In U.S. K-12 schools, approximately 50% to 60% of printed documents are for instructional or teaching materials. Another 15% to 30% are for educational support materials.
No matter which way you look at it, print still plays an important role in today’s schools. And studies have shown that the use of color in learning materials helps students stay focused on a task.
Many of today’s classrooms are equipped with a small, desktop printer. While these devices are excellent for printing single copies of classroom materials, some print jobs are better suited for larger devices typically found at a school or school district’s Print Center.
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A Print Center is designed to handle high-volume print jobs which meet the needs of educators and other school staff. Typically, a staff member will create and send a print job to the school’s Print Center via a web portal or fill out a paper form that will be sent via interoffice mail. Requested specifications for the print job will include paper type, black/white vs. full-color, number of copies and other specialty information such as collation of multiple sets, binding style, folding, perforation, 3-hole punching, etc.
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A Print Center is a school’s hub for all things print-related and encourages cost savings by producing high-volume print jobs at a central location instead of multiple sites throughout a school district or outsourcing.
A variety of printed materials can be produced by a Print Center. Therefore, opportunities are only limited by your imagination (and budget!) However, here’s a list of production print job possibilities that every school can use:
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While some classroom tests are administered digitally, many are still printed, and students handwrite their answers. For instance, paper-based math tests allow students to show their work in how they solved a problem. Older students may also take lengthy, multiple-page, semester-based final exams. Printing, collating and stapling an entire classroom set of exams is a perfect job for a school-based Print Center. The teacher can submit a copy of the exam and their classroom needs. High-speed print devices can provide a quick turnaround, too!
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Provide more information for the attendees of your school’s events. Theatre shows and musical recitals are excellent opportunities to print and distribute event programs. Having a program showing the schedule along with a listing of the students participating, is a great way to greet your audience. You can even add some graphics and print your event program in color for maximum impact. Families will appreciate having a souvenir to take home!
Sporting events are also a perfect opportunity to print programs. Fans often want to do more than watch a game, they want to get involved and cheer on your team! Inform your attendees about team stats, include photos of the athletes, a season schedule, highlights from past games, school athletic records, a page or two of sponsors and a ‘thank you’ to the attendees for supporting the athletes and your school.
Emails and text messages to the families of students are the norm in today’s educational communication landscape. Stand out from the crowded cacophony of electronic communications. In addition to electronic messages sent to parents, consider sending a full-color printed flyer home with students to promote an event or remind families of other important school-related information. Print works!
Allow your educators the freedom to create their own assignments for students. Encourage them to create themed worksheets highlighting their community, school or holidays – like Earth Day, Black History Month or School Custodian Appreciation Day. Customized worksheets keep students interested in learning and add creativity to your curriculum.
Workbooks are also popular in the classroom. Whether it’s for a unit on poetry or native plants, educators can collaborate and publish their own workbooks for their students instead of purchasing costly mass-produced workbooks or digital subscriptions.
A popular fundraising option for schools and their parent-teacher organizations is to create and sell calendars. Raid the archives and find photos from past decades for a historical calendar or recent event photos for a sports calendar. Find your creative side and involve your students when making photo selections. And be sure to include your school’s schedule within the calendar, noting the first day of school, late start days, early release days, holidays and (of course) the last day of school.
Celebrate the accomplishments of your students! Sure, your school’s Print Center can be used to print end-of-the-year diplomas, but it can also print certificates for other celebrations, too. Here’s some ideas:
If you have a list of student names, print centers can merge your list with the designed document to print personalized certificates. Or for recurring celebrations, print a stack of certificates and allow teachers to handwrite a student’s name into a blank space.
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