By Dean Shipley
A local graphics company and elementary school are working together to create a visual learning lesson every time a student climbs the stairs.
Associated Graphics Inc. has fitted the stairs of Plain City Elementary School with multiplication facts. Now, as the more than 600 students ascend the stairs, they have in front of them their times tables.
“They can see them all the time,” said Kelly Hicks, principal.
Steps up to the first landing have red and white vinyl backgrounds with white or black numbers and symbols.
The graphics were the idea of fourth-grade math teacher Mandy Craig, who spotted the design on Pinterest. She brought the idea to Hicks, who also liked it but was uncertain how it would be executed.
Shortly thereafter, she saw a photo in the Plain City Advocate, a sister publication of The Madison Press, of a Kenworth tractor being wrapped in vinyl graphic material. The truck was decked out to haul the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree to Washington, D.C. Those graphics were installed by AGI.
Chad Stasko, AGI’s national account manager, agreed to do the job and sent a crew to take the necessary measurements. The company installed the stair step multiplication facts over the holiday break.
He said the vinyl is the same used for their wrapping of vehicles and other outdoor applications. He’s confident the multiplication facts will remain bright and legible for a long time.
“These projects are fun, getting involved with the community,” Stasko said. “It’s rewarding.”
The job cost $900. Hicks paid for the work through a grant from the Jonathan Alder Foundation.
Hicks said it’s rewarding for students, too. If students have mastered their multiplication facts up to 12 “with fluency and speed” by the end of third grade, their names will be announced to the student body over the school’s public address system.
Dean Shipley can be reached at 740-852-1616, ext. 1617, or via Twitter @DeanAShipley.
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