From the Nominator

As a student retention tool for students leaving our early childhood program and entering kindergarten, we created an Early Childhood Journey Box. As a student retention tool for students leaving our lower school program (4th grade) and entering middle school (5th grade), we created a Middle School Journey Box. The meaning behind a Journey Box is that it contains a themed set of photographs, selected artifacts, literature, and other information that combines to tell a firsthand story of time, place, and culture. To help manage yearly attrition in high-risk grades, these boxes were designed to help engage and excite students in support of their journey along the next step of their educational experiences. Both boxes provide items and information about what students can look forward to in the next grade level, thereby encouraging them to stay with the school and experience these events.

From the Judges

Our panel was all smiles when reading about (and viewing the corresponding pictures of) the Journey Boxes initiative at the Alexander Dawson School. While the concept of various admissions gifts at key grade levels isn't entirely new to the marketing field, we were pleasantly surprised to see it at such a young grade level, which most of us had not encountered before. This project is a wonderful example of a low-budget project that can help you build community while also addressing some problem areas within the admissions journey. It could easily be replicated at other KA-12 institutions.