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what to bring and what to wear for the tour the day before the tour takes place.

Promotion

It is very important to mail promotional material to schools at the right time:

• send your mailing around mid March for June school tours • for September/October tours send your mailing in mid August – most teachers get into their schools about two weeks before classes start and that is the time to reach out to them

Include a message on the envelope to make the teacher curious enough to open the letter, such as “Outdoor education inside” or “Kids and core curriculum learning come together on our farm.”

Get a list of schools within your target market and the names of their principals from the school board’s central offce. Ask if you can e-mail your promotional materials to the school principals. Don’t forget other

• Colouring sheets relating to the content of the tour.

• True and false questions on what was seen on the tour (supply teacher with the answers). • A product from the farm (pie, pumpkin, cob of popcorn, a pot with some seeds the children planted).

• A brochure or bag with the farm name, contact information and driving directions on it. • A coupon giving one free admission to an upcoming event, or a coupon for a product the child can buy at the farm or at a special event. The child won’t come alone, but rather with admission-paying family members.

Scheduling

Most farms take school tour registration by phone/fax; a few such as Howell Family Pumpkin Farm and Springridge Farm do on-line registration (see online Registration Sources on page 15). It is important that just one person schedules school tours to ensure there is no double booking and reduce errors if bookings change. Monday is usually a slow tour day, as it is the frst day of the school week; teachers like to remind children

Promotional Vehicles to Consider

A professionally produced brochure is one option:

• full colour

• 8.5” x 11” folded into three panels.

• costs about $600 to print 1,000 brochures

schools like Montessori, private, language or religious schools.

Contact the schools and make an appointment with the principal to share your tour materials and obtain a list of teachers covering the grades that you plan to set up tours for. Ask the principal to distribute your materials to the K to 5 teachers. Don’t depend on a mailing/email to the principal as your sole vehicle for