Elementary school students across Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have taken their creativity to a new level by designing ads for local businesses.
About 100 students took part in the annual Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News Design An Ad Campaign from four schools across the district.
Two classes from Pitt Meadows Elementary took part, in addition to a class from Edith McDermott Elementary, one class from Harry Hooge Elementary, and one from Hammond Elementary.
“I love participating in this program,” said Grade 5/6 French immersion teacher Natalie Nielsen from Pitt Meadows Elementary, whose students designed ads for WildPlay Element Parks, Westgate Flower Garden, and Meadowridge Plumbing.
“It is a fantastic way to connect kids to the community while learning the elements of design,” she said.
Nielsen noted this project counts towards the students’ applied design, skills, and technology curriculum. Each student checked out the company websites to look for particular colours the company favours, in addition to slogans.
The class was also asked to consider the target audience for a given company as the students tried to make up their own slogans.
“Making it a fantastic way to see their creativity, their literacy skills, and their artistic approach,” added Nielsen.
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Brianna Blais, a Grade 4/5 teacher at Hammond Elementary said the campaign is a fantastic opportunity for her students to develop creative and critical thinking skills.
Her students designed ads for Maple Ridge Chrysler, Marks Warehouse, and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MP Marc Dalton.
“It teaches them how to analyze ads they see in their daily lives and to think about the messages being conveyed. Additionally, it encourages teamwork and collaboration, as they often work together to brainstorm and create their ads.,” she said, in addition to helping the students learn about the power of advertising and the importance of effective communication.
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It is Leah Chalmers’ second year participating in the project and each year, she said, her students have loved creating with the prospect of being in the newspaper.
The Grade 3/4 teacher at Edith McDermott Elementary said her students learned to think about what the business would want to see in their ad, as well as what would catch the eye of a potential customer. Her students designed ads for Big Valley Heating and Air Conditioning, Maple Ridge Animal Hospital, and Haney Appliance and Sound.
Karen Murtagh, publisher of the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows News said the entries all showed incredible creativity and they explored the benefits of each company and how to effectively market their services.
Murtagh noted the campaign took only five weeks, enough time for teachers to plan their classroom schedules around the project.
“This is a wonderful way to connect our students to the business world and the community around them and to glimpse how businesses use advertising to grow business and support the economy,” said Murtagh, noting the annual campaign is a community favourite.
“It’s amazing to see what our students create, and how their unique designs bring our local businesses to life,” she said.
