US embraces UK’s Thinking Of You Week initiative with back to school plan
Our cousins over the pond have embraced Thinking Of You Week, 19-25 September, with a push to celebrate teachers and back to school by sending greeting cards.
The US GCA has been supporting the UK Greeting Card Association’s TOYW initiative for several years and this year the American trade association’s activities for the week are focused on teachers and education.
“Teachers have a tremendous impact on their students,” said US GCA executive director Nora Weiser, “and also on the future, as they’re educating the generation to come. A card may seem a small gesture, but its impact is outsized – just like a teacher’s. A greeting card with a hand-written note of thanks or support can remind a teacher that their hard work is valued and appreciated.”
The US association is hoping people will think of a teacher, past or present, who affected their life in a positive way and head to a local store to pick out a card, write a note, and drop it in the mail to let them know the impact they’ve made.
Nora added: “It can also be a fun activity for parents and their children to give handwritten cards to their teachers letting them know they are valued. Help create a wave of happiness across the globe by mailing a card and letting teachers know that we’re thinking of you.”
Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the UK GCA, is delighted by the international expansion of TOYW. Of the American take, she said: “This is a great idea! I have a catch-up meeting with the US team at the beginning of September so can find out even more about their plans and how things are going.”
The British industry association has its own Schools Project on the go where thousands of primary pupils from Ghana and the UK will be writing cards to each other and sending them to their peers in the other country.
Masterminded by Adriana Lovesy, the GCA’s membership and marketing coordinator and founder of publisher Mrs Lovesy, special cards have been designed by publisher Lottie Simpson for the UK pupils to send, while Afrotouch’s Georgina Fihosy has designed one for the Ghanaian pupils.
Around 7,000 cards of each design have printed by St Alban’s-based Graphite Creative on board donated by GF Smith with the envelopes donated by Enveco, plus 4,000 pens supplied by Ohh Deer have been sent out to Ghana.
Adriana’s connections in the West African republic have already forged links with 56 schools, each with 100 pupils, while 18 UK primary schools have so far joined the TOYW initiative in the UK.
To help with encouraging the next generation of greeting card senders and designers, the GCA is hoping industry folk will encourage their local schools to join in by downloading and sharing the presentation on the association website, which gives all the information and details on how to register, or email adriana@gca.cards.
If you have a Thinking Of You Week event that you’d like to shout about please email jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk, and to find out more about this annual GCA initiative please visit the website where there is lots of information and resources including a downloadable toolkit.
Top: TOYW US-style
