Happy Customer Service Week!

-Keith Bergstrom

This week is National Customer Service Week, and I was going to write a glowing thank you to our wonderful customer service department, but in looking over our recent customer surveys, I realized that you, our customers, did a better job of saying how great a job than I would ever be able to.


“Always very pleasant and efficient customer service on the telephone. Orders received promptly and are always accurate… the service is personable and helpful.”

“I’m amazed how quickly the entire process goes. I got the books about two weeks before I expected them.”

“The Prestwick House person was so very helpful. That experience was absolutely great… What pleasant personnel… and I receive the material in two days, in time for day one of class!”

“I love PH! Fast, courteous, accurate service.”

“I had a credit on an order that I wasn’t even aware of. They sent me a letter and honored that credit on my next order. Customer service is excellent.” “From the quality of the product to the exceptional customer service… Prestwick House is the company of today with the values and principals of yesteryear.”

“The value for the dollar is unsurpassed, and your personalized service makes it easy to resolve any questions I have. Great staff — good products.”

“I have been very pleased with the products, outstanding service (your emails are actually answered by knowledgeable staff in a VERY small amount of time!!) and the reliability.”

“I have been particularly impressed with the people I have spoken with. They have been extraordinarily friendly and helpful. I had thought that old-style customer service had left the planet. Thank you!”

So, thank you to all of our customer service staff. You really do go above and beyond on a daily basis. And thank you to all of our customers for the nice words. Everyone here at Prestwick House really appreciates the kind words.

This October, Poe's Funeral will get "an Elaborate Do-Over"

October is always a great month for teachers to do a unit on Edgar Allan Poe. With Halloween in the air, students are ready for a good story of horror and suspense. This October is especially appropriate for studying Poe because after over 160 years, the master of horror is finally getting the burial he deserves in Baltimore, MD.

 

According to an article from Yahoo, "One hundred sixty years ago, the beleaguered, impoverished Poe was found, delirious and in distress outside a Baltimore tavern. He was never coherent enough to explain what had befallen him since leaving Richmond, Va., a week earlier. He spent four days in a hospital before he died at age 40.

Poe's cousin, Neilson Poe, never announced his death publicly. Fewer than 10 people attended the hasty funeral for one of the 19th century's greatest writers. And the injustices piled on. Poe's tombstone was destroyed before it could be installed, when a train derailed and crashed into a stonecutter's yard. Rufus Griswold, a Poe enemy, published a libelous obituary that damaged Poe's reputation for decades."

But on Sunday October 11, 2009, Poe's funeral will get "an elaborate do-over with two services expected to draw about 350 people each — the most a former church next to his grave can hold. Actors portraying Poe's contemporaries and other long-dead writers and artists will pay their respects, reading eulogies adapted from their writings about Poe."

But of course if you're going to have a funeral with actors portraying Poe's contemporaries, that leaves only one thing missing — a body. Since all that is left of the corporeal Poe is skeletal remains, Eric Supensky was commissioned to recreate Poe's extremely realistic corpse.

This seems fitting for the man who wrote stories like "The Raven," "The Black Cat," and my personal favorite, "The Cask of Amontillado." For more works to revisit with your students this October, visit PrestwickHouse.com, or browse some of my favorites below.

Of Wine Cellars, Ravens, Orangutans, and Inquisitions 

The Best of Poe 

Discover the mysterious allure and genius of Edgar Allan Poe with your students by using our anthology of 33 of his greatest poems and stories, complete with helpful reading pointers and a glossary. 

Teaching Unit | PDF  
Response Journal | PDF

Activity Pack | PDF

Complete Teacher's Kit | Complete Teacher's Kit + 30 Books

Scare your students into learning with these great works of horror! 

Great Stories of Horror and Suspense 

These fifteen unabridged tales of horror and suspense include enduring favorites such as Poe’s “The Black Cat” and Irving’s “Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” as well as lesser known, but equally chilling tales like Harvey’s “August Heat.” 

Other October Favorites: 

 

• Frankenstein 
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 
• Dracula
• The Invisible Man
  
• War of the Worlds

Grammar Girl: Avenging Grammar Mistakes One Podcast at a Time

I've been a fan of Mignon Fogarty and her podcasts for quite a while now (I keep a dog-eared copy of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing handy at my desk at all times). 

For those of you who haven't discovered Fogarty's witty and engaging 5-minute, weekly podcasts on all things grammar, be sure to check out the Quick and Dirty Tips website for a complete list of podcasts.

"Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Whether English is your first language or second language, Grammar Girl’s punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer."

Give Back With a Backpack

With Thanksgiving in the air, fall is always a great time to take on an initiative to give back to the community. I recently learned from our friends over at Maupin House that there is a great opportunity for you and your classes to "Give Back with a Backpack" — an inexpensive way to give back to the community and students to help their peers.

From Greater Good/The Hunger Site:

Millions of low-income children in the United States rely on food support from the National School Lunch Program. But when school is not in session, children living in food-insecure households are at risk of going without the nutritious food they need. Even mild undernutrition can affect behavior and school performance -- children are unable to learn when they're hungry and anxious about where their next meal will be coming from.

Enter: The BackPack Program, developed at the Arkansas Rice Depot in Little Rock after a school nurse asked for help because hungry students were coming to her with stomachaches and dizziness. The local food bank began to provide the school children with groceries in nondescript backpacks to carry home.

Currently, there are more than 2,200 BackPack Programs around the country, serving more than 90,000 children each year. Backpacks, filled with child-friendly, vitamin fortified and nonperishable food, are discreetly distributed to children to take home on weekends or before holiday vacations.

But with an estimated 12.4 million U.S. children in food-insecure households, Feeding America is nowhere near its goal of reaching all the children at risk.

You can help! $25 helps Feeding America establish and strengthen BackPack Programs around the country, ensuring that children have access to food so they can break the cycle of hunger and poverty.

Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, with a network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Right now, many member food banks and food-rescue organizations are seeing an increase in demand, as high as 20% in some areas.

Upon purchase, you will receive an automated e-mail with a link to a full-color certificate of acknowledgment that you may print and frame for display or gift-giving. Adobe Acrobat Reader, or equivalent .pdf viewing program, is required to open the file. The certificate makes a great "instant" gift for an honored colleague, family member or friend.

Please note: Your purchase is tax-deductible in the U.S.A., and you will receive a receipt from GreaterGood.org for your taxes. 100% of this gift goes to Feeding America as a grant through GreaterGood.org. GreaterGood Network stores do not receive any profit from the sale of this Gift That Gives More™; we bring it to you in the spirit of the greater good. GreaterGood.org has ultimate authority and discretion with regard to the distribution of its funds. All expenditures made are consistent with the exempt purposes of GreaterGood.org.

STAND UP Against Bullying in Your Classroom

As I've recently learned from New Milford High School principal Eric Sheninger, this week is National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week. If bullying is an issue in your school or district, there are some great resources out there to help your students cope. Bullybust.org provides critical resources and supports to create a school-wide effort against bullying. There are cool things you can do with your students including the "STAND UP" pledge which stands for:

Support those around me that are being bullied or victimized

Tell a friend, teacher, or parent when I see someone being bullied

Ask myself, "How would I want to be treated?"

Note where and when bullying occurs and

Do something when I see someone being bullied

Understand why bullies bully

Practice being a good role model for my fellow students and share “STAND UP to bullies” strategies

You can also visit the activities page for ideas on how to help prevent bullying in your classroom. If you need a list of literature to really tie the message into your curriculum, visit the EC Ning to read about Diana Beltrani, her idea to teach about bullying in her classroom,  and other teacher's responses and experiences.

 

Tuesday Trivia

1. What was the occupation of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series of mysteries?
2. Which well-known children’s author was known for wearing outlandish hats to parties?
3. Which 19th century author wrote entire books while standing?
4. If you were to place all of the shelves in the New York Public Library side by side, how far would the span?
5. How many times did Leo Tolstoy’s wife edit the cumbersome, handwritten manuscript for War and Peace?

Last Week’s Answers 

 

Which eccentric American author created the Angelfish Club, a group of exceptional young girls between the ages of ten and sixteen?

 

In 1907, at the age of seventy-two, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, began "collecting" surrogate granddaughters. They and their parents often visited him in his homes in New York.

 

What part is Shakespeare said to have played in the original production of Hamlet?

 

Shakespeare is said to have played the Ghost in the original production of Hamlet.

What popular American comic strip is known as Radishes in Denmark?

Charles’ Schultz’s famous Peanuts comic strip.

How many words are in the longest sentence in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables?

The longest sentence in the book Les Miserables is 823 words long. After Hugo’s editor had read the manuscript, Hugo sent a letter that only said “?” to find out what they thought. They sent the manuscript back with the response “!”

Which famous English author wrote of the two moons that orbit the planet Mars in 1726 — over 100 years before astronomers identified them?

In the book Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift talks about two moons that orbit Mars. It was not until the early 1800s that astronomers completed any studies on Mars and identified those two moons.

Trivia Tuesday

1. Which eccentric American author created the Angelfish Club, a group of exceptional young girls between the ages of ten and sixteen?
2. What part is Shakespeare said to have played in the original production of Hamlet?
3. What popular American comic strip is known as "Radishes" in Denmark?
4. How many words are in the longest sentence in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables?
5. Which famous English author wrote of the two moons that orbit the planet Mars in 1726 — over 100 years before astronomers identified them?

Last Week’s Answers

According to the third edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, how many valid words containing no vowels exist?

According to the third edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, there are 20 valid words containing no vowels.


What bizarre theory about Dr. Watson did mystery writer Rex Stout once suggest to fellow members of the Baker Street Irregulars?

That Watson was a woman.


In what field is the Hugo Award given?

Science fiction writing. The award was named for Hugo Gernsback, the "father of science fiction."


What popular American writer coined the word nerd?


Theodore Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, beloved childrens' author.


Where was the sprawling family estate of early American novelist James Fenimore Cooper?

In Cooperstown, New York--it was the setting of his Leather Stocking Tales and is today the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. William Cooper, the writer's father and one oft he Wealthiest landowners of his time, purchased the Cooperstown site in 1785.

New SmartBoard-Enhanced Products Get a Fresh Look

— Jen Mendoza, Senior Graphic Designer

There are many facets of a product that are considered when we approach a new design — in this case our brand-spanking new SmartBoard-Enhanced line of products including our SmartBoard-Enhanced Prestwick Power Presentations.

Some details have become standards in many of the Prestwick House products. Ideally, every cover, slide, page, and package we design will enthusiastically catapult both teacher and student into the wealth of knowledge that awaits in every product we produce.

Enhancing the look of a product that already has an established, recognizable brand is a challenge, and as designer, my purpose is to communicate those changes in a clean, easy-to-read design that will maintain the immediate brand connection while introducing something new.

In June 2009, Prestwick House added several new items to our PowerPoint for the Classroom series — except they’re not in PowerPoint format but instead SmartBoard-Enhanced (Yes, exciting! I know!).

And, since the PowerPoint for the Classroom brand already has proven success with its current look, we couldn’t jump ship and spin a whole new face for this new addition to the line and risk losing the integrity of its existing presence. My challenge was to enhance the brand so that it would still connect with the existing packaging, but also make a clear distinction between the two very different software platforms.

STEP ONE
Design a logo to encompass a growing line of components.


This logo represents 3 products, PowerPoint for the Classroom, Smartboard-Enhanced for the Classroom, and Lead-Ins to Literature, with many more products to be added in the future. I wanted my concepts to show interactivity and simplicity in a design that was easily transferable from product to product. Although I felt my first attempt carried those characteristics, I thought it might be too difficult to read on a busy background, so, I came up with concept no. 2. This one was pretty boring. While it was easier to read, there was too much of a disconnect from the existing brand. I went back to concept no. 1 and altered it to improve readability. And, voila—several renditions, 4 crinkled napkins and 2 coffees later!



STEP TWO
Design a software-specific icon or logo to distinguish platforms.



Again, after looking at the potential ideas, I decided to go with combining these two concepts for maximum, aesthetic appeal. Can you feel it?

Become a Grammar Ninja

Grammar Ninja, an educational web game created in January 2007 by USC undergrad Greg Lieberman, is a great, interactive way to help your students learn parts of speech. In the game, you "become a Grammar Ninja who must find parts of speech by throwing ninja stars at words. Correct answers allow you to continue, while wrong answers literally explode."

Check out the game here or visit Greg's portfolio website at www.kwarp.com.

Tuesday Trivia

1. According to the third edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, how many valid words containing no vowels exist?
2. What bizarre theory about Dr. Watson did mystery writer Rex Stout once suggest to fellow members of the Baker Street Irregulars?
3. In what field is the Hugo Award given?
4. What popular American writer coined the word nerd?
5. Where was the sprawling family estate of early American novelist James Fenimore Cooper?

Last Week’s Answers

What famous nineteenth-century French novelist published a plagiarized work under the pseudonym Bombet?

Stendhal, best known for his novels The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma, plagiarized his work The Lives of Haydn, Mozart, and Metastasio with material from two biographies and a eulogy. When the plagiarism was discovered, Stendhal defended the nonexistent Bombet in letters signed by an equally nonexistent Bombet Jr.

Under what title do we know the book that was originally published as Murder in the Calais Coach?

Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express was originally called Murder in the Calais Coach for the first several editions of the classic title.

Where did the word "dunce” originate?

The word "dunce" is derived from name of John Duns Scotus, one of the greatest minds of the late 13th century. The term was coined two centuries later by those who disagreed with Scotus' teachings calling any of his followers a "Duns man" or "dunce" — a man who was dull-witted, or incapable of scholarship.

Which famous American playwright choked to death on an eye drop bottle cap?

Tennesee Williams’ cause of death was choking on an eye drop bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York. While holding the cap in his mouth, Williams leaned back to place eye drops in each eye and accidentally swallowed the cap. The police report suggests his use of drugs and alcohol contributed to his death by diminishing his gag reflex.

The first Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1771, devoted its first volume to "A" and "B." How many additional volumes did it take to cover "C" through "Z"?

Only two.