Glen Lake Go! is a school program helping students learn through engaging, real-world experiences.
About the Client
Glen Lake Elementary is a K-5 elementary school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota and is part of the Hopkins Public Schools district. As part of Vision 2031, the school district's 12-year strategic plan, Glen Lake Elementary wanted to reimagine how the school educated its students by offering more engaging, authentic school experiences for children through monthly field trips in their community and beyond. Glen Lake students would be exposed to real-world experiences that remove economic barriers, broaden perspectives, and captivate curiosity. This idea garnered interest amongst Glen Lake teachers and families and would later be known as Glen Lake Go!
Unlike a typical field trip, Glen Lake Go! would bring students' learning on the road to experience content in a hands-on inquiry model. Students would have opportunities to choose where their class will go and a creative platform to share what they learned in the form of blogging, video creation, or presentation.
A video of a Glen Lake Elementary class enjoying a field trip to Amy's Bakery. Glen Lake Elementary principal Jeff Radel provides an overview of the Glen Lake Go! program and school bus.
About the Project
Upon receiving funding approval from Hopkins Education Foundation (HEF) in Spring 2021, Glen Lake Elementary went to work to bring the program to life. Glen Lake's principal needed my assistance with the design and strategy of the following materials:
- Design assets for internal and external communications and presentations
- Glen Lake Go! webpage on the school's website
- A postcard mailed to existing families
- A leave-behind postcard for a door-to-door campaign
- An interactive photobooth for upcoming events, and
- A Glen Lake Go! bus wrap incorporating design ideas from Glen Lake students.
To kick off the initiative, I met with Glen Lake Elementary's principal to review the program, identify the goals of each of the marketing materials, and establish timelines. I visual identity assets that complemented the Hopkins Public Schools' modular design aesthetic while illustrating adventure, travel, and discovery.
The one-page brand guidelines sheet helped Glen Lake's administrative staff understand the fun design elements and kept their print and digital collateral on brand.
I designed and published a webpage overviewing the Glen Lake Go! program and provided answers to frequently asked questions in collaboration with Principal Radel.
Postcards were mailed and hand-delivered to existing and prospective family homes in the Minnetonka, Hopkins, and Wayzata communities.
Over 1,200 postcards were mailed to current and prospective families and 400 postcards were personalized and hand-delivered to area residents over the course of three months.
I designed a custom photo booth, branded wristbands, and a poster to help Glen Lake Elementary brainstorm location ideas for future field trips.
The Hopkins Education Foundation grant for the Glen Lake Go! bus required that student input must be incorporated into the bus wrap design.
To accomplish this, I led a virtual workshop for students in grades 5 and 6 to generate ideas for the school bus design. This workshop included a word association exercise, an introduction to the Hopkins Public Schools brand, and worksheets to draw or digitally illustrate their ideas.
After collecting and organizing student input and designs, I illustrated nine concepts for review.
Initial bus design concepts using student designs and feedback.
School bus dimensions and scale for redesigning concept mockups.
Final design concepts for the Glen Lake Go! school bus.
