wisconsin, the global company was started in 1900 as a manufacturer of wood-slat porch shades. Founder Azel Hough was a construction pioneer who developed the products, machinery and processes that shaped what is known today as operable partitions.
StationAmerica Service driven since 1988, StationAmerica prints promotional materials that help businesses, schools, teams, and civic & religious organizations stand out. Its array of products range from t-shirts to polo shirts, from business cards to banners, from outdoor signs to car wraps. In this issue, see their new Reusable Arts & Crafts Activity Placemats on page 21.
Publisher J. Kevin Fahy kfahy@fwpi.com
Advertising Director Tim Braden tbraden@fwpi.com
Production Manager Mark Stash mstash@fwpi.com
Editorial Director Tina Manzer tmanzer@fwpi.com
Ad Sales Representative Darlene Ryan darlene@fwpi.com
Subscriptions accounts@fwpi.com
Graphic Artist Maia VanOrman maia@fwpi.com
Enewsletter & Online Advertising Manager Rick Kauder rkauder@fwpi.com
Editorial Offices 171 Reed Street Geneva, NY 14456 800-344-0559
ENDCAP (continued from page 30)
AN IMPECCABLE IMPRESSION
Accu-Glide includes the Big Gripper2 and Sidekick Frame holder; frame is optional.
provided the exact performance and aesthetic qualities we needed for both locations. The variety of finish options allowed us to find the solution best suited for the school’s goals. “We’ve been able to use Hufcor partition walls on many projects,” Smith continues. “Most notably, the walls were specified in the Blakely Elementary School on Bainbridge Island outside of Seattle. That project received the prestigious MacConnell Award from the Association for Learning Environments.”
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Hufcor’s global headquarters is in Janesville, Wisconsin, with manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia/Asia Pacific. For more information, visit hufcor.com.
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Open school spaces As buildings continue to reopen after the pandemic, flexibility is an increasingly important aspect of spaces. In particular, schools will require ways to integrate both hybrid and safely-distanced classrooms for in-person learning. At the new $60 million Paso Verde K-8 School outside Sacramento, two impressive Hufcor operable walls are included in the school’s design. The first, in the school gym, is an 80-foot wide by 18-foot high bi-parting electric operable wall. Vinyl surfaces on the panels coordinate with the school’s colors. The automatic movable wall, featuring an STC of 51, is opened and closed many times each day. The second is a partition marker board operable wall located in a classroom for students with special needs. “The panels in both spaces are incredibly easy to use,” says Jen Mellor, director of facilities and strategic planning with Natomas Unified School District. “This makes it easy to reduce a large space to a smaller space very quickly.” According to Aaron Buehring, director of educational environments with Lionakis architects in California, “The whiteboard option on the partition was an excellent way to provide students and teachers with a decentralized classroom model and student-owned learning solutions. We specified Hufcor for these walls for their durability, performance and overall price point.”
773.777.7100 | sales@awtworldtrade.com www.awt-gpi.com
Fidget To ys ,E
At the Paso Verde School in California, this huge bi-parting electronic wall is opened and closed many times throughout the day.
The Accu-Glide™ One-Man Squeegee Unit is an inexpensive, high-quality solution for screen printing limited editions and short runs. And has been for over 45 years, passing the test of time. Pair it with a Rack-It™ Heavy-Duty Drying and Storage Rack for an affordable upgrade to your customer’s workshop or studio.
BOINKS.COM
February 2022 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com 29
ENDCAP The Multi-Purpose Room at the new Annie Wright Upper School for Boys features a timberframed operable glass wall. It helps create a multifunctional space that can serve as a lounge area for students or additional teaching and testing space.
Operable Partition Walls are the Hottest Design Trend for Schools
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sing movable walls to break up spaces, add privacy, and reduce the exchange of germs is on the rise nationwide. Operable glass partitions and unique markerboard walls are particularly popular in school design. For the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, Washington, spaces in a new academic building include both.
Design insights “As project designer and architect, I had the dual role of both envisioning the spaces and finding the technical solutions,” says Nathaniel Smith, an associate at Mithun architects, with offices in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. “For the classroom, we needed an operable partition with an STC rating [sound transmission class] comparable to a solid wall, so students would not be distracted when the room was split in two,” he explains. “Products from Hufcor
For a large classroom, space can easily be divided with paired panel partitions featuring whiteboard marker walls from floor-to-ceiling on both sides.
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Trusted for decades for Operable Partitions. Changing the game with movable Glass Walls.
O p e ra b l e Wa l l s | G l a s swa l l s | I n s t a l l a t i o n | S e r v i ce & M a i n te n a n ce HUFCOR solutions provide flexible sight and sound separation that enable customers to control and shape the experience of their space. More than just manufacturers, we are consultants that have more, do more and deliver more.
Learn more at H UFCOR.C O M
