celebrating arizona teachers
brand awareness campaign

Assignment:

The Arizona Department of Education is on a mission to spread teacher awareness across all of  Arizona. Find ways to show teachers the importance of their role to motivate current teachers and grow the profession. 

 

Challenge:

Arizona ranks 49th among the 50 United States for adequate and fair education spending and funding. Since the pandemic has started, it has created additional problems. Trying to educate students in a hybrid (on-line and in-person) environment was exhausting for educators, families, and students. Arizona teachers are underpaid and overworked. As the pandemic drags on, parents have become suspicious of teachers – accusing them of “wanting” to go back to online learning or sending children home unnecessarily for illness, when their primary concern is getting back to work. They feel unappreciated and oftentimes un-supported by district leaders. 

 

insight:

Teachers have felt an overall lack of appreciation during the pandemic: by parents, by administrators and by the public. Being appreciated by parents and administrators means the world to them, because they view both groups as their “bosses” to some degree or another.

 

The pandemic has left them feeling more hopeless in an already difficult profession. Many have forgotten why they started in the profession. Showing appreciation, and showcasing real-life teachers is critical. Teachers are people, they are an extension of family, who are critical to child-rearing.

 

creative development:

Our team began by interviewing teachers who have taught throughout the pandemic as well as conducting a survey that aimed to gain insight into what teacher’s experiences were like in the classroom. We asked about their behavior, student engagement and their passion for education. This survey gave us multiple perspectives from student, parent, and teacher. 

 

We created the concept “Flowers for Educators” to pay it forward to teachers by showing the parallels of their profession with that of a parent to emphasize the importance of a teacher’s job. Our team created infographic handouts, social media posts, and a video concept in order to create empathy for teachers and bring appreciation to life.

 

team:

Claire Sheriff, Thanh Tran, Lawson Woods, Ryan Josey, Ava Swarup, Lauren Hales

 

agency partner:

Lavidge