Vote for MaryAnn Kohl...Pepsi Refresh Project

Hi. I’m Judy McGuinn, President of Discount School Supply. I’d like to share with you a project to help restore art instruction and experience to 150,000 children whose schools no longer have art programs.

MaryAnn Kohl, author of children’s books and popular keynote speaker, is a long-time friend of Discount School Supply – and a long-time fan of Discount School Supply Colorations® art materials. Now she is hoping to win a $250,000 grant in the Pepsi Refresh Project being sponsored by Pepsi Cola – and she needs our votes! You can vote every day in December – and you can even text an extra vote each day!

“Art by Great Masters, Art for Great Kids” is the name of MaryAnn’s great idea. She hopes to reach out to 6,000 teachers and 150,000 children in schools that have lost their art programs to budget cuts. MaryAnn says, “The idea of being able to reach out to all those teachers and students is just awesome. I have been so concerned to see how many schools have had to give up art programs because of budget constraints. When I learned about the Pepsi Refresh Project, I though this might be my chance to help those schools restore a great art experience to their classrooms. And since I have loved working with Discount School Supply and its wonderful customers over the last 20 years, I knew you’d share my excitement for this project.”

Please visit the Pepsi Refresh Project or vote today for MaryAnn Kohl’s idea. Here’s what her grant will do:

• Reach 6000 teachers who have no art programs in their schools.
• Allow teachers to experience art hands-on to understand how to teach art easily
• Share slides of great masters' art and examples of great art by kids
• Teachers will come away with free art books full of art ideas from the workshop

MaryAnn has authored two children’s books on this subject, Discovering Great Artists and Great American Artists for Kids., along with many other titles. She is a popular speaker at workshops, seminars and conferences around the world. Many of you probably know her already. If you can take a minute today to vote for MaryAnn’s project, we’re sure she would be so grateful for your help. Thank you from all of us at Discount School Supply.

Drop Side Cribs at Discount School Supply

Hello, my name is Michael Tsuchiura, and I am a Quality Assurance (QA) Specialist here at Discount School Supply. In QA it is our job to gather feedback from customers about the performance of our products and to channel that feedback to the appropriate department; our goal is always to improve our products and the way we present them to our customers. QA is also the department responsible for ensuring that the products we offer to our customers meet state and federal safety regulations.


One product undergoing changes to its applicable safety regulations is the drop-side crib. In June of this year the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) proposed new crib standards to address issues inherent in the design of all drop-side cribs; to date these remain only proposals. A finalized standard is expected in early 2011. Though the exact date and method for the CPSC to impose these regulations are still unknown as I write this post, Discount School Supply is taking a proactive approach.


It is anticipated that preschools and child care programs will soon be required to discontinue the use of drop-side cribs in favor of a safer alternative. In response to the need for a safer crib, DSS now offers a new “drop-gate” style crib from Angeles ®. This crib consists of four stationary sides to create a safer environment for children, while still providing the same easy access as a drop-side crib. This access is achieved by a 6-inch fold-down gate located high on the front panel. The Angeles drop-gate cribs meet or exceed all ASTM and CPSC standards and the federal flammability standards for mattresses found in 16 CFR 1632 & 16 CFR 1633. These cribs may be viewed on the Discount School Supply web site at wwww.DiscountSchoolSupply.com in three finishes: Product Code DC221 is a natural wood finish with two clear panels; DC222 is a natural wood finish with one clear and one mirrored panel; and DC226 is a white finish with two clear panels.


At this time, no one knows what will happen with drop-side cribs. We do offer our customers open communication and the promise to work hard to keep you updated. I hope you will continue to check back with us for updates as they become available. Our customer service department can also be reached at 800-627-2829, Monday through Friday from 6:00am until 5:00pm Pacific Time, to receive any crib inquiries, and we will have a representative respond to your inquiry within 48 hours. It has been an important year for cribs, and Discount School Supply is committed to making any necessary transition that may come as smooth as possible for our customers.

Common-Allergen-Free Products from Discount School Supply

Hi, my name is Allison Craig, and I have worked at Discount School Supply (DSS) for 15 years. While I wear many hats, my favorite job is being the Customer Product Advisor.

In that capacity, I have worked on creating and informing our customers about our Common-Allergen-Free Products list. First let me explain about the hyphenated name, “Common-Allergen-Free.” The products on this list address a number of sensitivities to the most common allergens. So, while individual products may each be free of different allergens, the sum of products on the list add up to a “Common-Allergen-Free” resource.

In the beginning of this project, I had no idea how extensive problem allergies have become in the US. In fact, 1 in 26 children has some type of allergy. I have answered questions about a child who has only one allergy and about another who has 40+ . I am proud to say we have had something for everyone! After many years of answering calls and emails from teachers, directors and parents searching for art materials free of the allergens that affect their children, I decided that DSS needed to offer a comprehensive list of these products on our website at http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/default.aspx?es=4589500000W.

This has been a very eye-opening experience for us, and it has become a passion of ours to spread the word on common-allergen-free products available through Discount School Supply. Are you looking for Wheat & Gluten-Free Dough?? Try our Colorations Wheat & Gluten-Free Dough (#COLORDO). Maybe you need egg-free tempera paint? Check out the BioColor regular & Fluorescent colors or perhaps our Colorations Simply Washable Tempera Paint. Maybe your child is allergic to Latex? We have a wide variety of art and outdoor play products to satisfy those needs as well, such as the Best Value Playground Balls(PGSET).

There are several ways to find the product that is just right for you. There is a link on our home page at http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/default.aspx?es=4589500000W to Common-Allergen-Free products where you will find separate lists for Gluten-Free, Dairy/Casein-Free, etc. Perhaps the child is allergic to many of the common allergens; if that is the case, you can search for a particular product. Within the overview section on the product page, you will a list of all of the common allergens not included in the product. If you have a child who has allergies not listed, I invite you to email me at acraig@discountschoolsupply.com. I will try to find products to match your child’s needs. It is our goal to serve every child at Discount School Supply, and the Common-Allergen-Free list is just one very important way that we do it. Happy Shopping!!!!

NAEYC Wheel of Fun with Discount School Supply

Early childhood professionals from around the world are gathering this week in Anaheim, CA to discuss the challenges and everyday issues of working with young children and families.

On the NAEYC Expo floor, Booth #612, Discount School Supply is showcasing a wide array of early childhood educational materials and celebrating our 25th Anniversary! We understand how hard early childhood educators and professionals work, so conference attendees are encouraged to stop by our booth so we can show our appreciation!

Visitors can participate in some great activities at our "Make and Take" tables, spin the 25th Anniversary Wheel of Fun for amazing prizes, and enter a contest to win an entire set of new Angeles MyRider(tm) trikes and riders!

Watch as an excited participant wins big spinning the Wheel of Fun!

Discount School Supply at NAEYC

Discount School Supply is a proud sponsor of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)and this time of year we are busy preparing for the NAEYC Annual Conference being held Nov. 3-6 in Anaheim, CA. Our booth will have free crafts, a wheel of prizes, new products on display, contest entries and friendly Discount School Supply folk ready to answer any questions and listen to educators’ supply needs. Thousands of early childhood educators and professionals will attend the conference to attend workshops, listen to experts in the field, and to visit the display booths of early childhood supply vendors and other companies that serve the education marketplace.

All of the elements in our huge Discount School Supply booth take a lot of coordination and planning to be sure that everything makes it to the conference center on time and all booth areas have all the items they need for a successful show. NAEYC conference time is an especially busy time for the departments who coordinate all of the booth elements: brand marketing, graphics, merchandising, sales, operations, and of course, the travel coordinator for all of us! These crews work day and night to be sure everything for our booth gets set up as planned and that the conference runs smoothly.

One of the most popular areas of our Discount School Supply booth at NAEYC is the make-and-take crafts area. This is where booth visitors can create craft projects for free, using unique Discount School Supply arts & crafts materials, and they can take their adorable creations with them as an idea for future classroom projects. Our wonderful trainers and sales staff are there to assist booth visitors as people explore fun ways to use our products. We also have fun, free giveaways like pencils made from recycled blue jeans and posters, DVDs and more, plus there are cool new products on display.

So if you’re attending NAEYC’s Annual Conference this year be sure to stop by the Discount School Supply booth for some extra fun! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter as we tweet throughout the show. Special prize clues are given out only via our tweets @School_Supplies on twitter.com.

Hope to see you there!

Discount School Supply and Social Media

Hi! I’m Brooke Higgins, Marketing Communications Coordinator for Discount School Supply.

I coordinate the non-catalog printed marketing materials that we distribute such as postcards, letters and flyers. I also support our sales staff with traditional marketing initiatives at trade shows and database management.

But over the last year, it’s the non-traditional marketing initiatives that have really exploded-- namely social media. Our lean and mean Marketing team has created a strong social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and, most recently, LinkedIn.

Did you know that Discount School Supply sponsors 10 separate blogs?! Some of the blogs we author ourselves, like Special Offers from Discount School Supply and Circle Time. Other blogs—like Art and Creativity, Topics in Early Childhood Education, and Sharin’with Sharron—are produced by Discount School Supply contributors. Each one provides excellent resources, information or the latest deals.

For Facebook, we have seen our fan page, take off in the last year. The direct interaction with our customers has been a huge benefit. For example, we shared a blog post by John Funk on our fan page about why he thinks coloring books are a bad idea. This created some very interesting dialogue. This type of reach and interaction would never have been possible without social media!

If you too want to get social with Discount School Supply, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or check out any number of the Discount School Supply blogs. I invite you to comment, interact and help us provide the best early educational materials for early learners!

Thanks!

Become an Affiliate with Discount School Supply

Hello, my name is Beth Kroenke and I am a Web Marketing Manager at Discount School Supply. I wrote a post on Circle Time a few months back describing our affiliate program through Commission Junction and inviting readers with their own sites to join. Now we have an additional program through the Google Affiliate Network! This is just another great way for people who have a website or blog (and who would like to spread the word about our great deals at Discount School Supply AND earn money at the same time) to join our affiliate program! It’s exciting to be able to partner with people who appreciate Discount School Supply's values and who want to help spread the word about the deals we offer by carrying an ad/link to our site on their site. It’s rewarding to see so many people interested in partnering with us.

What is an affiliate program? Basically, it is a means by which a company may advertise on websites and blogs other than their own. For instance, let’s say Mr. Smith has a website. He joins our affiliate program and posts a link to DSS on his site. If a visitor to Mr. Smith’s site buys a DSS product via his posted link, Mr. Smith will receive a commission from us! Not only is this a good thing for Mr. Smith and us, but this also helps web shoppers find the products they need at the prices they want!

Anyone interested in becoming an affiliate can apply for a publisher account (a free service) through Commission Junction or the Google Affiliate Network and then apply to the Discount School Supply affiliate program . Once approved, it’s time to start adding links to your website or blog! Approved partners can sing the praises of DSS while earning money at the same time!


Want to learn more? Feel free to share your comments and we’ll answer any questions you have!

September is Baby Safety Month

Though safety knows no holiday, September is the month each year in which we highlight infant safety specifically.

A few things to remember this month:

• Beware of Cords: Window blind cords are a strangulation hazard. Keep these cords out of a toddler's reach by wrapping them around wall cleats. In addition, ensure electrical cords from monitors and lamps cannot be reached from cribs, high chairs or baby seats.
• Keep toilet lids down to prevent access to water. Consider using toilet clips to stop young children from opening the lids.
• Consider keeping children out of bathrooms by using bathroom door latches that are out of reach of young children.
• Never place pillows or thick quilts in a baby's sleep environment. Also, make sure there are no gaps larger than two fingers between the sides of the crib and the mattress.
• Crib Setup: Proper assembly of cribs is paramount - Follow the instructions provided and make sure that every component included is used. If you are not sure, call the manufacturer for assistance.
• Used Cribs: Do not use old, broken or modified cribs - Infants can strangle to death if their bodies pass through gaps between loose components or broken slats while their heads remain entrapped.
• Play Yards: Properly set up play yards according to manufacturers' directions - Only use the mattress pad provided with the play yard.
• Crawl around your classroom, center or home on your hands and knees to check for any potential hazards you may have otherwise missed.

In addition to the above, please take a few moments to browse our ever-increasing assortment of products which specifically address the safety of the children in your care. Visit today .

More Ways to Find Savings!

Hi, my name is Howard and I work with the Discount School Supply.com website.

Part of my job is to help craft the promotions and sales you see in our emails and on our website. With the new Discount School Supply.com website, we now have even more ways to show you the amazing breadth of offers from Discount School Supply. The new website allows for us to show even more rotating banners on the homepage. You can be sure to see a variety of offerings on the homepage at any given time. If that weren't enough, next to and beneath the rotating banner you'll see even more of what we have to offer at Discount School Supply.com, including products for children with Special Needs, Common-Allergen-Free Products, Free Activities, Clearance and Multi-Cultural Resources, with an assortment of Bi-Lingual Products.

Now, here's a tip for finding the best prices every day: on the top of the Discount School Supply.com website is a button labeled "Shop". Behind this button you'll find a wealth of Special Offers from Discount School Supply. Keep on visiting the Discount School Supply website for more incredible ways to save, and as always, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the website. What do you love? What would you love to see in future releases?

Anniversary Smiles at Discount School Supply!!!

Everyone loves to win - and it is such fun to award giveaway winners with items! Our 25th Anniversary Great Giveaway gave us the chance to give away $25,000 in classroom items and gift certificates. I'm Laurel Johnston, Brand Marketing Manager here at Discount School Supply and my team and I had the best time being involved in the Great Giveaway last month. Hearing the excitment in a winner's voice just brought a smile to our faces here at Discount School Supply.

On July 30th a group of Discount School Supply employees huddled around the phone so we could call our Grand Prize Winner. When she found out about her $10,000 prize in classroom supplies she was ecstatic. For all of us, it was a moment we won't soon forget. Our team also called each one of our other winners personally. It was such a treat to be able to talk one-on-one with so many of our customers and fans.

We are so thankful to all of the vendors who contributed so many wonderful prizes for our 25th Anniversary Great Giveaway . You can see a list of them here. Stay tuned for pictures and posts with more details about our prize packages.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered our Great Giveaway. You've helped make Discount School Supply a success for these 25 years and we're honored to be able to give back to so many educators in a big way! Stay tuned for more giveaways this year as our 25th anniversary celebrations continue.

Entertainment Indoors and Out with Discount School Supply

Hello, my name is Jesus Ruvalcaba and I work for Discount School Supply in the Web Marketing Department. It is part of my job to make sure your experience on the Discount School Supply website is visually pleasing and easy to navigate. I have two kids who really enjoy the products that we sell, especially my daughter, who is 8 years old and on summer vacation.

Although summer is usually a time for my daughter to play outdoors in the hot weather, we also make sure that we have plenty of arts and crafts supplies to help keep her entertained indoors as well. A resource that we really like to use is the MyCommunity Activities page. There you will find free educational activities submitted by both parents and educators. You can search hundreds of activities by curriculum areas (math, science, language, etc.) or by arts and crafts.

Once we have chosen an activity, like “Marbleizing with Shaving Cream,” I review the activity to be sure it is appropriate for her age, to see what curriculum goals will be met, and to check if we have all the supplies we will need. If I am missing supplies, the products are conveniently listed for me to place my order on the Discount School Supply website.

Once we have completed the activity, my daughter feels proud of her achievement and races to show off her work. I find these activities to be very helpful in the summer to help bridge the gap between grade levels.

If you have an activity or craft that you would like to share, I recommend you submit your activity to the My Community Activities webpage. If your activity is chosen, you also can earn a $50 coupon good towards any purchase on the Discount School Supply website.

Have a great summer!

Memory Lane with Discount School Supply

Hi, I’m Tiffany Harbrecht, a copy writer here at Discount School Supply. "Get in the hoop! Set of striped hoops is great for gross motor development, balance and coordination," is a sample of the copy that I wrote for one of our newest products, Zebra Hoops, Set of 6 which are on the Discount School Supply website. These hoops are a ton of fun! I had a few hula hoops when I was growing up that I just loved! Feelings of nostalgia are a fantastic perk of my job as a copywriter/marketing coordinator. I am able to write about products for our customers and fondly remember things that I had (or perhaps always wanted) as a kid myself.

Every year, I am very excited by the innovative array products that our Merchandising team introduces to the products we have at Discount School Supply. I really enjoy learning about the educational value of the products we provide to our customers. It's interesting to see how our products can help build so many fundamental skills and fulfill learning outcomes. I remember doing fun activities in kindergarten, such as practicing lacing and dressing skills, and now I get to write about fun products that enhance these skills, such as dressing dolls and lacing boards. The same goes for pegboards, sorting and patterning activities, dress-up and dramatic play – they all have such important developmental benefits that I get to support from a whole new perspective as an adult.

It's a very satisfying feeling to be able to write for our customers and to promote educational products for early childhood at Discount School Supply, and I love the nostalgia that comes with it. I invite you to check out the wide assortment of new products that we have for 2010 at Discount School Supply and see the values we have for teachers, parents and caregivers. You too might find yourself strolling down memory lane.

Discount School Supply, Our History by Caron Pearce

Discount School Supply’s Human Resources Director Caron Pearce shares some memories (and sound effects!) of when she first started with the company in the early 1990s. How much have we changed since then? Caron can tell you…

Discount School Supply Celebrates 25 Years!

Hello again from Judy McGuinn at Discount School Supply. This post is especially fun for me to write because we’re celebrating our 25th Anniversary on July 1, 2010. We have all of our terrific customers to thank for making this milestone possible. So thank you very much!

I think you’ll be interested to know that our founder, Ron Elliott, is still an employee of the company, now as Executive Chairman. When Ron founded the company in 1985, he was an entrepreneur with a good idea: he wanted early childhood teachers to be able to buy quality arts & crafts materials at lower prices than he saw in competitors’ catalogs. He did all the entrepreneurial things, such as making deliveries himself, making the first Discount School Supply catalog on his own computer, demonstrating products himself at trade shows, and talking to teachers for hours on end to understand what they really needed.

Our CEO, Kelly Crampton, has been with the company 21 years, and he was one of the earliest employees. Like Ron, Kelly has held a variety of different jobs as the company grew up. It’s one reason he is so well-equipped to lead the company today. Among the Discount School Supply staff, we have a number of people who have been here more than 15 years and many who have been here for more than 10. We think that the longevity of our staff is a good indicator that we enjoy what we do, and we are all committed to supporting early childhood education.

I hope that you will join our celebration. As a special “thank you” to our wonderful customers, we’ll be giving away $25,000 in prizes during July. More information will be available on this blog and or visit Discount School Supply on Monday, June 28. Thank you for being part of our first 25 years! We can’t wait to see what comes next!

Puppet Theater at Discount School Supply

Hi, I’m Brooke Higgins, Marketing Communications Coordinator for
Discount School Supply. I have two young children at home, ages 2 and 4, which means I can do “market research” all the time!

When I brought home the Set of 9 Super Plush Washable Animal Hand Puppets with Feet one day, my kids jumped for joy. They fell in love with the plush animals and they soon wanted to do their own puppet show at every chance.

We crafted our own version of the Tabletop Theater from a large cardboard box. We decorated it with BioColor® Paint, glitter glue and some foam shapes . The kids even gave our theater a name: “Alien Space Theater.” They did most of the work and we had a blast putting it together. But the fun was just beginning!

Now we pull out the Alien Space Theater every so often and put on our own puppet shows. Even if we don’t pull out the theater, the kids will put a blanket over some chairs to make their own theater for a show. They shout out “Puppet Show, Puppet Show!” and take turns presenting a puppet show to each other. My 4-year-old likes to sing and dance with the puppets and the 2-year-old follows suit, (though admittedly he has less of a song and dance repertoire!)

I highly recommend a set of puppets; we’ve found it to be a great way to foster creativity and encourage sharing. We’ve had so much fun with our Animal Hand Puppets, and I hope you do too!

Submit Your Craft Ideas to Discount School Supply

Hi, I’m Tiffany Harbrecht and I’m a copy writer and marketing communications associate here at Discount School Supply. Part of my responsibilities include reviewing craft and activity ideas that are submitted online through the MyCommunity section of the Discount School Supply Web site.

Did you know that you can submit activity ideas to use for use on our site?

If we choose to publish your idea on our site we’ll send you a one-time $50 Certificate for Discount School Supply!

We're always excited to receive ideas from teachers and parents where our products can be used in new and interesting ways. Here are a few tips when submitting activity ideas:

• Make sure you include the ages of the children for which the activity is most appropriate
• We love activities that involve reusing household items to create something new! Recycling something from "trash" to "treasure" is a great way to get your activity considered!
• Educational value is important (and it's easy to include!) You don't need to be a teacher to recognize some goals for craft activities. "Creativity" and "fine motor skills" are educational goals easily met by many activities.
• Open-ended is OK! Not everyone's tree has to look like a tree, and we love that at Discount School Supply! Skip the directions to "tell the children to color the branches brown" or "trace along the lines" and we'll love your idea even more. Much of early childhood art is about the process, not the end result, and leaving room for a child's imagination to take flight is fantastic!

So let your own imagination take flight and share something creative with Discount School Supply! I invite you to submit your activity ideas today!

Easy and Affordable Party-Planning with Discount School Supply

Summer days mean extra hours to enjoy the beach, barbeque and backyard, and with this season come the summer celebrations that have young and old gathering together for fun in the sun. I’m Laurel Johnston, I work in Brand Marketing, and I sure seem to have a lot of baby showers, beach barbeques and kids’ birthday parties to host/attend this summer!

Thankfully, preparing for my summer celebrations is super easy and affordable with Discount School Supply's great selection of arts & crafts materials that can be used for décor, party favors and activities. I thought I’d share a few ideas with you in case you too find yourself in party central this season:

So Sweet of You to Come: The walkway into a candy-themed birthday party is extra sweet with balloons made to look like giant lollipops! Simply cover inflated balloons in Colorations® Cellophane Rolls tie at the base of the balloon with a matching ribbon, and stiffen the string with white straws or thin cardboard tubes to “stick” the lollypops into the ground. Bundle candy favors in cellophane as well, tie with a ribbon to close, letting each guest know that it was “sweet” of them to come!
Choo-Choo, Congrats to You: A train-themed baby shower is made extra fun with Decorate Your Own Wooden Trains. Use as a centerpiece, or as a creative way to hold cupcakes surrounding a cake stand. Have guests decorate their own one-of-a-kind train car, too-- either as a favor or to give to the new mom for the baby’s room or toy chest.
Ready, Set, Get Wet: Beach and pool parties are extra fun with a splash of creative expression! Letting guests decorate their own ball for is a great way to get everyone involved, even if, like me, they’re more inclined to keep theirs on dry land. Land lubbers might also like the Decorate-Your-Own Flying Discs too.
Pretty Pink Princesses: If there’s a little girl in your life, there’s probably a princess party or in your future. I’ve thrown two already and these Decorate-Your-Own Crowns and treasure boxes were huge hits at both. Princesses also made their own necklaces with beads and Rexlace for placing in the treasure boxes.

Want some more summer-themed ideas for parties and/or playtime with the kids? Discount School Supply has a free list of 25 fun and budget-friendly summer activity ideas online. Our Brand Marketing team helps prepare these ideas each season, and it’s always a fun project. If you have any ideas you think we should add to our ever-growing list, we invite you to share them here!

A Better Understanding Of Our Clients' Needs...

My name is Shirley Daniel and I have worked for Discount School Supply for over 10 years. I currently work in the Inside Sales Department. In my position as Account Manager I work closely with my customers, getting a better understanding of their centers, programs, preschools and schools - and their unique needs - while working to supply them with the best quality products at the best pricing possible. While this is my job, this close one-on-one exchange results in something much more - the development of great relationships with my customers.

Having formerly worked in the ECE world, we can share stories of our experiences and I can certainly relate to their wonderful, creative, demanding and very rewarding daily environment. The end result of this exchange is an enjoyable experience for both of us. My customers know that they can trust me to respond quickly and efficiently to their inquiries and that I will always do my best to fulfill their requests and handle any issues that arise. My background in Merchandising for the Discount School Supply catalog – and hands-on experience with many of our products – enables me to better provide them with insight into some of our products’ features and benefits.

This relationship with my Discount School Supply customers also encourages them to communicate their experiences with our products and they love to pass along suggestions for new product development. We love to send those great ideas along to our buyers and Product Development group. We are listening – so please keep those ideas coming!

Since so much of the preschool environment revolves around music, some of my favorite products are the musical activity sets. In response to the need for more ‘get up and get moving’ products, Discount School Supply offers several exclusive sets for creative movement. One of my favorites is the Music and Movement Set with rhythm sticks, bean bags and streamers plus 2 CDs, all packed in a handy plastic bin. We also carry the Bean Bag Rock 'N' Move Set, a Musical Scarves Movement Set and even a Parachute Movement Set – all of which include activity CDs. You’ll find great value – and LOTS of fun – packed inside the plastic storage bin of our exclusive
Chunky Rhythm Stick Set
which includes 12 pairs of rhythm sticks with a CD plus our own instructional guide containing a variety of activities. With all of these great music sets, there is a need for a storage solution and we have a product that is custom-made for that. Our Discount School Supply exclusive Angeles® One Stop Music Media Cart – with its shelves, bins, adjustable vertical storage, and 3 side cubbies – is perfect for storing all of those multi-piece activity sets, rhythm band instruments, videos, DVDs, CDs, big books, plus there is also space on top for CD players and a handy rod for storing headphones – and it’s caster-mounted for easy mobility in the classroom.

It’s great to know that Discount School Supply is adding music and movement (plus storage solutions) to your active, creative classrooms.

Helmet Habits with Discount School Supply

Greetings, I’m Barbara Riffert Glick, a member of the Inside Sales Team at Discount School Supply. Spring is here and I have begun thinking about children riding trikes. It is never too early to start teaching them about trike safety and wearing helmets.

It’s important to get kids into the “helmet habit” early because medical research shows that a helmets can dramatically reduce head injuries. If we start the helmet habit when little ones ride trikes , it will make it easier to keep the helmets part of the riding habit when they transition to bikes later. If you are a teacher, please enlist the support of the parents to use helmets at home as well. If you are reading this as a parent, speak to your child’s teacher or school director about the use of helmets when the little ones are on trikes at their program.

The helmet should be designed for the age level. Toddler helmets cover more of the head than preschool helmet since the little ones need additional protection for side and backward falls. The helmet should sit level on the child’s head and should be securely fastened. They don’t work as designed when they are at jaunty angle. The Angeles helmets, HLMTB and HLMTR, that Discount School Supply sells, meet or exceed ANSI Z90.4, CPSC and Snell B95A standards. You can see the helmets in the Discount School Supply catalog or on line at Discount School Supply.

Please contact me with your experience with helmets and riding safety. I would enjoy hearing from you. Start the helmet habit early!

Cleaning Without Harmful Chemicals, Let Discount School Supply Help.

Hi! My name is Calista and I work in the Inside Sales Department for Discount School Supply. It’s my job to make sure our customers receive the best possible pricing on the right products for their needs to help them make the most of their money.

Today, I’m here to talk about cleaning products. What do you think when you hear the words “hand sanitizer?” I used to think hand sanitizer was sticky, smelly, and potent. It burned my nose and made my hands dry and flaky. However, I did not have any doubts that my hands were free of bacteria and germs. The antiseptic smell alone would attest to that. Then, BabyGanics came along and changed my way of thinking.

Discount School Supply recently began carrying a line of cleaning supplies from Babyganics. One item is an alcohol-free foaming hand sanitizer called Babyganics Foam Hand Sanitizer. Everyone here at the office got a sample, and I tested it out right away. I was pleased from the first use. There was no sticky residue left on my hands. My hands were clean, and my nose didn’t have to suffer for it. I have been using my 50ml tester bottle for almost three months and my hands are not dry. In addition, the foam lasts twice as long as the gel sanitizers do. That sounds like a win-win, doesn’t it?

In addition, we also carry Babyganics Grime Fight Cleaner which is a multipurpose cleaner. It is similar to the hand sanitizer in that it is also alcohol-and fragrance-free. I took this sample home with me and tried it out in the kitchen. I have a six-year-old boy who tends to make messes that only boys are capable of making. The Babyganics Grime Fight Cleaner was amazing! It cleaned marker off the table, food coloring off the floor, and splattered pasta sauce off the kitchen counter. I should note that I was responsible for the pasta sauce, not my son.

By using these two products, I know that my hands and my home are clean without the use of harmful chemicals that can permeate the air. You, too, can clean your classrooms, hands, and homes like crazy and know that your people, pets, and environment are safe. Please give these two products a try. You won’t be disappointed!

Thanks for reading! Happy cleaning!

My Grandchildren's Favorite Discount School Supply Items

Hello, everyone! I’m Shirley, and I work at Discount School Supply in the Strategic Sales Department. Our department helps customers who have especially large orders or who are opening new classrooms or preschools. One benefit of my job at Discount School Supply is that my grandchildren are huge fans of our products.

Marshe’ is my 7-year-old granddaughter and her favorite activity is painting with our vibrant Colorations® paint. This paint works great with our White Sulphite Paper. The 12 x 18 size gives her lots of space to get creative. Marshe’ loves the outdoors, and she likes to make people laugh. Many of her drawings are of funny faces, which always make us laugh. We have so much fun doing something so simple. Her other drawings include rainbows, and green hills with apple trees that have big red apples.

My 2-year-old grandson Troy’s most recent adventure with our products is playing with a set of our new Super Stamper Classroom Pack. The stamps come in various familiar designs – shapes, pets, a car, a house and others. His favorite color of stamp pad is blue. Nothing else seems to matter when he’s stamping; I call it “getting into the zone!” I enjoy watching them both play because they stay very focused and, at the same time, they get so excited!

If you have children in your family, I encourage you to check out our user-friendly Discount School Supply web site or request a Discount School Supply catalog to place your order for these wonderfully creative items I’ve mentioned. There is lots of fun in store if you do!

Helping Chile

In light of the recent earthquake that has devastated Chile, Discount School Supply will contribute a portion of all weekend sales on the Discount School Supply website directly to the Red Cross.

There is no special code to use and no special form to fill out. Every dollar you spend will add to Discount School Supply's contribution to the Red Cross.

A portion of purchases made at DiscountSchoolSupply.com from Friday, March 5th through midnight of Sunday, March 7th will directly benefit the earthquake victims in Chile.

Thank you.

New Discount School Supply Website!

I’m Peter Walter, Director of Web Marketing for Discount School Supply.

I am very happy to announce that our redesigned DiscountSchoolSupply.com website has just been launched and is now available to all of our customers!


As we worked toward our launch date, we took gradual steps to be sure the site worked as well as we could possibly make it. Beginning in December 2009, we made the new site available to a limited test group of visitors, asking them to provide comments. Their valuable observations and suggestions were instrumental in helping us to further perfect your shopping experience for discount school supplies on the web.
Now we’re excited to invite all of you to go and judge the results for yourself at Discount School Supply.com. In the coming weeks, we will be adding posts to this blog highlighting some of the most important updates to the new Discount School Supply website from the people who helped build it. We want to help you discover new ways to save time and money when you purchase construction paper, Colorations® paint, or any one of the thousands of supplies we offer for your child care center or preschool.

Many early childhood professionals as well as parents of young children have shared positive feedback for our new site. We would really like to hear from you, too!

Please visit our new website Discount School Supply.com and answer our short, five- question survey.
Thanks for reading!
- Peter

Twitter Fail

Hi! I’m Laurel Johnston, Brand Marketing Manager at Discount School Supply (DSS). I get to do all kinds of fun and exciting things here at DSS, from working on ad campaigns to attending large trade shows, writing Web content, overseeing many of our social media efforts and beyond! One of my favorite social media tools is Twitter. However, we’re experiencing some technical difficulties with Twitter right now and I wanted to be sure you were aware.

As head of the “tweet team” here at DSS, I’m often happily tweeting on behalf of DSS right from my cube here in Monterey as we go about our exciting work in Marketing. I love to share special offers, discuss new products and converse with the hard-working moms, teachers and other “tweeps” who follow DSS. This is why I’m so sad to inform you that recently our Twitter account was hacked, and we’ve been unable to solve the problem. Without account access, we are unable to log in and thus unable to reply to our followers’ Tweets and other mentions of DSS in the Twittersphere. I apologize to those of you who may have been waiting on a reply or may have tweeted about DSS and heard nothing. More importantly, if any direct messages or tweets have gone out from our account since Feb 1st, it’s important you know they’re not from us.

We’ve submitted numerous support requests with Twitter, all to no avail. Twitter Support continues to send us auto-reply messages with the same basic steps to follow—none of them working for us since the account settings have been hacked. It’s frustrating and disappointing, but we won’t give up. We love tweeting with our tweeps and I assure you we are doing what we can to get the issue fixed. (I’m not above driving to Twitter headquarters to find a human to help… Seriously!) We hope to be tweeting again soon from @School_Supplies, but in the meantime, if you need to reach us for any reason, feel free to call 1-800-627-2829. And, well, there’s always Facebook!

2/24/10 Update:
Our Twitter account (@School_Supplies) is now fixed! We are happily tweeting once again with our tweeps, and a big thank you goes out to “tiger” at Twitter for all of his or her help in getting our account back up and running. Whew!

Celebrating Valentine's Day at Discount School Supply

Hi. I’m Judy McGuinn with Discount School Supply. This Circle Time blog is written by the staff at Discount to try to give you a little insight into the way we work together and how we feel about what we do. This post is a special insight about our company.

We have an employee group called the Employee Communications Forum (ECF). It’s made up of elected representatives from each department, and I’m the sponsor.

We’re in the middle of our Valentine’s Day celebration, and I’d like to tell you about it. You probably know that Discount School Supply is the leader in arts & crafts supplies for the early childhood market. So if there’s one thing we have plenty of here, it’s arts & crafts supplies. Last week, the ECF organized a Valentine Craft Day. The project of the day was for everyone to make a Valentine Mail Box. Did you ever make one of those in elementary school? I did – I made it from a shoe box and covered it with doilies. Anyhow, we had a veritable smorgasbord of materials to decorate our individual Valentine Mail Boxes. We ordered enough “blanks” for everyone, and they all went!

Each person puts his Valentine Mail Box in his cube or his office. And for the week of 2/8-2/12, staff members can “mail” Valentines to one another through a special ECF delivery service we run this week only. You may think that adults in the work place would be uninterested in receiving Valentines from their co-workers. But not here! Last year, we did this for the first time, and as the week progressed, the “mail” turned into an avalanche of Valentines. People who didn’t expect to get one got lots. People took the time to reach out to one another with handmade Valentines, candy hearts and, yes, plenty of doilies. It was honestly one of the nicest experiences I have ever had, and the feedback the ECF received indicated that most of us felt the same. Not only do we spend our days making and distributing great products for children, occasionally we don’t mind acting like them. We wish you all a very happy, heartwarming Valentine’s Day.

Here is an assortment of some of the materials Discount School Supply staff used for Valentine's Day Crafting!

The "See Me" Tunnel from Discount School Supply

Hi! My name is Lori Craig and I am one of the Buyers at Discount School Supply. I am responsible for these product categories: Open-ended Arts and Crafts , Active Play and Sand and Water.
In case “Open-ended craft” is a term new to you, these are crafts in which children receive materials but may create any end result; this is the opposite of a craft intended to have every child achieve the same result. For all of my categories, my job is to develop new and exciting products and to search for products that will enable Discount School Supply to offer the best assortment for you.

I wanted to share an interesting story about one of the products that we carry in Active Play, the See Me Tunnel. Although this is not a new item, it has been popular for several years. You may already know how fantastic it is. The tunnel is all fabric with a mesh top, which allows you to see the little ones as they crawl through the tunnel. In addition, this tunnel will not get hot like some of the plastic ones on the market. I bought the 9-foot one for my daughter to play in and to share with her friends at home. They all love it. They like to twist it into a circle so that both ends meet, and it becomes a never ending tunnel! This activity is great for at least a good hour of free time for me!

I have recently discovered the how durable this tunnel really is when we left it out in the living room one night. I kept hearing all of this ruckus in the living room, so I got up to see what our newly-adopted kitten was getting herself into. Lo and behold, it was the tunnel! In and out, over and over again, she played for at least two hours. She would play with the string attachments, run through with her ball and back again and she loves to rock it from side to side, making it roll with her inside. This new game has become an evening activity for both my daughter and the new kitten to play together. The kitten even pesters us to bring the tunnel out in the evening if we’re not getting to it fast enough! I am pleased to report that the tunnel is holding up great and not tearing, even though we all know that 3-month-old kittens have razor-like claws and like to shred!

I hope my story has entertained you a little and that it inspires your creativity to make up all sorts of games and different activities with our products. I would love to hear your stories!

Thanks for your time!
Lori

Help Haiti

Hi. I’m Judy McGuinn from Discount School Supply (DSS). Like many of you, we at DSS have been watching the horrific reports about the terrible tragedy in Haiti. Our hearts go out to the victims and to their families and friends in Haiti and around the world. We are inspired by the immediate, dramatic outreach of so many organizations and individuals.

We want to help, too. This weekend, Discount School Supply will contribute a portion of all sales at its website, DiscountSchoolSupply.com , to the Red Cross for assistance to the earthquake victims in Haiti. Shop any time on Friday, January 15 until midnight PST on Sunday, January 17 to participate. If you’re a frequent DSS customer or if you will be visiting us for the first time, shopping with Discount School Supply this weekend will bring one more very important benefit.

Our staff and our customers have demonstrated a wonderful capacity for giving in the past. We hope you will join us now. Thank you.

Product Development at Discount School Supply!

Hello, my name is Cyndi Gonzales and I work in Merchandising at Discount School Supply. I am the Product Development Manager. My job is so much fun! I get to create many new items and concepts for our Catalog . It can be challenging producing new ideas. My boss and I usually brainstorm, read parent/child magazines, visit classrooms, or set up focus groups with teachers. This helps us determine if there is a particular need for something in the classroom or if something need improvement. Once I have a concept in mind and it is approved, it takes almost 6 months to one year to develop. When I am done, it is always rewarding to see the final product in our Catalog !

It is great to experience and try out new concepts with my 3-year-old nephew. His name is Kraemer. He means the world to me. I have learned so much from him. From a work stand point, it is very rewarding and educational to play and interact with him. As he has grown, he actually has taught me what he knows regarding his ABC’s and counting, and what enjoys playing with etc…I watch his manual dexterity skills and his eye and hand coordination improve. When he was a baby, it was great to watch and interact or play with him to see his likes and dislikes to certain colors or shapes. Above all, I love Kraemer and he is a very happy child and always a pleasure to be around.

I know how important it is for educators and parents to feel that the product is a good value and made well. Once Kraemer and I were using a prototype together, and it was extremely hard for him to squeeze. It was great because it showed me that I need to use a softer plastic so his little hands could manipulate it easily.

Aside from experimenting with some of our new product ideas, Kraemer really enjoys our existing arts and crafts materials. He loves to paint and create! He is a “natural” when it comes to painting. On a recent visit, we took all the BioColor® Paint. and spread them out on the floor. Then we got out a selection of Super Super-Safer Droppers.
Kraemer loved the droppers. I believe this was because he was able to manipulate them easily and was new to him. He loved to be able to just suck up the paint with the dropper and then let it blob out slowly or quickly onto the paper. After placing lots of paper on the floor, it was just a matter of minutes before we were painting his first masterpiece and having the time of our lives!!