SPONSOR PRESENATION

SPONSOR PRESENATION

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2017-2018 CCHS STUDENT EDITORIAL STAFF

Debbie Keenan’s, Let’s Talk Trash News! , is a gift to our entire community! This resource rich newspaper delivers relevant non-fiction text for our students to read and enjoy. The newspaper offers our high school students the opportunity to be published authors giving them an authentic audience for their writing. We look forward to each edition in Cheatham County School District. - Dr. Cathy Beck, Dir of CC Schools Community Bank & Trust (CBT) is a locally owned community bank with offices in Robertson and Cheatham counties. The Bank considers both counties to be thriving communities and market areas for the Bank to offer financial products and services. The Bank has been a partner with The Keenan Group since 2012. The Bank is a believer in student education as this is one of the foundations the Bank was founded upon in 1999. In fact, the Bank provided educational opportunities to the elementary students in both counties for a number of years. The Bank is also honored to provide to both county public school systems an automated “call program”. The program allows each school’s representative to communicate in an effective manner directly with the parents of the students in the event of a school event, closure or other important message. When Ms. Keenan introduced her concept of the educational newspaper Let’s Talk Trash News! to the Bank we realized immediately CBT would become a strong supporter of the newspaper. Let’s Talk Trash News! is a valuable asset to the communities where it is distributed as the paper encourages the student to be responsible and teaches character building skills to our youth. The paper has been a great tool to reach all kids, parents and the teaching community. In fact, the Bank looks forward to the Bi-Annual Museum of Litter project. At this event, the kids get to participate by displaying their creation of litter which they have accumulated and made into a beautiful piece of artwork. It truly is litter education at its finest! The Bank is proud of our sponsorship of the newspaper in Cheatham County. - Debbie Small, Pres & CEO Community Bank & Trust I have been a sponsor of Let’s Talk Trash News! since its inception. During that time, I have witnessed first hand the positive effect this publication has on the youth of our community. Not only is it distributed to all of the local elementary schools, but is placed in businesses such as mine throughout the area. When parents with small children come to our office for meetings, often times we will provide crayons and the current issue of Let’s Talk Trash News to the children to keep them occupied while I meet with their parents. It keeps their attention and seems to be of interest to these children. In some cases, I have been asked questions about a particular article by the children at the conclusion of meeting with their parents. I am proud to be a sponsor of Let’s Talk Trash News! and look forward to its continued growth and impact on the children of the area. - Franklin J Luppe, CPA, CFE United Structural Systems, Inc. considers it an honor to partner with Debbie Keenan in sponsorship of Let’s Talk Trash News!. As a childhood reader of Highlights Magazine, I would have loved to have a publication like this growing up. The activities and articles cover a broad student demographic audience, it’s regionally educational and relevant, and the uniqueness of allowing student article participation is a wonderful opportunity for our young local readers (& teachers & parents)! USS is proud to help support our community through this creative resource! -Shannon Carter, Co-Owner/USS

Dr. Cathy Beck, Director of Schools Cheatham County

Debbie Small President & CEO Community Bank & Trust

Frank Luppe Luppe Accounting

Shannon Carter Co-Owner/ United Structural Systems, Inc.

TESTIMONIALS (continued)

ADVERTISING & MARKETING NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION

Please allow me introduce to you, my Tennessee based company, The Keenan Group Inc. The Keenan Group Inc. is a full service advertising and marketing company that has been in business since

1987. For over 37 years we have specialized in the newspaper circulation and marketing industry nationwide. As marketing professionals, we also provide services to other industries as well. I, having been a county school board official in the 90’s, have a vested interest in our schools as well as quality education for our kids. I published Kidsville News , a supplemental educational publication, free to all students between November 2012 and May 2014 in an effort to service the children of our county. Together with the Mayor, we initiated the first Cheatham County Mayor’s Back to School Bash , an effort to provide free school supplies to families in need. The Cheatham County Mayor’s Back to School Bash continues today under the direction of the Cheatham County Chamber of Commerce. With the partnership of Cheatham County’s T.D.O.T. Litter education grant and local business sponsors it is possible for such a valuable educational project like this to take place. The anti-litter educational publication called, Let’s Talk Trash News! , is delivered to all K-8th grade students: public, private, and homeschooled (through the Library), with additional distribution through high schools, post offices, grocery stores, sponsor locations, as well as other business locations, every other month within the entire county. Currently, Let’s Talk Trash News! is one of the largest circulated newspapers in the county. Let’s Talk Trash News! is designed to enhance litter education and awareness, promote good citizenship, provide environmental awareness, and stress the importance of personal responsibility. The publication has proven to be a fun and valuable educational resource for teachers and kids alike. Each issue is packed with fun activities and extraordinary information relating to conservation and recycling, and offers contests and awards to participating students. 7,500 copies are printed of each issue with a readership that extends beyond just the number of printed copies. We have found that adults really enjoy this publication as well. Every other year, Let’s Talk Trash News! spearheads a countywide, K thru 12 Museum of Litter art project highlighting the negative impact litter has on the community and environment. High school students construct an architectural base out of wood, which is delivered to every school for decoration with “found litter” in our community. The school year 2013 - 2014 was the first year for this project and showcased an

EXPERIENCED • CREATIVE • SERVICE WWW.KEENANGROUP.COM 25 G olf C lub L ane • A shland C i ty , T ennessee 37015 • 615-746-2443 • F ax : 615-746-2270

iris, the Tennessee cultivated flower. Iris Tennessee Cheatham . Tennessee’s wild flower, the passionflower, was combined with Tennessee’s agricultural insect, the bumblebee, and was appropriately named, Bee Passionate Tennessee Cheatham during the school year of 2015-2016. After the completion of each art project cycle, all works of art were displayed at the Museum of Litter at the Cheatham County Courthouse lawn. A public auction was held with 100% of the proceeds being returned to the schools thus raising over $5,700 for our schools. This countywide fundraising litter-art project is offered every other year. Our third art project, Bass Tennessee Cheatham, is this school year’s 2017-2018 project. This ties nicely into the anti-litter program as litter negatively impacts our marine life also. In addition to the printed publication and bi-annual fund raising art project, a Facebook page has been created that offers more information and on-line flip book editions. Teachers have the ability to put this on their classroom white boards. Social media is a huge advantage to get the word out. Since May of 2014, Let’s Talk Trash News! has grown from an 8 page booklet, to a 16 page tabloid, into the now 24 page tabloid. The issues will remain this size and page count due to the ease of repeated handling for the time span that is in-between issues. Thank you for your interest in Let’s Talk Trash News! Kind regards,

Debbie Keenan Publisher 615-746-2443 email: [email protected] 25 Golf Club Lane • Ashland City, TN 37015

BRANDING & AWARENESS

Back to School Bash Items 33.5 x 78.7 retractable banner 6,000 litter bags (500) 6,000 pencils (500) 500 zipper button pulls 500 flying disc in pouch

Help Keep Our County Litter Free!

Sponsored in part by the T.D.O.T. Litter Grant and the office of Cheatham County Mayor

Premier Sponsors

Thank You to all of our Page Sponsors!

The Ashland City Times [email protected] w: (615) 227-2275 f: (615) 746-5211 Project Manager AARON WOLFE c: (615) 982-2998

Thank You to all of our Media Sponsors!

© 2017 The Keenan Group, Inc

Let’s Talk Trash-news!

Bass

Tennessee Cheatham

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PUBLICATION NARRATIVE STUDENT LITTER EDUCATION PROGRAM ACTIVITIES CONNECTING LITTER PREVENTION TO LOCAL WATER QUALITY

Let’s Talk Trash News! is a 24-page newspaper tabloid formatted educational publication designed to be kid/ family friendly. Although it is delivered to all K-8th grade students, we found that it needed to include high school involvement as well. Beginning September 2016, Cheatham County English Teacher, Rick Amburgey, reached out for us to bring Let’s Talk Trash News! into his classroom to provide a writing opportunity for his students. Since then, we now instruct one class each week spanning 1 hour for 27 students in grades 9-12, to prepare articles for younger kids as well as challenge the high school students to research environmental subjects thus bringing the students heightened awareness of the litter issues in our community. Because the age group that begins littering is approximated at 16 years old, this age group is perfect for continued education on the consequences of such behaviors. In fact, some of Mr. Amburgey’s students remember receiving Let’s Talk Trash News! while in middle school, and some recall the former publication, Kidsville News , when they were in grammar school. The involved high school students have the opportunity to engage in a community wide project with recognition. From 2012 though 2014, we published this same type publication, Kidsville News!, which ceased in May 2014. In May of 2015, Clyde White from the Cheatham County Mayor’s office contacted us with the request of the possibility to bring a publication back into the schools after several calls from educators requesting another litter project. After a quick review, it was decided to reformat, and publish litter education specific material appropriately titled, Let’s Talk Trash News! - a coined term in the former publication. The Let’s Talk Trash News! litter education project has been a successful way to engage all students and teachers in a way that has not been available in any other format. Each issue presents a common theme throughout with each story, puzzle, and activity building upon the other to strengthen the message of behavior, responsibility, and good citizenship, which is all required in order to become aware of what is the right thing to do. In addition, Let’s Talk Trash News! is relevant to current events and situations of interest. A Facebook page was also developed for further outreach. Let’s Talk Trash News! has qualified business sponsors who believe in education and partner together in a singular effort to spread the message to keep our county beautiful, and keep our kids informed and engaged. The Museum of Litter is the “hands on” countywide art project, whereas Let’s Talk Trash News! is the educational component of the litter education program. The biannual Museum of Litter project involves all schools and the community as a whole. Decorations of these art projects are limited to only “found litter”. To date, The Museum of Litter art project has raised over $5,700 for our schools. Each year Let’s Talk Trash News! participates in the Cheatham County Mayor’s Back to School Bash where free school supplies are offered to area students. This event has provided the perfect opportunity to introduce the next school year’s issue of Let’s Talk Trash News! . We provide all participants with litterbags, pencils, and other branding items.

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POTENTIAL PROJECT BENEFITS

Let’s Talk Trash News! is a fantastic publication. It is colorful and highly engaging for students of all ages. My Creative Writing students work on the issue and they love it. They learn by researching articles that they write. Debbie Keenan is so encouraging that the students love to see her visit every week. Over the

Rick Amburgey, English Teacher CCCHS

course of a semester, I have watched writing for Let’s Talk Trash News! turn into a source of pride. Every issue is better than the previous one and working on the issues makes students more aware of the impact litter has on the environment and their community. - Rick Amburgey

The potential benefits are immense and long lasting. Continuing exposure to environmental issues including, but not limited to littering, is the best way to imprint on our youth and aid them in becoming aware of the world around them and their responsibility to it. When a child is reached in the early years of education, learned behaviors are more likely to become life long habits. With Let’s Talk Trash News! there is an opportunity to empower children through education that will provide a heightened awareness of their environment and allowing them to make the world they live in a better place at their own personal level. We find that students are already creating an impact in their own families; when a student sees a family member discarding things improperly, they are quicker to advocate for proper disposal. We see kids in schools stopping on their own to pick up litter off the floors and discard it properly. This is the beginning of a ‘first awareness’ of their surroundings. Through Let’s Talk Trash News! we challenge K-8 kids to deal with litter in classroom exercises in the areas of Literature, Math, Arts, and Science. At each grade level, there are appropriate exercises, stories, or activities to engage both the teachers and students. We challenge kids to get involved, be aware, and show their talent. The litter project engages students, families, teachers, and the community.

My eighth grade year is when I found my passion for writing. Even that summer when school let out I still continued to write short stories and do like movie reviews or book reports. I was just so fascinated with getting my points across and expressing myself. When high school rolled around in August, I had Rick Amburgey as a teacher for English,

Kylie Gonzalez, 10th grade student CCCHS

and when he told the class about how he had a book published and that he wrote articles for papers, I just really found a connection and wanted him to become my mentor and teach me everything about writing! It wasn’t until about a couple of months until Mrs. Debbie came to talk to the English 1 classes and introduced Let’s Talk Trash News! . What most appealed to me was Mrs. Debbie’s dedication and energy for the paper; so, I met with her after class and she gave me more information and her card. Well, I was so excited I called her the next day after I talked to my mom about it because I just knew this was for me! Mrs. Debbie came back and she informed Mr. Amburgey and I that she was creating a writing group from students at CCCHS (Cheatham County Central Highschool). I was head over heels, so I just dived right in. I would definitely say with all the articles I have written, I have learned so much with Mrs. Debbie and her expertise; she has just taught me so much and I don’t think that I would be the person I am today, because she just plays such a big roll in my life. Whenever I have a conflict with writing or even in life she is there and I’m so grateful for the doors she has opened and the way she has been there. I’m hoping one day I can contribute a bigger roll in the publication so I can give other kids/the younger generation and future generations the opportunity I got and have! - Kyle Gonzalez

TESTIMONIALS (continued)

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SUSTAINABILITY & FUNDING Let’s Talk Trash News! is distributed every

other month during each school year: September, November, January, March, and May during the first week of each month.

Let’s Talk Trash News has been an eye-opening, educational, and entertaining publication that has had profound positive impact on the the students of Cheatham County. As the mother of two elementary school students, a local business owner, program sponsor, and being in the publishing industry myself, I have grown to truly appreciate this publication and hope to see it continue to thrive and make an impact on our local children and the world in which they live. - Amy M Hill Editor-in-Chief, The Post

This publication is sustainable by the sale of annual sponsorships to area businesses that support education. This publication does not intend to sell ads as a traditional newspaper practice so that it looses integrity as an educational resource. We promote this publication as a sponsorship/community support mechanism, not advertising. It is an opportunity for businesses to show their support with a page presence and an opportunity to use their presence as an educational opportunity. We have received the litter education grant from the Cheatham County Mayor’s office for the following school years as follows: 2013-2014, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018. Additional sponsors engaged in this program are media outlets that freely publish ads, news stories, and press releases of what’s going on with Let’s Talk Trash News!. MEDIA PRESENCE: The Post, The Ashland City Times, The Exchange, WQSV Radio, The South Cheatham Advocate, and The Livery Stables. This includes a full page presense on the inside front or back cover or outside back cover. Copy changes are free and 3 are allowed per school year. Additional copy changes are $50 per change. Page Sponsorship: $450 per issue. This includes a banner presence at the bottom of a page approximately 2.5” x 9.5”. Sponsorship commitments are required for the entire school year of five issues. Sponsors are invoiced at the time each current issue goes to press. There is no art set up; however, if copy changes are required or a change of ad is necessary, there is a nominal cost of $50 for each issue that changes. Calendar Partner: $75 per issue. Your presence on one of the monthly calendar pages. RATES: Premier Sponsorship: $800 per issue

TESTIMONIAL

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COMMUNITY NEED & PRIORITY Let’s Talk Trash News! will be distributed ever other month directly to each school with teacher classroom bundles. Delivery months: September, November, January, March, and May during the first week of the month to Cheatham and Robertson counties K-8th grade students. 10,000 copies are printed each issue in Cheatham County, and in Robertson 17,000 copies. After 6 years of continuous publishing, Let’s Talk Trash news now publishes a total of 27,000 copies each issue in both Cheatham and Robertson counties with 12,000 inserted into the two newspapers: Exchange 5,000 and Connection 7,000 with the rest delivered to every k-8th grade school and surrounding post offices, grocery stores, et. As the largest circulated newspaper (educational) in both counties, it is becoming a household word. In addition to the number of copies printed, there is an estimated readership that totals 1.8 times more than the number of printed copies.

Cheatham County Schools Teacher bundle deliveries: Pleasant View Elementary Pleasant View Christian School West Cheatham Elementary East Cheatham Elementary Pegram Elementary Kingston Springs Elementary Harpeth Middle Sycamore Middle Ashland City Elementary

Add’l Schools & Gov’t Locations: Cheatham County Central High Sycamore High Harpeth High Cheatham County Library Cheatham County Sheriff ’s Office Local Business Outlets: Grocery Stores, Post Offices, Hospital, and all business sponsor locations Media Outlets: CC Exchange Newspaper insert

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION