A HISTORIC EVENT NOT SOON TO BE FORGOTTEN
One thing for sure, this was an experience like no
other! It began with a train ride... A train ride you ask? Yes, a Amtrak
train ride from Los Angeles to Chicago with a whole new perspective
of Seasons Greetings. Rev. James G.W. Fisher, A.K.A. The Toy Man® and
two of his staff were aboard an Amtrak train from Los Angeles to Chicago,
with a plentiful wealth of games, toys, and other goodies which they
were demoing and giving away to passengers en route to Chicago!
THE EXPERIENCE AT THE SCHOOLS
- Jesse Sherwood Elementary
The wonderful excitement and active Play which
was experienced by the passengers of the Amtrak train ride, spread to Jesse Sherwood Elementary School on the first, second, and third days of the event series. The start of first day was delayed a bit in starting due to circumstances beyond our control while en route to Jesse Sherwood Elementary, yet The Toy Man® still arrived and got the ball rolling for the event series.
Together with Joseph Balcuk, from (Precision
Mathematics Corp.), The Toy Man® was able to work with all
of the classes, teachers, and parents as well, demonstrating the
various products and how to learn from them. Mr. Balcuk spent an
extensive period of time sitting down with faculty from Jesse Sherwood
Elementary, explaining to them the unique contribution that his game, Meet
The Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization, (Classroom
Adventure Pack) has to offer as part of the curriculum.
The folks from Liberty
Street Games, (one of our sponsors), the creators of "Bailout
The Game", were
able to be present for only a brief time on one of the days at Jesse
Sherwood Elementary. Their game was
more suitable for
the age group of the middle school we were visiting the next day. Liberty
Street Games was however primarily responsible for our having
OfficeDepot™ as a sponsor for
PROJECT: Education Outreach™ - Chicago.
As each day passed, there was nothing
like the joy of seeing the students having so much fun in learning
while in active Play with the products provided by the sponsors of
PROJECT: Education Outreach™ - Chicago. These
products provided a plethora of content from which the children
could be having fun while learning simultaneously.
Some of the
favorites for the students at Jesse
Sherwood Elementary were Citiblocs, (wooden
planks to stimulate creative skill and motor skills), and Jishaku, (a
fast paced a quick learn game which takes magnetism to an entirely
new level), and Comet
- the fast path to learning, (learning about spelling,
vowels, and grammar), and MathTutor
DVD, (total immersion learning for numbers 1-10.)
A bountiful collection of educational games, and toys
were given to these two schools and many of their students with the
help of our PROJECT:
Education Outreach™ - Chicago
sponsors. We even had a "Whiplash
Scooter" for students
to get a hands-on experience with. The Whiplash Scooter has become
a popular item when it comes to physical education in some schools.
As as fitness instructor I spoke to was so quick to express, "This
scooter provides a safe yet fun experience for the students. It not
only helps them in coordination and muscle skill development, but
also in burning calories safely!"
What was especially beneficial to both the kids, parent,
and teachers, was the resources provided by Time 4 Learning. http://www.time4learning.com and http://www.spellingcity.com. Thanks
to the folks at Time 4 Learning, the kids and parents have a valuable
free resource for education in spelling and for teachers and parents, http://www.time4learning.com provides
a monumental addition to assisting them in their teaching kids online
with a very intutitive and simple interface.
On report card day at Sherwood Elementary, The
Toy Man® and some of his sponsors were present to work with the
parents and kids directly. Parents and kids
were able to get hands-on evaluation of products with many of them
to take home. Parents and
children were able to give their own personal feedback on each
product at the event which will enable the developer's of these products
to see how they can bring their products to an entirely new level
from the candid feedback. This was a historical experience that is
just the beginning of many to come at other schools across the nation.
and it all started in Chicago at Jesse Sherwood Elementary School!
- Madero Middle School
The excitement was aplenty at Madero Middle School
as well. At this school, we started seriously late, yet the show must
go on! The active Play took place in the two classrooms with The Toy
Man® and
sponsor reps from Precision
Math and Liberty
Street Games. Of
course we also had the games from our sponsors, "Bailout
The Game" - Liberty
Street Games, The
Merbs - The Spoils of Civilization - Precision
Math, - Smash or
Trash - Fun Q Games, Jishaku
- RSV
Productions, and "Comet - The
fast path to learning" - Active
Minds.
Each of the games provided were carefully explained to the students
in how to play them. Science, vocabulary, spelling, and math were all
being covered through these games.
At the Madero Middle School it was an unquestionable
fact that Jishaku was
the overall favorite product of the students, partly due to the simplicity
with no real learning curve, with Comet
- The fast path to learning and Bailout
The Game coming in right behind it.
- The Goal Of Our Dedication Realized
Due to The Toy
Man® arriving late, we had to start late with this portion of our
event series yet you can rest assured that the period of time we were
allotted with the students was maximized to its fullest potential.
Considering this was our first extended version of PROJECT:
Education Outreach™, just as with any other first run of a production,
mishaps are bound to occur, yet that is how a program evolves to the
level it is now so well recognized for. The goal of our dedication
was in fact realized. We will take what we learned from this first
extended event series to make our New York event series even better!
- A Lesson Well Learned
It was a painful lesson to learn but when it comes
to taking a cab in Chicago. we present a word of warning. If you are
not familiar with where you are going to via cab in Chicago, add an
extra hour at the least on your departure time. Some, but not all cabs
have a problem with "Selective Memory." These cab drivers
select the directions to a destination in their memory based upon your
own knowlege. (Example: When a cabbie has to use a map book to
locate where you are going...well, it's too late to save your butt
if you have an important function to attend.)
- Dedication To Improvement
No matter which way you look at it, our concept of
PROJECT: Education Outreach began as a project dedicated first and
foremost to provide an improvement in life and education for kids
and families. Every program, every school district, every effort
that is based upon the same or similar design has as an unquestionable
commonality…We
are ALL in this together for kids and their families. The beauty of the
project is how product developers can now, through our program, have
a mutual opportunity to help kids and their families while getting an
exclusive opportunity to build branding for their products.
SPONTANEOUS HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
PROJECT: Education Outreach™ - Chicago doesn't stop
with the public schools. The
spontaneous setup of tables and products unexpectedly all around Chicago provides
another stimulation to buyers interests and education. They learn of products
that may never have a chance to be picked up by the big store chains and discover
how so many of them eclipse the quality of many of the products you see in
those same chain stores.
Some of the products being demo 'd on the Amtrak train
and in the schools, were also being used in spontaneous hands-on consumer
evaluation on the streets of Chicago in a variety of locations. Jishaku,
and Comet are
two of the games which proved to be favorites creating plenty of laughs and
energy while these games and others are being played even on the Chicago subway
system!
MORE INFO
This was all part of our new 7 day long PROJECT:
Education Outreach™ event series. Our next event series
will be in New York City, 7 days prior to Toy Fair 2010. Want
to learn more about PROJECT: Education Outreach™ - Chicago
or PROJECT: Education Outreach™ itself? Have any questions as
to what mishaps we encountered to avoid them yourself in the future?
You can reach us via our contact form
or just give us a call at 702.277.7370 to get the answers you are seeking
and learn about the PROJECT: Education Outreach™ event
series in other major cities and our returning to Chicago next year!
PLEASE NOTE: PROJECT: Education Outreach™ Chicago is in no manner endorsed directly or indirectly by the Chicago Public Schools.
PROJECT: Education Outreach™ Chicago is an independent program developed and produced by The Toy Man® Product Guide, a division of GreyWolf Corp. |