What We Saw at Ed Expo! April 2013
FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
Celebrating their Eddy Award at the Edupress booth. (See page 24)
Award Winners!
New Products!
New Opportunities! EducationalDealerMagazine.com • ShopSchoolSupplies.com
ENCOURAGE ALL STUDENTS
TO THINK, DREAM AND DO THEIR BEST WITH THESE
INSPIRATIONAL POP! CHARTS.
! W NE
Each $
3.49
To Order Contact Your Scholastic Sales Representative
NEW
THE ISSUE
FOR
2013! NEW
4 TEAR-OFFS
Gunsmoke by Kevin Fahy
NEW
Let’s stipulate up front that no sane person wants to see elementary school children gunned down, or any other innocent people for that matter. If we disagree about the best way to prevent that from happening, it is not the result of indifference, wickedness or mendacity, but simply that we bring different sets of experiences to the debate. The Constitution, frankly, isn’t much help. You can listen to endless arguments about the second amendment without learning anything, or you can analyze it for yourself, seeing as it consists of a single sentence: “A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The founders’ frame of reference was considerably different from ours, a fact you can see reflected in the third amendment as well. It is also a single sentence: “No Soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” You never hear any debate about the third amendment because nobody is trying to quarter troops in our homes. If they did, you can bet there would be some discussion about that final clause. Ultimately our opinions about the intention of the framers don’t really matter, because we are not governed by the Constitution itself, but rather by court decisions over the years which have “interpreted” it for us. In the case of the second amendment, the original document only referred to “arms,” which could mean any kind of weapon at all, but nobody seemed to question that term for the first century or so. I guess if a person wanted to own his own cannon, nothing was stopping him. Throughout the 20th century, courts generally supported the power of state, local and federal government to restrict
the private ownership of military weapons such as bazookas and machine guns, as well some nonmilitary weapons such as sawed-off shotguns and even brass knuckles. They did not really address the “well regulated Militia” phrase, which would seem to imply a collective rather than individual right. In 2008, the Supreme Court finally interpreted the second amendment in a landmark case entitled District of Columbia v. Heller. Basically, the court held that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to own a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes including self defense, that he does not need to belong to any sort of militia, and that handgun bans are not permissible. The court did not rule out other prohibitions, like those against military weapons, gun ownership by felons or the mentally ill, or possession of guns in sensitive places like airplanes, churches, government buildings or schools. Governments may not, however, require trigger locks or other things which make a gun impractical for self-defense, and if licenses are required to carry handguns they must be granted to any citizen who is not disqualified. Approximately 30,000 people die in the United States each year from gunshot wounds. Two-thirds of those are suicides, so around 10,000 people are killed by others with guns, accounting for two-thirds of all homicides. That’s a lot, about eight times the average of other industrialized nations. We also have a lot of guns, well over 300 million, or more than one gun for every man, woman and child in America, and those guns have a very long shelf life. Wyatt Earp’s Colt Buntline revolver, wherever it is, still has plenty of lethality. (continued on page 8)
NEW
NEW
1 SMART
2 COLOSSAL POSTERS
BOOKMARK NEW
NEW
2 CHALKBOARD TOPPERS
8 TEACHING POSTER NEW SETS
McDONALD PUBLISHING CO. 567 Hanley Industrial Ct. St. Louis, MO 63144-1901 800-722-8080 FAX 314-781-7480 April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 3
Publisher J. KEVIN FAHY kfahy@fwpi.com
April 2013 Volume 38, No. 2
FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
Editorial Director TINA MANZER tmanzer@fwpi.com Senior Editor BRADLEY G. GORDNER
11
18
24
26
Production Manager MARK STASH mstash@fwpi.com Assistant Editor ALYSSA LAFARO alyssa@fwpi.com Senior Graphic Artist JENNIFER SRMACK jsrmack@fwpi.com Graphic Artist LINDSEY WILLIAMSON lindsey@fwpi.com Director of Sales and Marketing TIM BRADEN tbraden@fwpi.com Advertising Sales DARLENE ROBERTS darlene@fwpi.com Advertising Production Manager CHRISTIE McCONNELL christie@fwpi.com
10
In Their Shoes
36
Two sisters make their Colorado stores safe havens for teachers, parents and students
18
24 28
Less Means More Lekotek’s Ellen Metrick recommends some innovative toys that can help kids learn
Educational Dealer is published by Fahy-Williams Publishing, Inc. President: J. Kevin Fahy; Vice President: Tim Braden.
2013 Closing Dates
Ed Expo and CAMEX Join Forces
New Products
New combined trade show in March 2014 covers the educational market from pre-K through college
16 22 26 30 34 40
Eddy Awards Honor Innovative Teaching Products DOs and DON’Ts When Things Are Slow Retail expert Doug Fleener offers some upbeat tips for those sluggish days in-store
32
Circulation TRICIA McKENNA trish@fwpi.com
Retailers Recommend Fabulous Products
4 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Crafts in Action Spread the Word Pull Yourself Together Cool and Hot Mind Play
Back-to-School Issue ......Apr. 19 The Annual Buyers’ Guide Issue ......June 26 Fall Issue ..................Sept. 20 P.O. Box 1080 Geneva, NY 14456 Phone: 800-344-0559 Fax: 315-789-4263 www.EducationalDealerMagazine.com Back issues may be obtained by sending $8.00 (per copy) to Fahy-Williams Publishing, Inc. Copyright © 2013 by Fahy-Williams Publishing, Inc.
Take a Break and Decorate
(continued on page 6)
(continued from page 4)
EducationalDealerMagazine.com ShopSchoolSupplies.com
What We Saw at Ed Exp o! April 2013
THE COLUMNS 3
FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
The Issue Gunsmoke by Kevin Fahy
50
Endcap Creative Teaching Press: Creative Products to Transform Learning by Alyssa LaFaro
Celebrating their Eddy Award at the Edupress booth. (See page 24)
Award Winners!
New Products!
New Opportunities! EducationalDealerMagazine.com • ShopSchoolSupplies.com
On the Cover Pictured here in the Edupress booth are staffers Cheryl Wartgow, Elesa Swirgsdin, Rachel Lehmann, Liz Bowie and Chris Taylor. Edupress’s new Quick Flip References for Common Core State Standards won third prize in the annual Eddy Awards program honoring new products at Ed Expo.
6 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
THE DEPARTMENTS 38
Business Notes
42
Industry News
46
Eye on Education
48
Index of Advertisers
.com
America’s choice for stock educational displays! Largest collection of LCD stands & mounts in the country!
Versatile Displays Classroom Easels
QuickClip Frames
Banner Stands & Promotional Flags
Adjustable Styles
Coin Collectors & Donation Boxes
Directory Signs
Announcement Boards
1000’s
of Displays in Stock!
Multimedia Stations
Countertop Sign Frames
Outdoor A-Frames Window Mounting Frames Literature Displays
www.displays2go.com Top Selling Display Towers
A division of George Patton Associates, Inc. 55 Broad Common Road, Bristol, RI 02809 Tel: 1-800-572-2194
QueuePole Crowd Control Stanchions
THE ISSUE (continued from page 3)
More guns do tend to correlate with more shootings, but it is hard to prove a causal relationship. It’s quite possible that there are more guns because there is more intent to use them, rather than more shootings because guns are readily at hand. It’s also the case that there are places with high gun ownership, such as Israel and Switzerland, which nonetheless have relatively little gun violence. The kids and school employees in Newtown, Connecticut, were killed with an assault rifle, which is essentially a military rifle without the fully automatic capability (you have to pull the trigger once for each shot). Since that tragedy there has been a considerable movement to get such weapons banned, and in fact my home state of New York has already done so. In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I am a gun owner and have had a New York permit to carry a concealed weapon for over 30 years. I do feel I have a right to own the gun, which has been locked in a safe for decades, but I don’t have any objection to the restriction of weapons that are more appropriate for military than civilian use. Gun rights advocates make some valid points, however. First is that the great majority of firearm homicides, perhaps 90 percent, result from the use of pistols, not rifles, and the Supreme Court has already spoken to that issue. Second, there is not all that much difference between assault rifles and many other rifles. Third, the state of California banned the sale of assault weapons from 1989 through 2000, and it was not shown to have an effect on gun violence. Moreover, they point out that making something illegal doesn’t mean that it will cease to exist, a fact we have clearly demonstrated with our bans on recreational drugs. As Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has remarked, virtually none of the hundreds of homicides committed in Newark on his watch involved a legally owned gun. It is also worth noting that the overall 8 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
murder rate in the United States has been dropping for the past 20 years, along with the percentage of households that own firearms. Homicides rose dramatically through the 1980s and early ’90s, mostly among young men in urban areas, in tandem with the rise of crack cocaine. Since 1993 it has been slowly but steadily dropping. Meanwhile, the number of American homes reporting gun ownership dropped from 46 percent in 1989 to 36 percent in 2004. Statistics don’t make us feel any better when we are flooded with horrific images from an elementary school, a college campus or a movie theater. We want to do something about it. We want to use our outrage to prevent future tragedies. I get it. Sometimes the legislation we pass in response to shocking events, though, is not sufficiently thought through. The new gun law in New York, for example, was passed so quickly that most people didn’t even know about it, and some of its provisions are real head-scratchers. My old target pistol is now outlawed because, like most semiautomatic handguns, it holds nine bullets and the new law forbids more than seven. State officials say that I will be allowed to keep it, so long as I don’t put more than seven bullets in it. Seriously. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, we have gone to ridiculous lengths to keep people from carrying sharp objects onto commercial airliners. In reality the mere knowledge of what happened was enough to assure that the passengers and crews would never again allow anybody to highjack a plane with a knife. I’m all for common-sense legislation, but I think that our heightened awareness of potential danger is probably more important.
3
Great Tools to Grow Your Sales! 2013-2014 Build Your OWN
™
Patent Pending
Teachers’ Desk Calendars
The Best of Back to School Flyer America’s #1 provider of Educational Marketing Materials since 1995!
800-260-1353
creativecatalogs.com
You can e-mail Kevin at kfahy@fwpi.com. April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 9
by Alyssa LaFaro
"We wanted to create a store that honored teachers," ex
Adding more fun and games
plains Jean Boylan. She's talking about 10-year-old Be
Their original goal was to help make teaching and
yond the Blackboard, a chain of three stores near Denver,
learning fun, so right from the beginning, games had a place
Colorado, that she owns with her sister, Jacque Killian.
in their teacher-store mix. "They are a tool to help kids with
"We wanted them to have a professional, uplifting, inspira
math, spelling and critical thinking," observes Jean.
tional place to spend their time.
W hen the games started bringing in parents in greater
"We spend a lot of energy on supporting our teach ers," says Jean. "We train our staff on how to respond to
numbers, the girls began to consider adding toys. "That's about when the bottom fell out of the school market. Funding
the frustrated teacher, the crying teacher and the complain ing teacher so that they can consider our stores a refuge." The two sisters have been putting themselves in their customers' shoes since their first store opened in 2003. And
Three Stores
when they added toys to their inventory in 2009, they had
Arvada (20 minutes Aurora (25 minutes
to put themselves in the shoes of the kids.
northwest of
"I know what the kids love, and that puts the parents and
grandparents at ease," says Jean. "They learn from me what's
Southlands (20
southeast of Arvada), minutes southeast
Denver), 6,000
4,000 square feet,
of Aurora) , 4,000
square feet, 2003
2004;and
square feet, 2012
hip, and can come in and buy great gifts for their kids."
Number of employees: about eight per store- one full time manager, seven part-time
Core customers: 50 percent are teachers from about 10 nearby school districts;50 percent are parents/grandparents
Demographic: physically active, highly ed ucated people; a stable economy compared to the rest of the country
Best-selling product: Banishing Boring Words by Scholastic Closest competitors: Lakeshore Learning is 30 minutes south in Littleton. A handful of specialty toy stores and school supply stores are in Denver and the surrounding area. ent er a dull mom There's nev que Jac ners Jean and with store ow
Store hours: Sunday 12 to 4 p.m.; Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. The Aurora Store il2013
to 5 p.m.
This fun summer class taught kids how to make slush powder.
for education became very tight,” remembers Jean. “We made a deliberate decision then to dive into the specialty toy market. While the education market remains flat, our toy sales continue to grow. It’s what enables us to continue as a resource for teachers.” Inventory management and aggressive, creative marketing “At about that time, we also forced ourselves to grow up,” Jean adds. “We had to figure out how to be really good businesswomen, and learn ways to make our dollars work as hard as they could for us.” An inventory purge was at hand. “We had a bad habit of letting merchandise sit on our shelves too long,” she admits. “Some educational products are very seasonal, so if it didn’t sell, we held onto it to sell the next year. Then we realized that those products represented dollar bills that we couldn’t afford to sit on. Now we concentrate on inventory management, on keeping our supply and demand as tight as we can.” She and Jacque had to teach themselves not to become emotionally attached to their inventory. “Today, we look at our data to figure out what products have done well and what haven’t. The data needs to drive our decisions.” At about the same time, they also began investing in advertising.
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 11
In Their
Shoes
Tell our advertisers that you saw their products in Educational Dealer
THE MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
12 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
“As business owners, we have to always be thinking how we are going to grow our income,” says Jean. “It’s not going to be by sitting in our stores while our sales magically go up. We constantly have to be thinking about how to leverage different product lines, whether to open more stores, whether to hire outside sales people, etc. We have to think about a different business model because growth is not going to happen just sitting in the store. Not in this economy. “Right now, we are working really hard to make our marketing better, timelier and more sophisticated,” she adds. It wasn’t just about marketing to teachers anymore, but to parents as well. “That was a challenge because we didn’t have the money to do mass consumer advertising,” she notes. “Instead, I had to get creative with e-mail marketing and in-store signage. To get new customers, I started leveraging our existing customers for their friends. Everything had to be smarter, more sophisticated, nicer looking.” To encourage customers to sign up on the store’s e-mail list, Jean gives them a gift in exchange for their e-mail addresses. The gift does double duty – inside a mini Chinese takeout box is a piece of candy, plus a coupon to bring the customer back in, and a coupon to give to a friend. In-store special events play a large role in the sisters’ promotional efforts. “At Christmastime, we hosted a friends-and-family event,” explains Jean. “We set up beautiful tables of cookies and candy in the store, like it was a
r Brothers The Cup-Stacke l tio from the na na am Te g kin ac St USA Sport
house party. We sent out e-mails every day that said things like, ‘Here is our daily special because you are our friends and family, and we love you.’ They had nothing to do with brands, and everything to do with simply getting people into the store. After that, we relied on the staff here to work with them and sell the best products possible.” For teachers for back-toschool, Beyond the Blackboard holds a one-night-only “Moonlight Madness” sale from 7 to 11 p.m. Jean and Jacque serve wine and chocolates. Each time customers make a purchase, they draw a coupon with a discount on it – anywhere from 10 to 50 percent – which is taken off their total. For the grand opening of their
The store hosted a Pirate Camp in June 2011
third store, the sisters are making plans around the theme, “Thank You for Helping Us Grow.” The focus on the parent and teacher market will be obvious – they’ll decorate with sunflower classroom décor, and kids are invited to decorate flower pots and plant sunflowers in them to take home. Know what parents need A specialty of the store is coming up with solutions for parents of children who have special learning needs. “We have become known for that,” says Jean. “Parents and their kids will stop in here after a parent/teacher conference because – for instance – the teacher says the student needs to ‘read more.’ But the parents don’t necessarily know what
A Triple Header “Within a year of opening the first store in Arvada, we opened a second store,” details Jean, who said that three other educational supply stores in the community at the time had folded. “We didn’t want someone else taking over that niche. We had those two locations for eight years. “Last year at Christmastime,” she adds, “we identified a vacant spot in a shopping center in Southlands – a suburb of Aurora. We asked the landlord if we could sell toys in that space just for Christmas. We compromised for a reasonable rent price, and it did well – so well that we negotiated with the landlord to stay.” The sisters signed the lease in early February, and plan to add teacher supplies soon so they will have three official Beyond the Blackboards. April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 13
In Their
Shoes that means. Does it mean they have to listen to them read, read to them, let them read quietly? So we give them a checklist of questions to ask the teacher. When they return to the store, we try to find materials and activities that meet the need, are fun and help the child learn.” She adds: “We do not believe in moving kids into the next grade level of work – especially in math. When parents come in and say, ‘My child is in third grade, and she is really smart so give me the fourth-grade math book,’ I discourage it. For kids that are advanced, we offer really great critical thinking books and kits – like the science projects from Thames & Kosmos – so they can still apply what they are learning instead of rushing ahead to the next grade level.”
From classic to quirky For the classroom, Beyond the Blackboard carries “all the classic stuff,” says Jean – workbooks, décor, pens, pencils, arts and crafts, and more. On the toy side, there’s everything from construction toys to science kits, and from plush to puzzles and brain teasers. A favorite category is impulse items. “When we go to Toy Fair, ASTRA or the National Gift Show in Atlanta, we look for little unique knickknacks,” says Jean. “For example, we carry Yay! Magnets. They say things like ‘Yay! Friends,’ ‘Yay! Math,’ ‘Yay! Bacon,’ whatever. Or we will choose fun little pens, hair ribbons or bracelets. None of them are store staples. We like to buy them, watch how they do, and
when they fizzle out they’re done.” Jean made it a point to say that Beyond the Blackboard doesn’t carry teacher gifts, like mugs and Christmas ornaments. “Teachers have begged us not to,” she laughs. “Beyond” the blackboard Jean would like to see Beyond the Blackboard continue to thrive. “In regard to the experience of owning a local business like ours, I wouldn’t change a thing. I get up every single day and can’t wait to get to work. I love working with teachers, parents, grandparents, kids. I love to solve problems, inspire others and energize a room. I love feeling like I am making the community a better place for families.”
Award-Winning Publisher of Early Childhood Resources
Up, Down Move Around Active Learning for Preschoolers Math and Literacy 978-0-87659-417-9 $24.95 PB / July 2013
Nutrition and Motor Skills
The Homegrown Preschooler Teaching Your Kids in the Places They Live 978-0-87659-451-3 $29.95 / May 2013
978-0-87659-471-1 $24.95 PB / July 2013
50 Fantastic Things to Do With Preschoolers 978-0-87659-467-4
$16.95 PB / June 2013 With Toddlers 978-0-87659-465-0 $16.95 PB / June 2013 With Babies 978-0-87659-463-6 $16.95 PB / June 2013
www.gryphonhouse.com 800-638-0928 GryphonHouseInc
GryphonHouse
14 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Time to Create Hands-On Explorations in Process Art for Young Children 978-0-87659-418-6 $34.95 PB / May 2013
When registering use this REGISTRATION CODE: EDMAY
new These fun-to-make sewing kits feature simple shapes and stitches along with well-illustrated instructions, making them the perfect project for novice or experienced crafters. Teaches life skills, like technical reading, critical thinking and problem solving.
The I Can Cut!
activity book features cutting exercises that help kids develop eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills, adherence to visual boundaries and paper stabilization. Includes bladeless safe scissors and tips for parents to help kids get started.
www.haancrafts.com
carolinapad.com
CRAFTS IN ACTION Kids can sew, cut, glue and more with these products
The fun and easy-to-use Glue Glider Pro is the perfect tool for the classroom or at home, and its integrated cartridge system ensures you’ll have the right adhesive for your application. The Adhesive Squares line offers industrial adhesive formulations with unparalleled performance.
This assortment of 19 new products for modeling scenery includes a variety of items sized just right for small projects, crafts and dioramas, and they complement existing Scene-A-Rama products and kits.
scenearama.wood landscenics.com
gluearts.com
Let's Make Cents With Common Core
Teach coin counting using tactile learning with large magnetic coins.
Let’s Make Cents
furniturefootiesllc.com Go to www.letsmakecentskids.com to view the video and testimonials on this great new product!
866-567-0410 • Fax: 724-342-3853 16 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
new Craft Rings are a low-cost supply for arts and crafts projects. The rings are made from biodegradable wood fiber, and are available in 6inch and 9-inch sizes.
3ringcircles.com
The Look What You Can Make craft books feature arts and crafts projects that utilize everyday materials sent in from home, like cardboard tubes, paper bags, used soda bottles, egg cartons and more. More than 80 pictured crafts and dozens of other ideas in every book.
Build endless models with PowerClix. A superstrong magnetic force creates a quick connect for fast, simple and powerful 3-D modeling. Build bridges, skyscrapers, animals and more.
guidecraft.com
essentialdealer.com
Wood Designs’ Natural EnvironmentsTM Products will encourage learning WKURXJK DOO ÀYH VHQVHV (QYLURQPHQWV WKDW DUH RSHQ DQG YLVXDOO\ VWLPXODWLQJ ZLOO HQFRXUDJH FKLOGUHQ¡V LPDJLQDWLRQ VHOI GLUHFWHG OHDUQLQJ DQG FRJQLWLYH GHYHORSPHQW $OO Wood DesignsTM SURGXFWV DUH *5((1*8$5'Ž Children DQG 6FKRROV FHUWLÀHG VR FKLOGUHQ FDQ EUHDWKH HDVLHU DQG VDIHU LQ WKHLU HQYLURQPHQW VDOHV#ZRRGGHVLJQV FRP ZZZ ZRRGGHVLJQV RUJ
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 17
Ed Expo CAMEX and
Join Forces
New combined trade show in March 2014 covers the educational market from pre-K to college by Tina Manzer
NSSEA and the National Association of College Stores (NACS) will co-locate the Ed Expo and CAMEX (Campus Market Expo) trade shows next year in Dallas, Saturday, March 8, through Tuesday, March 11. The new joint event will cover 600,000 gross square feet (more than 10 football fields!), and feature exhibits from 1,000 companies showcasing innovative products for students in preschool on up through college. Both exhibit halls will be open Sunday and Monday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. NSSEA believes the joint venture will result in a vibrant exhibit hall with more exhibitors, more products and more new opportunities for NSSEA’s members. We recently talked to NSSEA President and CEO Jim McGarry about the particulars: the show’s size, its timing and schedule, and its potential opportunities. Here are his responses to our questions. I know you just came back from CAMEX [February 22 through 26 in Kansas City]. What were your first impressions? We were pleased to see how excited the CAMEX leadership and exhibitors were about the co-location and the opportunities it presents to both organizations. We were pleased to see many previous Ed Expo exhibitors – especially in the office products category, who could not find the ROI in Ed Expo alone – excited to have the opportunity to reengage our retailers.
Will the exhibitors at CAMEX sell to NSSEA retailers? Are there protected territories or prohibitive minimum orders? With the NSSEA staff and member leaders who were in Kansas City, we were able to speak to just about every CAMEX exhibitor. They enthusiastically embraced the idea of the co-location. They are well-versed in working with independent businesses, and are sensitive to cash flow and minimumorder challenges facing the retail community. There are also several wholesalers in that market who can provide an alternative to dealing direct with the manufacturers. One of the key “Aha!” moments there was seeing that although it is focused on the college market, hundreds of the exhibitors have products that will appeal to buyers of products for pre-K through 12. There were instructional materials, gifts, games, office supplies, apparel and many other interesting categories to explore. It is an orderwriting show with many show specials to take advantage of. Will NSSEA retailers be able to take advantage of educational workshops and seminars offered by CAMEX? Will the topics pertain to them? For 2014, each group will operate its own education program with sessions targeted to its own members and attendees. The
18 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
education program for Ed Expo will be held on Saturday, March 8. As part of our education program and in webinars leading up to the event, NSSEA will provide sessions on merchandise licensing and ways in which to successfully break into the new product categories. Ed Expo will continue to host the Dealer Speed Dining Event, Dessert Reception and other networking functions to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for our dealers and exhibitors to get together, have fun, further relationships and celebrate our industry. But is there added value for NSSEA members? Both retailer and exhibitor members continue to tell us the marketplace is changing, and they need new reasons to engage their customers. This colocated event will expose our members to new ideas, new products and new business partners. The joint show is a fantastic opportunity for our members to be part of the world’s largest tradeshow of products for students and educators of all ages, showcasing the marketplace for lifelong learning. Having these two independent shows in the same location, side-byside, at the same time, provides both our attendees and exhibitors opportunities to find new business partners. It will expand the ROI for all participants in Ed Expo, and expand their customer base upstream. (continued on page 20)
Custom Integration Systems Service from START to FINISH Service from START to FINISH and EVERYWHERE Retailin between! Point of Sale
Our experts will find the right POS system for you
Seamlessly integrate Dynamics RMS into QuickBooks.
Direct Supplier Updates Fast item updates directly from suppliers
RMS to Quickbooks
Web Store Sell items on the web directly from your store.
If you don’t see what you need, let our engineers custom design your program.
CALL US TODAY
941-343-9999 www.allpointpos.com
(continued from page 18) by Tina Manzer What’s the downside? Candidly, the downside would have been to continue down the same path and watch fewer exhibitors show fewer new products to a smaller number of retailers. We see only an upside for both retailers and exhibitors in terms of the ROI or overall value for the event. If someone has no interest in exploring the college market exhibits, then Ed Expo is still the premier showcase for product sourcing, and best place for networking, social events and education. As a matter of fact, because of the co-location, we are receiving renewed interest from past exhibitors who have stopped attending Ed Expo. We anticipate that there will be more opportunities for retailers of pre-K through 12 products than ever before.
CAMEX is a big show – will NSSEA retailers have time to see everything?
What’s the cost difference for manufacturers?
Working the show with a plan will be important. Next year’s event includes 24 total hours of exhibits, an increase of six hours over Ed Expo 2013. That allows attendees plenty of time to do business at the Ed Expo exhibits, and then branch out and explore new opportunities.
We really appreciate those exhibitors who have been supporting NSSEA and exhibiting at Ed Expo for the last two years. Therefore, their exhibit booth prices will not increase for the 2014 event, as long as an exhibit application is received by September 6, 2013. For all other companies, exhibit booth prices have moderately increased.
Is there a cost difference for retailers to attend the combined show versus attending Ed Expo alone? There is no additional cost – retailers get two shows for the price of one! Once a dealer registers for Ed Expo (or CAMEX), he or she will have complete access to both exhibit floors.
Will Ed Expo and CAMEX exhibitors be combined? The only difference between past shows and next year is that there is another tradeshow “next door.� Ed Expo exhibits are in our own hall, with our own en-
3RZHU&OL[ WKH ' %XLOGLQJ 6\VWHP IURP *XLGHFUDIW OHWV \RX H[SORUH DQG EXLOG HQGOHVV PRGHOV ZLWK WKH HDV\ FOLFN Ă‘Q FRQQHFW V\VWHP 6XSHU VWURQJ PDJQHWLF IRUFH FUHDWHV D TXLFN FRQQHFW IRU IDVW VLPSOH DQG SRZHUIXO ' PRGHOLQJ %XLOG EULGJHV VN\FUDSHUV DQLPDOV DQG PRUH &RORUIXO WUDQVOXFHQW SODVWLFV DQG XQLTXH JHRPHWULF VKDSHV DQG H[WHQGHU URGV DOORZ IRU RSHQ HQGHG FUHDWLYLW\ LQVSLULQJ FRQVWUXFWLRQV 7KH 3RZHU&OL[ $FWLYLW\ *XLGH JLYHV \RXQJ EXLOGHUV VWHS E\ VWHS LQVWUXFWLRQV RQ KRZ WR FUHDWH D YDULHW\ RI PRGHOV ZKLOH WHDFKLQJ WKHP WKH EDVLFV RI VFLHQFH FRQVWUXFWLRQ DQG HQJLQHHULQJ $JHV
G9000
20 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
U
18 pc set
G9001
U
36 pc set
G9002
U
52 pc set
trance to the show, along with a bus drop-off location. But we’ll also have access directly from the CAMEX exhibit floor – it will be one contiguous event. Attendees will not have to leave the venue to access the other show. What does the new joint show mean in terms of future timing and future locations? NSSEA and NACS have signed a multiyear agreement to work together. In addition to the 2014 show in March in Dallas, there is a 2015 event scheduled for February 21 through 24 in Atlanta. We are still finalizing plans for 2016 and 2017. The event will remain in the lateFebruary to mid-March timeframe. What are the benefits of the March date next year versus the January date this year? While we hear many conflicting opinions on the subject of show dates and locations, our survey data from Ed Expo 2013 showed 64 percent of retailers favored March for Ed Expo versus 20 percent that preferred January. Sixteen percent had no opinion. On the exhibitor side, the data was even more compelling with 71 percent favoring March, 11 percent preferring January and 18 percent having no opinion. We believe a return to March will result in more order writing, more new products being ready for market, and more show specials being offered by the vendor community. Are there other trade organizations that might be interested in co-locating as well? We believe there will be other organizations that will want to be part of this exciting new event. We are open to working with any group that would bring value to the NSSEA community. April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 21
new Travel across America in this new first-of-its-kind, nonfiction, easy reader series, 50 States to Celebrate (Green Light Readers Level 3). This entertaining and educational mix of geography, history, and pop culture encourages reading independence with longer text, richer vocabulary and engaging content.
hmhbooks.com
SPREAD THE WORD Reading and writing activities for group and independent learning
Tear-Offs are a unique new way to get students excited about writing. A teacher chooses a topic by selecting a page, then students tear off and respond to the related prompt that best captures their interest and imagination. For grades 4 through 8.
mcdonaldpublishing.com 22 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
new Get Your ACT Together: The Fabulous Guide to the ACT and Ready SAT Go! The Fabulous Guide to the SAT (2nd Edition) are filled with humor, creativity, illustrations and diagrams designed for visual learners. Every strategy and concept is reinforced with memorable examples, guided practice and illustrated solutions. Each comes with flash cards to reinforce essential concepts.
applerouth.com
With Day-by-Day Alphabet Plans, the easy-to-follow lesson grid makes covering the alphabet a breeze! Features more than 20 simple activities for each letter of the alphabet, and is great for group activities, story time, art and more.
themailbox.com
This big collection of tiered readingresponse sheets enables you to match the right activity with all your students, whether they’re reading at level A, N or anywhere in between! A must-have for all K-3 teachers with guided reading programs!
edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com
SNAP! Reading features 150 titles appropriate for the K-8 student, offering formats for intervention (RTI), leveled readers, supplemental reading, printable worksheets, projectable activities, fully scripted lesson plans, and a digital version for tablets, complete with built-in assessments for fluency and comprehension.
snaplearning.net
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 23
Winners of the second annual Eddy Awards, spoNsored by Educational Dealer magazine, were annou ced in January at Ed Expo in Atlanta.
gearedfori magination com .
Plus-Plus Midi from Geared for Imagination took top honors. Designed for preschoolers, Plus-Plus is a con struction toy that comes in one simple shape, but produces end less possibilities. It's made in Denmark for ages 3 and up.
Eddy Awards Honor
Innovative Teaching Products T he second-place trophy went to Hot Dots Junior Interactive
storybooks with electronic pens from Educational In Sights. Ace, the Talking, Teaching Dog; and Kat, the Talking, Teach ing Kitty, work interactively with Hot Dots question cards to provide children pre-K to grade 1 with im mediate feedback - cheering for the right answer, laughing, talking, lighting up and re-directing. e dup re ss.com
Edupress Sales r- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ...... Manager Rachel Lehmann (center) with the booth staff at Ed Expo
o
�li;;
':"' .... , "'"
,
. .... - . ..-- ...�.. ,
•
n.......·.·-,,·--
_iiil-- 1.;;t;:T::�:;:;:.�;; ;,;;;. ·-;:..,
Edupress's Quick Flip References for Common Core State Standards won third prize. It's a resource that puts the new lan guage arts and math standards at teachers' fingertips. Each handy flip book features the complete set of standards for the grade level, allow ing teachers of grades K through 5 to easily apply standards to current and new lesson plans.
o
The Eddy Awards were selected by retailers from these products in Ed Expo’s New Product Showcase. American Educational Products (amep.com) • Human Torso Model • BodyIQ Nutrition Board Game • The Chaotic Pendulum • Chemistry: An Atom Building Game Aster Graphics (goaster.com) Label Cassette Brand New World (brandnewworld.com) Modern Casual Enviro-Child Upholstered Chocolate Sofa and Upholstered Blue Chair C-Line Products (c-lineproducts.com) • Reusable Dry-Erase Pockets • DuPont Tyvek Security Wristbands Captain McFinn (captainmcfinn.com) S.H.A.R.K. (Students Help Achieve Respect and Kindness) Patrol Kit Carpets for Kids (carpetsforkids.com) Kid$ Value Rugs – Something Fishy, Old MacDonald’s Farm
Dowling Magnets (dowlingmagnets.com) • Magna Art Kit • Simply Science Magic Bullet Train • Updated Very First Magnet Kit Eureka School div. Paper Magic Group (eurekaschool.com) • Sports Licensing Pennant Banner • Dr. Seuss Lenticular Pencil Toppers
Growing Sound (shop.childreninc.org) • Everyone is Someone CD: Songs of Social and Emotional Responsibility • Take Care: Songs of Friendship, Social Awareness Harebrain Incorporated (whisperphone.com) WhisperPhone Select Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (hmhbooks.com)
• Sports Classroom décor – basketball See the ad on page 5 Flipside Products (flipsideproducts.com) • Cork panel • Privacy Shield • Corrugated black/white project board Gallopade (gallopade.com) • 21st-Century Tech Tools • Carole Marsh’s Careers Curriculum
Carson-Dellosa Publishing (carsondellosa.com) • The Complete Common Core Standards Kits • Daily Standards Pocket Chart Childs Play (childsplay1.com) Red Class Classroom Stove/Sink combination
Greg & Steve Productions (gregandsteve.com) Greg & Steve Bounce & Boogie CD
Learning with Curious George Math and Reading Workbooks for Grades Pre-K through K See the ad on page 42 Junior Learning Inc. (juniorlearning.com) Fraction Fortress
Kalokids (kalokids.com) • Emotions Donut Cushion Cart with 12 Cushions • Ergo Vari Seat: Double/Sofa
Roaring Spring Paper Products (rspaperproducts.com) Color ME Notebooks Safari Ltd. (safariltd.com) Safariology – Life Cycle Series
Toobaloo Headset See the ad on page 49 Learning Resources (learningresources.com) Ten-Frame Treasures Magnet Ltd. (magnet-ltd.com) • Magnetic Wall Sticker – Height Chart • Magnetic Wall Sticker – Human Anatomy Maranda Enterprises (marandaenterprises.com) Games: Eternas, Quadefy, Dotzee, Speedy Recall, Nounsense Memory on Hand (memoryonhand.com) OnHand iPhone 5 Card Case
Kagan Publishing & Professional Development (kaganonline.com) ClassBuilding & TeamBuilding Combo
• Common Core Lessons and Activities Books • New State Stuff for All 50 States • First Class See the ad on page 16
Learning Loft (learning-loft.com)
Miller Studio (magicmounts.com) • Project Glue Strips • Magic Mounts Decorating kit MT Brain Gang (topkatcher.com) TopKatcher desktop barrier and organizer Newmark Learning (newmarklearning.com) • Alphabet Animal Friends Boxed Set • I Can Read! Reading Level Kits • STAAR Mathematics • Spanish Early Readers PlayMaisCanada (playmaiscanada.com) PlayMais Fun to Learn Colors and Forms Punkydoodles (punkydoodles.com) Otto Octopus
See-N-Read Reading Tools, dba CadenaSmith Enterprises (see-n-read.com) See-N-Spell Spelling and Vocabulary Quick Reference Guide Sing2Learn (sing2learn.com) Sings2Learn Spanish Beginner 2A SNAP! Learning (snaplearning.net) SNAP Mobile Time Timer LLC (timetimer.com) • Time Timer Watch Plus
• Time Timer Plus See the ad on page 27 Westco Educational Products (westcoed.com) • Band Wagon Kit • Westco Basic Wood Percussion Kit Wiebe, Carlson & Associates (wiebe-carlson.com)
• Tenable math strategy game • Bumper Car Math Multiplication & Division See the ad on page 22
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 25
new Boost early writing skills with a dry-erase marker and these 12 BIG, reusable graphic organizers. Topics covered include
Have fun with Moon’s new Mustache pencils and erasers! Made from pre-
brainstorming, elaboration, organization, revision and more. Content is correlated with the Core Standards.
mium woods, these no. 2 pencils sharpen evenly and have latex-free erasers.
edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com
moonproducts.com
Designed by an occupational therapist, the Training Sneaker teaches children how to tie their laces. Velcro pads are placed at the point where the loops are formed, allowing the child to focus on manipulating and tying them.
looperslaces.com
PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER The Ward Student Assignment Book helps students keep homework assignments organized on a daily basis. Includes homework tips/student responsibilities, a class schedule, weekly assignment sheets for up to 40 weeks of school, a schedule of school events/long range assignments, a goal/achievement record and a personal directory.
hubbardcompany.com
The colorful Teacher’s Daily Plan Book features 40 weeks of lesson plan pages, space for at least eight subjects, a daily schedule, substitute/emergency information, seating charts, an events calendar, student information and more.
hayespub.com 26 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
new The Sky Board Eraser works well on old slate boards that are hard to erase, as well as new porcelain enamel boards that are hard to erase with a standard eraser. It leaves no ghosting or clouds on the boards.
skyboarderaser.com
The no. 2 Recycled Pencils feature three types of material to choose from: newspaper, denim and money. They are custom imprint with a minimum of 720 pencils, and a onetime die charge.
pencils.net
This hands-free headset is perfectly designed to attach to all Toobaloos. Students can have their hands free to read or write, while hearing themselves clearly. One size fits all.
learning-loft.com
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 27
•• SCHOLASTIC
DOs and DON'Ts When Things are Slow by Doug Fleener
Conventional wisdom tells us that we should be able to deliver a better and more productive experience in our stores on slower days. Sometimes, though, being productive is actually
more
challenging when it's slow compared to when we're
busy. We can inadvertently turn off a customer by being overly attentive, or sim ply miss an opportunity altogether. Here are a few simple dos and don'ts for those slower times.
Don't congregate at the door.
33!Wj1tt coloJt#td aeeenU
/uw.e COllfl1JRM IJ4M aJUuuUt tJw claWuJom.
fJ04 UJe {U 1UU1l.e �, 11Ul1A �, laIJa f!-o1bMmtent�amt /iLU, f1!WIUf!-o1b� �, amt � fIWIl.e!
In fact, don't con gregate anywhere, whether business is slow or not. When shoppers can see that salespeople outnumber customers, some may skip coming into the store to browse. Send someone to the back room to do paper work if need be, and make sure the others are busy straightening shelves or freshening up displays.
Don't present a quiet store. As a customer, I'm hesitant to walk into a quiet, empty store. I see it all of the time at the mall: a customer walks up to the lease line,
Don't abruptly stop what you're doing when the customer comes in. I know it sounds
looks around and then
counterintuitive, and it
leaves. Even if you can't
may even be contrary to
do much about the
what some retailers
empty part, you can ad
teach. But if you imme
dress the quiet. Make
diately stop what you're
sure you always have
doing the second a cus
music playing, and on
tomer walks in, he or she
slower days make it
often feels guilty for in
more upbeat to bring
terrupting you. Just wel
more energy to the store.
come the customer as you quickly (but not abruptly) get to a stop ping place. The cus tomer is always your first priority.
Don't yell across the store to greet/welcome the customer. I know, you're so happy to see a customer that you can't wait to welcome himlher, but yelling does not make the best first impression. It can also communicate that whatever you're doing somewhere in the store is more important than walking up to welcome them using a conversa tional tone of voice.
28 EducationalDealerMagazine.com
-
April 2013
Do use open-ended questions when first engaging a customer. Some shoppers have a tendency to avoid conversing with a sales associate if they are the only person in the store. By using open-ended questions you give your customer a few extra seconds to get comfortable and warm up to you.
Do give your customer the space to shop at the pace they want. Sometimes when it’s slow we give each customer our full attention whether they want it or not. Customers will let us know by their answers to our questions and their body language if they want or need space. Overattentiveness will run some customers right out the door; others will be thrilled to have you all to themselves. Read your customers and give them what they want.
Do engage the customer who is looking around. We’ve always said that our involvement elevates the customer’s experience, but that doesn’t happen when you ask, “Are you finding everything alright?” or “Can I answer any questions?” Instead, bring the shopper a new product that just came in, or start telling him about the product he’s looking at. The key is to then direct the conversation away from the product and toward the customer. Learning just one or two things about his likes, dislikes, needs and wants will help you find just the right item. Doug Fleener is president of retail consultancy Dynamic Experiences Group. He’s a veteran merchant with more than 25 years of handson retail experience with worldclass stores like Bose Corporation and The Sharper Image. He has also owned and operated his own specialty stores. For more information, visit dynamicexperiences group.com or call 866-535-6331. April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 29
� ...\0
\'-l
A..Jailablel
--
V\.e,tN--
Introducing Fundanoodle's
NEW I Can Write Cursive! tablet for 2nd grade and up.
The
Kiddie Station combines a beautiful, roomy maple laminate
changing table with the convenience of a portable hot-water hand washing station, and offers additional locking storage with shelf.
ozarkriver.com
�th8
reading game
The game that everyone is talking about that can teach ANY child to readu� •
Game sessions are fun-filled with a winner every few seconds. •
After a few games, the
accompanying storybook can be read without hesitation or frustration •
Meets Common Core Standards (CCS)
"The Reading Game is a favorite activity with my kindergarten students... I'm amazed by how quickly they are retaining all these new sight words and enjoying the process!" - Susan Drinker, Kindergarten Teacher
Main Street Elementary, Exeter, NH
Mention Ed Dealer for Special Discounts when ordering. RRP $24.95
See what others are saying & find more information at...
www.thereadinggame.com
AWARD WINNING!
e 30 EducationalDealerMagazine.com - April 2013
COOL AND HOT Innovations in the furniture and equipment category These easy to assemble
Sensory Tables feature four bright
colors - Royal Blue, Candy Apple Red, Shamrock Green and Ca nary Yellow - and are for both community and individual play. For ages 3 and up (adult supervision recommended).
AngelesStore.com
new Chocolate Brown and Cherry Red new colors are now available in all of the Sand and Water Activity Tables, Mite/Sensory Tables and Easels. Made in the USA.
childbrite.com
The soft and flexible Soft Touch High-Low Corner is covered with a polyurethane-coated fabric and has no toxic chemicals to irritate the most sensitive skin.
childrensfactory.com
Perfect for waiting areas, schools, daycares, lobbies or any space where smaller-sized guests might be hiding or seeking, the Runtz Ball Chair is made with an anti-burst exercise ball, bright mesh fabric and includes an air pump.
Ideal for classroom experiments and demonstrations because of its viewing visibility from all four sides, the Classroom Demonstration Hood can be used for large class instruction, as an individual student workstation or as a vented storage enclosure.
HEMCOcorp.com
safcoproducts.com
The SideKick puts you, the project or books at just the right level for curious minds. Features a high-density foam cushion for comfort, a write-n-wipe board and open storage for books, papers, puppets and more.
jonti-craft
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 31
orbfactory.com
RETAILERS RECOMMEND 1
Fabulous Products by Alyssa LaFaro
fremontdie.com
2 4 smartgames.eu
smartgames.eu
3
32 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Richard Derr from Learning Express in Lake Zurich, Illinois “The Orb Factory’s Pulsar Power Balls (1) let boys make their own bouncy balls. It’s a combination of arts and crafts and science. It has done very well. “I am excited about a new game from Fremont Die. They were just here at our store demoing it before it even comes out – NFL Game Day (2). It’s a great, easy-to-understand family game that does a nice job at educating young children about football and its rules. It features all the teams from the NFL (which has the biggest license for any sport). “IQ-Twist (3) from Smart Games is a logic game that’s great for travel. Users have to move the pieces around the puzzle to match colors, and it gets increasingly complex from start to finish. “The other Smart Games item we like is Trucky 3 (4). It features three small trucks that each have clear containers with puzzle pieces stacked inside. It teaches kids about building, and helps them work on their cognitive skills when they put the puzzle pieces together.
carsondellosa.com
6
thinkfun.com
5
7 8
mindware.com monkeyingaround.com
9 “Roll & Play (5) from ThinkFun is great for 3-year-olds. There aren’t many educational games that fit within that age group. It’s a nice entry point for them for games. It started selling well last fall, and continues to do well this year.”
educationalinsights.com
Karen McPherson from Tools to Teach in Gaylord, Michigan “Among the things people have been asking for lately are cursive writing products. Carson-Dellosa has some nice cursive practice books (6) that
focus on traditional handwriting and skill building. “We carry a handful of activity books that are often purchased for people with Alzheimer’s. The Dot-to-Dot books (7) from Monkeying Around are used quite often for that, and the MasterScapes (8) coloring books from MindWare are really popular with that demographic. “We sell a lot of Kanoodle (9) from Educational Insights. It always sells well here. It involves combining multiple configurations of colorful balls to fit perfectly within this little black box they come packaged in. We keep it at our front counter for people to look at and play with.” April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 33
new Gemblo, an abstract strategy game, features colorful, translucent, hexagon-shaped pieces. Each player has an identical set of pieces in a unique color, the goal being to get rid of all pieces by placing them on the hexagonal game board. For two to six players.
shop.gamesalute.com
MIND PLAY Have fun and reinforce skills kids need, like eye-hand coordination and cognition
In TenAble, a math skill game, players draw six stones each and take turns building on the Pyramid game board. To place a stone, the value either next to it or below must be 10 higher or 10 lower than the value of your stone. Win by getting rid of all your stones. For grades 2 and up.
Math & Language Manipulatives
1
<
tres
add
wiebe-carlson.com
4
Standard & Polyhedral Dice 5
17
4 16
20
18
2
6.
8
8
10 12 14
10
2
12
Timers ~ Spinners ~ Pawns & Chips
21st Century Tech Tools: Cross-Curricular Classroom Activities includes more than 100 cuttingedge, turnkey, educational activities and lessons that can be completed using todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smartphones, iPads, Skype, Google Earth, Google Docs, apps and more!
gallopade.com Tel: 1-800-899-0711 Fax: 617-482-3423 www.KOPLOWGAMES.com
34 EducationalDealerMagazine.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; April 2013
new The Magic Bullet train science kit includes raw materials already cut to size, instructions on how to build your own maglev (magnet levitation) train, and an opening exercise to demonstrate the theory behind magnet levitation – like poles repel and opposites attract.
dowlingmagnets.com
Who will win the most cards by correctly guessing other players’ hidden words the fastest and with the fewest letters possible? Fun and educational, Wild Guess Chase is great for families and teachers alike to utilize vocabulary or subject matter-related words.
This water rocket set is a hands-on STEM learning tool. Perfect for home school and science fair projects!
allthekingsgames.com
questaerospace.com
PRESENTS
Design That Matters Introducing a new designer line exclusively from Jonti-Craft and Edgar Blazona “The essence
TrueModern is a new, contemporary
of modernism is
classroom furniture collection created by renowned designer Edgar Blazona
simplicity in form but durability of factor.”
in partnership with Jonti-Craft. The collection’s sleek, innovative designs will appeal to 21st century child care providers and educators, with the durability long associated with the Jonti-Craft brand.
ECOFRIENDLY
HANDCRAFTED
ULTRADURABLE
Copyright © 2012 Jonti-Craft, Inc.
KYDZSAFE
LEARN MORE | 800.543.4149 | www.jonti-craft.com | sales@jonti-craft.com
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 35
Less Means
More by Ellen Metrick
There’s a trend out there in the world of education, although some might refer to it as a tornado. Schools, teachers and ultimately children are being asked to get by with less. At a time when the U.S. Census has determined that one in 20 children have a disability, and as many as 20 percent may have special needs, this is not ideal. The “less factors” Less preschool, fewer school days, fewer teachers and less time for attention to individual students are all results of economic belt-tightening. It’s taking the breath out of many educational programs. “In addition to reducing the number of teachers on their payrolls, school districts have cut prekindergarten and kindergarten programs, shortened the school day or school year, and cut back on other critical education programs,” says the August 2012 report from the Executive Office of the President entitled “Investing in Our Future: Returning Teachers to the Classrooms.” Ironically, at a time when many schools are eliminating recess and play, innovative toys are providing ancillary ways for kids to learn. Here are some innovative products that teacher stores may want to add into their mix. More technology Take Ubooly for example. The press called it “The Plush Toy with the iPhone Brain.” Creators have christened this critter an “edu-tainment tool” because it involves using a smartphone as the creature’s face. It has voice recognition technology, understands kids and then responds back – it even has a memory. Soon this cuddly orange orb could be teaching kids Spanish! 36 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Ubooly ubooly.com
More entertainment It’s getting so that kids can’t tell the difference between education and entertainment anymore. Technology toy powerhouse LeapFrog even refers to itself as “… the leader in educational entertainment for children.” In 2012, LeapFrog products accounted for three of the five top-selling products in the entire toy industry, according to NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service.
More crossover You may not think of a trampoline as a tool to teach color recognition or math skills, but that’s exactly what Skywalker Holdings did with its Color Count Mini Trampoline. By dividing the jumping surface into quadrants and adding numbers and colors, the opportunity to sneak some counting skills just jumped into the mix. Here’s another crossover example – plush toys and math. A former educator is leading the charge to make math less emotionally charged for kids. By morphing numbers into loveable plush creatures and imbibing them with personality and characteristics in line with their numeric applications, inventor Rebecca Klemm, Ph.D., wants kids to “cultivate a love of numbers.” Her company, NumbersAlive, takes a language and story approach to teaching math, and recasts this learning experience into the relationship-building category. More information Smart companies realize that the learning their products help develop in children is a story that needs to be told. By doing so and doing it well, companies are encouraging play as a way for kids to learn, explore and discover. Numbers Alive numbersalive.org
COLLECTION
Headliner
Color Count Mini Trampoline skywalkerholdings.com
In 2012, toy company Melissa & Doug added a “Shop Toys by Skill” category on its website. Other companies like Learning Resources and Fat Brain Toys have been doing that for a while, and AblePlay has a website dedicated to the benefits of toys for all abilities. As you can see, the biggest “more factor” out there continues to be technology migration. Looking at the super categories of toys listed in the Annual Sales Data of the Toy Industry Association, you will see dolls, plush, infant/preschool and electronics as separate entities. But will that continue to hold? Now that plush and electronics seem to have comingled so cooperatively, we can only wonder which categories are next. Ellen Metrick is director of industry relations and partnerships for the National Lekotek Center. Lekotek is a leading authority on toys and play for children with disabilities. The notfor-profit is dedicated to providing children of all abilities access to the benefits of play experiences – visit ableplay.org for a complete list of toys. You can also find Lekotek on Facebook.
s
Charts Border Trim
Banner
Name Tags/ Labels
Accents & Mini Accents
Name Plates
Also... 3iSdVe 5a_bgfWd BSbWd ;`UW`f[hW 5ZSdfe & Mini Stickers BaefUSdVe Ef[U]Wde
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 37
BUSINESS NOTES Why You Should Target Baby Boomers It seems that stores are trying harder to appeal to the 18 to 35 age group. Stores like J.C. Penney have even changed their product mix and recreated their logo to pull in this generation. The Huffington Post, however, says that baby boomers are one of the fastest growing demographics in America. Here’s why they say retailers should work hard to market to them. Baby boomers have buying power. The folks in this demographic make the major purchase decisions for their households, and are accumulating much more wealth than their younger counterparts – boomers spent $2.9 trillion on consumer products in 2009. What’s more? They make up 80 percent of the consumer goods market, according to the book BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer by Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn. Baby boomers focus more on family. This generation is concerned about its future, as well as the future of its children and grandchildren. In fact, grandparents are giving more financial support to their grandchildren than ever before, according to MetLife’s Mature Market Institute. Now that you know why you should target them, here are five ways how to sell to them from Business News Daily.
38 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Build rapport. “Baby Boomers like to be in someone’s physical presence and usually prefer face-to-face communication, so they can look people in the eye and judge what they are saying,” recommends Ron Volper, a leading business development consultant, adjunct faculty member at New York University and author of Up Your Sales in a Down Market. Display products for them to touch. “One salesperson I dealt with showed me a picture of the product on his computer, but I wanted to touch it. Had the salesperson been willing to go to the trouble to open the box holding the product, I would have been able to determine whether it was the right size,” says Volper. Provide especially great customer service. “When I asked [the salesperson] to take the printer out of the box, he responded by showing me the online ratings from customers who had purchased it. This was not what I wanted. As a baby boomer I am less influenced by online ratings from people I’ve never met and more influenced by what my friends and colleagues tell me.” Give them your undivided attention. “I was brought up to do one thing at a time and give people my undivided attention.
When the salesperson allowed random customers to interrupt our conversation and also exchanged text messages with someone, I lost my train of thought, and lost confidence in him,” says Volper. Win with the right words. “As a former salesperson and head of sales at a Fortune 500 company, I know that how we say things to customers is as important as what we say,” explains Volper. “So I was not impressed when this young salesperson kept inserting the word ‘like’ into many of his sentences – as in ‘this printer is like the fastest we have.”
China Losing Battle Against U.S.-Made Products In 2001, the average hourly wage in China was 58 cents. By 2015, it will be $6, according to data from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). “Combine that with the high productivity of American manufacturers and low energy costs, and the cost gap will close for most categories of goods to just 7 percent by 2015,” reads an article from Advertising Age. Since China is losing its cost advantage, products made in the U.S. are looking up. The BCG recently interviewed a group of 1,000 Americans, 80 percent of whom said they prefer U.S.made products. Also interviewed were 1,000 Chinese consumers, 47 percent of whom also said they prefer goods from the U.S. Even conglomerates like Walmart and Apple have plans to push more U.S.-made products. Walmart hopes to buy an additional $50 billion of U.S. merchandise over the next decade, while Apple recently announced its desire to bring some of its Mac production back to the states. “Consumers are starting to make a different tradeoff,” says Harold Sirkin, author of BCG’s study, as well as its senior partner and managing director. “Retailers are able to sell goods at a slight premium, but not too much.” April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 39
new The sporty Watch PLUS uses simple icons and a large display to ensure ease of use for all age and ability levels. Fully customizable, it includes two modes, a vibrating alert and repeatable time segments for interval training.
timetimer.com
Decorative Classroom Chests can hold rewards for achievements, readers, manipulatives for learning centers, special surprises, birthday gifts, wristbands, stickers and more! Made of sturdy cardboard and easy to assemble.
tcrdealer.com
Office Snax 9 to 5 Coffee is the perfect way to jumpstart your day! We carefully source, roast and grind our beans for a flavorful, aromatic and smooth cup of pure coffee. Its composite cans are made from 100 percent recycled paperboard.
TAKE A BREAK AND DECORATE
officesnax.us
Affirmation Posters for Children feature inspirational messages with the power to shape exceptional minds. Practicing positive affirmations each day with students helps program their minds to react proactively to stress and negativity.
thefostermind.com
COMPLETE BOARD & CARD GAME PRODUCTION 40 EducationalDealerMagazine.com â&#x20AC;&#x201D; April 2013
We are a manufacturer not a jobber! * 0' /#0 6 * 5 -,$5 6 "-/$ #0 6 -** 1$# /#0 /#$/ 2*%(**+$,1 6 /$'-20(,& 6 2 *(15 ./-#2"1 -+.$1(1(3$ ./("(,& 6 --# 0$/3("$ 6 05 1- 4-/) 4(1' 5404 Wayne Rd., Battle Creek, MI 49037 6
$!0(1$ 444 #$* ,-0$/3("$ "-+ 6 + (* (,%- #$* ,-0$/3("$ "-+
new The Understanding Natural Disasters Teaching Poster Set clearly presents key information about tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes, including their causes and effects. The set contains four colorful 17- by 22-inch posters, four reproducible activity sheets and a helpful teacher’s guide.
mcdonaldpublishing.com
Create fun, interactive and educational themes with
mini bulletin board sets, trims, posters, stickers and more from Hasbro Games. Available to ship in April, Scrabble, Monopoly and Candy Land decorations will work for classrooms from K through 12.
papermagic.com
What if you could get Rocket Fuel from a Faucet? Kids can with Water Rockets that are engineered to AMAZE them! This new water rocket set is a hands-on STEM learning tool that allows kids to explore the “What if I?” process of discovery, exploratory learning, and problem solving. Unlike other solid propellant model rockets, Quest’s new Water Rockets are a safe and fun alternative for kids. And there’s no hazmat shipping fees or storage problems for your store! With Free fuel, there’s “no-cost to launch” Quest water rockets, so students can perform a wide range of experiments over and over.
Buy two sets – get a third for FREE! Plus FREE Shipping! #7360 Set retails for $39.99 – your cost is $23.99 (40% off) Buy two at your cost of $23.99 each = $47.98 You get a third set FREE. Sell all three sets and your store makes $71.99 Profit!
Call to place your order NOW! This incredible offer expires on April 15th 2013.
1-800-858-7302 #7360 Starter Set $39.99 Retail. Includes complete launch system, fins, nozzle, rocket bumper and color instructions. Lifetime Warranty on launch system.
www.questwaterrockets.com April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 41
INDUSTRY NEWS The Great Thrill Ride Build-Off competition from K’NEX is going on now and runs through April 8. It is open to all classrooms and student groups in grades 6 through 12. Students are challenged to build an original, functional amusement park ride solely from K’NEX parts, and explain the scientific principles that affect its operation. The contest encourages students to apply what they’ve learned about potential and kinetic energy, speed, acceleration, gravity and rotational motion to their creations. To enter, school groups must submit a 500 to 600-word essay/description and a video and photos of the ride. Class or student groups can register by logging on to knex.com. One winning K’NEX model will be displayed at Cedar Point amusement
park/resort in Sandusky, Ohio; Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee, Minnesota.
42 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
The displays are part of many educational activities planned at the parks in May, when they will be transformed into virtual classrooms for school groups.
“These exhibits showcase the amazing creations that can be achieved when science is combined with creativity,” said Rob Decker, Cedar Fair’s corporate vice president of planning and design. “We always look forward to seeing what the next generation of engineers will invent. With determination and a focus on math, science, engineering and technology, these students may even work for our amusement parks someday.” A select group of K’NEX designers and ride engineers at each of the three parks will choose the winners based on creativity, uniqueness, structural stability and the accuracy of detail provided in the students’ essay. Each winning classroom will receive tickets to one of the three participating parks. Winning classrooms will also receive a K’NEX building set for each child and store credit for additional K’NEX materials. Nearly 100 classrooms participated in the 2012 competition, representing schools from 20 states – almost double the number of competitors who entered in the inaugural contest.
Carson-Dellosa Publishing has announced the appointment of Al Greco as chief executive officer. Greco succeeds Judy Harris, who expressed a desire to spend more time with her family. Greco joined Carson-Dellosa in 2011 as senior vice president of sales, promotions and marketing. Previously, he spent much of his career at Random House, and rose to hold vice president roles in online and retail sales. For four of those years, Greco built the Random House children’s books presence with national accounts. Carson-Dellosa Publishing in Greensboro, North Carolina was founded by two teachers more than 35 years ago.
Tell our advertisers that you saw their products in Educational Dealer
THE MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO SELL TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 43
INDUSTRY NEWS
Cincinnati-based Flipside Products has acquired Hayes School Publishing of Pittsburgh. The acquisition expands Flipside’s school, office, craft and art supply business across new product lines and growing geographical markets. Flipside Products was established in 1990. It serves over 2,000 customers in national and international markets. Phil Cohen, chairman and owner, states, “Flipside and Hayes operate under a similar philosophy, making this acquisition an easy and solid fit. A family owned environment, a strong commitment to customer service, and an expansive product line drew us to pursue this deal.” Hayes School Publishing has operated as a family owned educational
awards publisher since 1940. President Clair Hayes feels Flipside is the right fit to continue the company’s growth. “Flipside is a solid leader in the school supply industry. I look forward to watching the exciting plans they have for continued growth and success.”
iCreate to Educate announced plans for its strategic partnership with Kaplan Early Learning Group. The aim of this partnership is to better leverage each company’s product line and strengthen its mutual market presence. With distribution channels across the globe, iCreate to Educate and Kaplan Early Learning Group’s mutual
44 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
investment will allow teachers and parents worldwide to find value in blending the digital and physical worlds of learning and play. A Boston edtech startup, iCreate’s SAM Animation software and myCreate app offer a digital experience through hands-on exploration. iCreate’s assets complement Kaplan Early Learning Company’s existing digital content and physical product line, and will strengthen its overall market reach. “We feel very fortunate to have immediate access to market channels that we could never have dreamed of having alone at this stage,” says Melissa Pickering, founder of iCreate to Educate.
School Specialty Update On February 25, School Specialty entered into an agreement with a group of its bondholders that provides new debtor-in-possession financing of $155 million, according to a question-andanswer report for investors. (Find it at investors.schoolspecialty.com). The funds will be used to, among other things, repay a previous loan from an affiliate of Bayside Capital, Inc.; and support School Specialty’s working capital needs during the restructuring process, including payments to suppliers and vendors for goods and services provided to School Specialty after its Chapter 11 filing on January 28, 2013.
ate a more appropriate capital structure for the long term. Simultaneously, we will continue exploring whether there is interest in our company from a third party that could result in a sale.” School Specialty’s Canadian subsidiaries are included in the proposed sale, but are not part of Chapter 11. The Chapter 11 filings are not expected to have any impact on the company’s operations in Canada, which will continue in the ordinary course without interruption. It is uncertain whether School Specialty shareholders will receive any distribution from proceeds of a sale, and whether these securities will have any Value of School Specialty Stock value following the over the last 10 years Chapter 11 case. On February 6, 2013, School Specialty Inc. common stock began trading under the symbol “SCHSQ” on the OTCQB marketplace, operated by the OTC Markets Group, after its common stock traded under the symThe initial asset purchase agreebol SCHS was suspended from trading ment with an affiliate of Bayside, on the Nasdaq. Nasdaq staff applied to also announced on January 28, will the Securities and Exchange Commisbe terminated. Under that agreement, sion then to commence delisting proceSchool Specialty had proposed to sell dures for those securities. its assets as a going concern through Additional information about the a court-supervised sale process. The restructuring is available on the comvoluntary petitions for reorganization pany’s website at www.school filed then were to facilitate the sale specialty.com. Claims information is transaction, and it had been pursuing available at www.kccllc.net/school the sale process under Section 363 of specialty, or by calling the School the Bankruptcy Code. Specialty’s Restructuring Information About the new February 25th Center toll-free at 877-709-4758. agreement, School Specialty said in the School Specialty’s financial adQ and A report, “This new agreement is visor is Perella Weinberg Partners a positive step for our company. It enLP; its restructuring advisor is Alables us to move forward with suffivarez & Marsal North America LLC; cient funding on a dual path process – and its restructuring counsel is Paul, we will pursue a plan of reorganization Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison with our bondholders for a comprehen- LLP and Young Conaway Stargatt & sive financial restructuring that will cre- Taylor LLP.
• Pawns • Arrow Spinners • Dice • Counting Cubes • Polyhedral Dice • Mini Chips • Sand Timers • Checkers And Much More!
Free Brochure & Samples www.gameparts.net 1-800-980-0403 April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 45
EYE ON EDUCATION Gym Class Plays a Whole New Ball Game Students in Sharon Patelsky’s physical education class at Everglades Elementary School in West Palm Beach, Florida, count by fours during warmups. At Deep Creek Elementary School in Chesapeake, Virginia, children count in different languages while they warm up, and hop on letter mats to spell out words. As progressive and positive as this may sound, parents are concerned about education overdose. Teachers worry that academics in the gym could ruin P.E.’s primary goal – fun, physical activity, reports The New York Times. New content for gym classes result from the intense focus on test scores in math and English, notes the article, along with a desire to present more health and fitness information to students. In some cases, it has been accompanied by homework and testing.
Kathleen Oropeza, cofounder of Education Fund Now, a nonprofit public education advocacy group in Florida, told the Times, “I think there is such a thing as taking something too far,” and thinks children’s desire to be athletic or part of a team shouldn’t be overshadowed by a high-stakes test environment. Eric Stern, the administrator in charge of P.E. for Palm Beach County schools (the 11th-largest school district in the country), thinks adding more curriculum to gym class makes P.E. teachers more of an asset to schools, important in an era marked by school budget cuts. Research shows that physical activity helps improve kids’ brain function. “Some children just learn better through more movement than they do sitting at a desk,” Janis Andrews, chief academic officer in Palm Beach, told the Times.
President’s Plan for Early Learners is Good News President Obama has developed a new plan for early education that would make universal preschool a budget priority. Here are the major elements of the president’s proposal, provided by the U.S. Department of Education. • Providing high-quality preschool for every child: A new cost-sharing partnership with all 50 states managed by the Department of Education will extend federal funds and expand high-quality public preschool to reach all low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds from families whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. • Growing the supply of effective early learning opportunities for young children: A new Early Head Start-Child Care partnership will support communities that extend the availability of Early Head Start as well as childcare providers that can 46 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
meet high standards of quality for infants and toddlers. • Expanding evidence-based, voluntary home visiting: Voluntary home visiting programs enable nurses, social workers and other professionals to connect families to services and educational support that can improve a child’s health, development and ability to learn. The president’ plan extends these important programs to reach additional families in need. Some state officials say they’d welcome the money to revamp early childhood assessment programs. Others caution that evaluations – especially for preschooland kindergarten-age children – should not be used to make high-stakes decisions. “We have to take into account that there is no absolute standard for children to have achieved when they enter kindergarten,” Samuel Meisels, president of the Erikson Institute in Chicago, told Education Week.
Overreaction is Understandable after Sandy Hook, Say Experts An 8-year-old boy from Prince William County in Virginia was suspended in February for pointing his finger like a gun and pretending to shoot his friend, reports the Washington Post. A fifth grader from Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested for showing a toy gun to students on a school bus. He was taken into custody and fingerprinted. He now has a juvenile record and a probation officer. These extreme reactions are to be expected post-Sandy Hook, say experts. The same thing happened after the Columbine school shooting in 1999. But this heightened sensitivity has caused “some zero-tolerance policies, with inflexible punishments,” reads the February 17 article.
Schools are definitely ratcheting up discipline in these cases, says the article, which quotes Judith Browne Dianis, co-director of the Advancement Project, a civil rights group that works on the issue nationally. “We’re seeing more school districts rushing to hire more police, and we’re seeing a rise in the number of incidents of school discipline that puts common sense to the side,” she told the Post. While the school districts assert that their actions demonstrate good judgment, parents are panicked. Families of suspended students are hiring attorneys to file appeals on their kids’ behalf, says the article. Sandy Hook has impacted a Chicago high school in a different way. The Cary-Grove High School held a
code red shooting drill in late January, reports CBS, where blanks were fired from a starter pistol. During the drill, “teachers kept students in their rooms, locked their doors and closed their curtains” says the report. The reaction from students and parents was mixed. “If you need to run a drill, you run a drill,” commented a parent, Sharon Miller, on CBS affiliate WBBM Newsradio. “They run fire drills all the time, but they don’t run up and down the hallway with a flamethrower.” Cary-Grove junior Sarah Dietzel, 16, told the Chicago Tribune that the drill felt similar to a tornado or fire drill, and better prepared her in the event of a real emergency.
Customization is Our Specialty Have an Unusual Space? Need Special Storage for a Specific Activity? More Shelves...or Less? 1HHG LW D /LWWOH 6PDOOHU«RU /DUJHU"
We can create custom units to meet your specifications with
No Customization fees!
Call Us for a Quote. 1-800-224-8268
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 47
Tell our advertisers that you saw their products in Educational Dealer magazine INDEX OF ADVERTISERS APRIL 2013 Company
Page
Web Site
Company
All Point POS
19
allpointpos.com
Jonti-Craft Inc.
35
jonti-craft.com
Angeles Corporation
51
angelesstore.com
Koplow Games Inc.
34
koplowgames.com
ASTRA 15 American Specialty Toy Retailing Association
astratoy.org
Learning Loft Inc.
49
learning-loft.com
Let’s Make Cents/Furniture Footies
16
furniturefootiesllc.com
Brand New World
40
brandnewworld.com Mahar Manufacturing
47
mahar.net
Catalog Solutions
13
catalogsolutions.com The Mailbox Books
52
theeducationcenter.com
Chenille Kraft Co.
38
chenillekraft.com McDonald Publishing
3
mcdonaldpublishing.com
Childbrite by Manta-Ray Inc.
8
childbrite.com Moon Products
21
moonproducts.com
The Children’s Factory
39
childrensfactory.com Musgrave Pencil Co.
12
pencils.net
Creative Catalog Concepts
9
creativecatalogs.com National Artcraft Co.
45
nationalartcraft.com
Crystal Productions
22
crystalproductions.com Ozark River Portable Sinks
43
ozarkriver.com
DeLano/EPI Printing Inc.
40
epiinc.com Pacific Playtents
21
pacificplaytents.com
Displays2Go
7
displays2go.com Paper Magic Group/Eureka
5
papermagic.com
The Original E-Z Grader
8
ezgrader.com Quest Aerospace Inc.
41
questaerospace.com
Educators Resource
39
erdealer.com The Reading Game
30
thereadinggame.com
Essential Learning Products
11
essentialdealer.com SAFCO Products
49
safcoproducts.com
Fairfield Marketing
23
fairfieldmarketing.com Scene-A-Rama/Woodland Scenics
6
woodlandscenics.com
Fundanoodle/Carolina Pad
30
carolinapad.com Scholastic
2, 28
scholasticdealer.com
Gallopade International
16
gallopade.com Sky Board Eraser
23
skyboarderaser.com
GameParts
45
Gameparts.net Steffy Wood Products Inc.
44
steffywood.com
Get Ready Kids
34
getreadykids.com Teacher Created Resources
37
teachercreated.com
Gryphon House
14
gryphonhouse.com Time Timer
27
timetimer.com
Guidecraft USA
20
guidecraft.com Ward Products/The Hubbard Co.
46
hubbardcompany.com
Hayes
29
hayespub.com WCA - Weibe, Carlson and Assoc.
22
wiebe-carlson.com
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
42
hmhbooks.com Wood Designs
17
www.wooddesigns.org
48 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013
Page
Web Site
ENDCAP (continued from page 50)
Make any Toobaloo® hands-free with the headset adapter. One Size Fits All
Dots on Turquoise Designer Classroom set
Retailers often tell us they continue to support our business because we introduce products at pricing that offers value to both the dealer and the teacher. Our customers appreciate that we provide product that sells – and sells quickly! We are known for providing great products and customer service.
Create to Educate™
i>À } vÌ°V ÊUÊnÇÇ°n£ °Óx{£
How important is outreach to your customers and to end users? It’s very important, and we are very active on social media – we have a Facebook page, Twitter account, a handful of Pinterest boards and videos on YouTube. We’ve also invested in creative consultants. Former teacher and teacher store co-owner Tommie Netzer has created our Tommie’s Tools brand of creative ideas featured on our website. Most recently, popular “Schoolgirl Style” blogger, Melanie Ralbusky, created our Inspired in Style. By sharing these ideas and content with our dealers, they can share them with their customers. Fairly new is our in-house Learning Lab. This new space is dedicated to workshops and demonstrations to give teachers the opportunity to get hands-on experience with new resources. It’s equipped with digital learning tools, including interactive whiteboards and iPads, as well as interactive educational software. It’s a great place for educators to collaborate and explore. What would you like to see happen for Creative Teaching Press in the future? Our desire is to continue to be a leader in providing fresh ideas that enrich and inspire. We want to continue to evolve, grow and incorporate digital technology to stay on the cutting edge of education. When you know that the end result of your efforts is helping to inspire someone in the learning process – whether it’s a teacher, parent or student – it doesn’t get much more meaningful than that.
Give students A New Way to Play with the AlphaBetter Desk and its Patented Swinging Pendulum Footest Bar which provides students the option to stand and move throughout their day! ®
™
April 2013 — ShopSchoolSupplies.com 49
ENDCAP
Creative Products to Transform Learning by Alyssa LaFaro
C
alifornia-based Creative Teaching Press was founded in 1965 by a classroom teacher with one product. In the early days, Luella Connelly, her husband Pat and their family operated the company from their dining room table, and used their basement for storage, production and shipping. Today, at its 80,000-square-foot facility in Huntington Beach, Creative Teaching Press employs 100 people, produces a line of 2,000 different SKUs for teachers and parents, and distributes its products to 46 countries. Still family owned, it is run by Luella and Pat’s son, Jim, who became president in 1994. His parents continue to participate on CTP’s advisory board. With the 50th anniversary of the company just a few years away, we talked to Jim recently about the company’s longevity and many successes. Your mom was really a pioneer in classroom resources. Tell us about that one original product. It was a box of 4- by 6-inch cards called “Recipes for Creative Writing.” The cards were written by Luella and were designed to help children develop creative writing skills. After 17 years of teaching, my mom knew that kids needed more than a textbook to inspire them to learn. CTP continued to develop individualized instructional materials for primary grades in the U.S., and in 1972, my mother quit teaching to work full time at CTP. That’s when the company’s significant growth began. What was the progression? Over the years, Creative Teaching Press has evolved into a company that produces instructional resources that range from books CTP’s Scratch ’n Sniff Stickers.
to designer learning décor. Our first huge hit, Scratch ’n Sniff Stickers, were introduced in 1977. They were the first of their kind. Other growth milestones included the acquisition of children’s music label Youngheart Music in 1990. Nine years later we launched a sister company, Pacific Learning, that provides literacy resources for students pre-K through grades 8 and up. In 2000, we purchased The Learning Works – resources that teach critical thinking – and in 2007, we introduced our Designer Décor Collection. More recently, we’ve started to expand our product line to include the parent market. That’s been in response to our educational dealers who are looking for market opportunities in addition to the classroom teacher. And, as technology in the classroom and at home increases, we’ve come out with eBooks, interactive products and apps. Our most popular product today is our Designer Décor series. It really hit the mark, and continues to be a line that not only creates an appealing learning environment, but also a lot of sales. While so much has changed since the beginning, our mission of developing creative materials to provide that inspiration has not. What has the company become known for? How do your customers describe you? We are a family run, teacher-owned and managed company. We continue to rely on a product development team of teachers, and a creative department with an amazing eye for cutting-edge design. CTP has always been considered a leader in the area of literacy, and has remained on top of learning trends by publishing such timely resources as Managing the Whole Language Classroom, Learn to Read and Phonemic Awareness. (continued on page 49)
50 EducationalDealerMagazine.com — April 2013