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Eveiy Tuesuay, the junioi high teacheis at The Acauemy of Chaitei Schools offei an
afteinoon help session foi stuuents calleu R0AR which stanus foi Reinfoicement of Acauemic
Responsibility. This piogiam has been in place on the junioi high level since 2uu7. The piogiam
allows teacheis to meet in one place anu pioviue auuitional suppoit foi theii lessons, gets stuuents
caught up when they'ie absent, anu fits into the RTi initial tiei of inteiventions. Anothei teachei
askeu me if I coulu uo some PR anu auveitising foi the R0AR Piogiam. Katy Peiiy iecently came
out with a new song calleu !"#$% which has a suitable theme anu oveiall message' Not only is Katy
Peiiy a populai figuie, especially among teens, but also the song is peifect foi eliciting action fiom
the stuuents to come in aftei school to get help anu uo well in school. Ny final goal anu puipose of
this piesentation was to pump up the stuuents uuiing oui fiist junioi high assembly anu inspiie
them to join us aftei school to get that auuitional stuuy time anu one-on-one help.
As fai as the piesentation was conceineu, I wanteu to film a stuuent in class ieceiving a
pooi giaue on a test. I envisioneu a big ieau "F" ciicleu at the top of the page. When fiienus askeu
the stuuent about the giaue, the fiienus celebiateu anu gave high-fives, because in theii minus
uoing well in school is not cool. They too faileu the test anu feel like they must be uniteu in theii
stiuggle. Bowevei, the fiist stuuent felt uncomfoitable with celebiating meuiociity anu knows that
they shoulu all be woiking haiuei anu getting help to unueistanu the concepts. Next, the teachei
pulleu the stuuents asiue aftei class anu gave them an invitation to R0AR. The fiist stuuent then
went home anu wiote the uay anu time uown in his plannei, ciicling it uiamatically. The othei
stuuents just ioll theii eyes anu each one will put theii invitation in a "safe place." 0ne stuuent puts
the invite at the bottom of his backpack, one in his pocket, anu the othei shoves it into the
bottomless pit also known as lockei #S4S.
The fiist week of R0AR, the iesponsible stuuent went in on Tuesuay aftei school anu
woikeu with his teachei. Be woikeu one-on-one with him to get the help he neeueu foi the next
test. This time, he knew how to stuuy anu piepaie anu was ieauy to take the next test. The giaues
come back the next week anu he was stokeu because he got an "A!" Bis fiienus weie shockeu anu
suipiiseu at his impiovement, anu he encouiageu them to come to R0AR next week. Be convinceu
his fiienus to join him anu next Tuesuay they all got the help they neeueu to succeeu on the next
test. The iuea of being "too cool foi school" was squasheu anu eveiyone felt so accomplisheu by
uoing well on the next test.
The auuience foi this piesentation was 7
th
anu 8
th
giaueis at a chaitei school in
Westminstei, Coloiauo. This piesentation neeueu to be fast moving, anu incluueu people they knew
anu iecognizeu. Theie's nothing bettei than the kius seeing themselves anu theii fiienus on a big
scieen! Auuitionally, the populai music will be a key aspect to making this an effective foim of
communication. Eveiything else will be visual (no auuio fiom the actois). Theie was some text
(showing the uay anu time of R0AR anu what R0AR stanus foi) uisplayeu thiough out the viueo. I
viueotapeu the scenes using an iPhone 4S. The song was uownloaueu fiom iTunes, anu the movie
was spliceu togethei using iNovie.

H


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HE 7/8539 7/0585-98
Besign Becision #1.
Buiing this viueo auveitisement, I useu cuiient stuuents fiom the junioi high. I hau the
option of using high schooleis as the actois as well, but accoiuing to Neuina (2uu8), "What we pay
attention to is often piofounuly influenceu by memoiy. In eveiyuay life, we use pievious expeiience
to pieuict wheie we shoulu pay attention. Biffeient enviionments cieate uiffeient expectations" (p.
7S). The junioi high setting is totally new to the 7
th
giaueis, anu the challenges change uiamatically
in theii aujustment to a uiffeient school enviionment. They aie leaining to navigate the task of
switching classes eveiy peiiou, how to open a lockei, uiessing out foi P.E., anu not to mention the
uiamatic change theii bouies unueigo as hoimones floou theii biain anu they stait the matuiation
piocess. This uesign uecision of using peeis in the viueo auuiesseu seveial issues: putting
themselves in the actois' shoes is easy because they have gone to school togethei foi yeais; some
even since kinueigaiten. They know that they aie a pait of theii community in eveiy aspect of the
woiu. Seconuly, the auuience sits in the same seats as the actois. They have physically expeiienceu
being in the same classes anu being taught by the same teacheis. Next, they may not all have
expeiienceu ieceiving an "F" on a test, but the iuea of stiuggle is familiai to many of them. The
message of R0AR is all about being able to get help if you neeu it, have the quiet space anu time to
uo homewoik, anu meet with stuuy buuuies. This is a way to iemove the stigma of neeuing help to
unueistanu something being taught uuiing class. So, by using the cuiient stuuents in the viueo, the
leaining enviionment is safe, it is ielevant to theii neeus, uesiies, expectations, anu it uiaws on
pievious knowleuge.
Besign Becision #2.
By cieating an auveitisement foi R0AR, my intent was to activate moie sensoiy
peiceptions. As compaieu to simply announcing to the class, "Eveiy Tuesuay fiom 2:Su-S:Su pm is
R0AR (Reinfoicement of Acauemic Responsibility). You shoulu come to get help on youi
homewoik!" a visual iepiesentation with a stoiy helpeu activate moie of the top-uown piocessing
of the senses (Neuina, 2uu8, p. 2uS-2uS). "Foi us to savoi the iichness anu uiveisity of peiception,
the cential neivous system must integiate the activity of the entiie sensoiy populations. It uoes this
by pushing electiical signals thiough an almost bewilueiing thicket of evei moie complex, highei
neuial assemblies. Finally, you peiceive something" (Neuina, 2uu8, p. 2uS). A visual iepiesentation
of being inviteu to R0AR will give the senses moie infoimation to piocess; theieby making the
invitation to join in a fullei, iichei expeiience. The stoiy being tolu thiough imageiy, the song being
playeu uuiing the stoiy, anu the text flashing on the scieen thiough iepetition, of couise, auueu to
that expeiience much moie.
Besign Becision #S.
The text R0AR neeueu be iepiesenteu pictoiially, because of the pictoiial supeiioiity effect
uominating memoiy efficacy (Neuina, 2uu8, p. 2SS-2SS). 0ui school's mascot is a wilucat. We use
little cat-themeu iueas thioughout the school's piogiams. 0ui homeiooms aie calleu Piiues,
stuuents eain Piiue Paws when they'ie uoing well, anu we offei R0AR foi acauemic suppoit. All of
these uiffeient vocabulaiy woius shoulu illicit Wilucat Spiiit! 0ne of the lines in the Katy Peiiy song
states, "I got the eye of the tigei, a fightei, uancing thiough the fiie. 'Cause I am a champion anu
you'ie gonna heai me R0AR. Louuei, louuei than a lion." This iuea was iepiesenteu in the stuuent's
initial victoiy of ieceiving an "A" on the seconu test anu then latei when his fiienus agiee to join
him at R0AR. "The moie visual the input becomes, the moie likely it is to be iecognizeuanu
iecalleu" (Neuina, 2uu8, p. 2SS). Baving stuuents uoing well is what we all uesiieu in this piocess
anu we neeueu to show this iuea thiough achievement.
I

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Besign Becision #4.
The simplicity of the message is also a key ingieuient to success. uianteu, R0AR is a cute
Wilucat-themeu acionym, howevei the actual phiase "Reinfoicement of Acauemic Responsibility"
is a little long-winueu. Theiefoie, by cieating a simple message of what R0AR actually is was a key
element in the auveitisement. Accoiuing to Beath & Beath (2uu8), "We must cieate a iueas that aie
both simple #() piofounu" (p. 16). Come to R0AR to get youi woik uone, ask questions of youi
teacheis, anu uo well in school. Anything moie than that will be oveily stateu anu unnecessaiy. If I
hau to go into the acionym in uetail, the message woulu have gotten lost fiom my auuience. When
the message is not immeuiate, theii eyes will glaze ovei with boieuom.
Besign Becision #S.
Beath & Beath (2uu8) ask, "Bow uo we get people to act on oui iueas. We tell stoiies" (p.
18). This was the most essential aspect of my piesentation. Telling the stoiy of the stuuent
stiuggling is something that many stuuents can ielate to. Even if they'ie a goou stuuent, this
tiansition to junioi high is a uifficult change. As explaineu in my Pioject 0veiview, the stoiy gets the
auuience's attention by cieating memoiable sentiments (some of which have been expeiienceu
fiist-hanu by the stuuents). It's a classic, "Zeio to heio," stoiy (in the woius of Katy Peiiy). This was
also a iefeience to the Bisney film *+$,-.+/. Kius know both the movie anu the song to help cieate
action.
The viueo was posteu on YouTube foi stuuents to access, as well as on the school's
Facebook page in an effoit to geneiate a positive R0E, ieminueis to stuuents anu paients, as well as
infoim the community of how we suppoit stuuents in theii acauemic jouiney. The staff uoes a
similai piomotional viueo foi oui annual TCAP stanuaiuizeu testing Pump-up Assembly. We want
to get the auuience paiticipating anu active in the happenings of the school. It woiks best when it's
telling the stoiy fiom the stuuents' peispective anu incluues elements in which they aie inteiesteu.
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Beath, C., & Beath, B. (2uu8). 0#)+ 1" 213,45 678 2"9+ :)+#/ ;3+ #() <17+$/ 2-$=3=+' New Yoik:
Ranuom Bouse.
Neuina, }. (2uu8). >$#3( !-.+/5 ?@ A$3(,3B.+/ C"$ 2-$=3=3(D #() E7$3=3(D #1 6"$4% *"9+% #() 2,7""..
Seattle, WA: Peai Piess.
Peiiy, K., uottwalu, L., Naitin, N., NcKee, B., & Waltei, B. (2u1S). Roai |Recoiueu by Katy Peiiyj. 0n
A$3/9 |Bigital Bownloauj. Los Angeles, CA, 0.S.A., Capitol Recoius.