MANILA, Philippines – In the 18 months since our first issue, our little section has come out with three serial stories for young readers, two designed for grade school kids and, in between, a series meant for high school students —all in collaboration with the ever-strong, ever-edgy lifestyle plus clothing store Bench.
We launched the serial reading program in line with Inquirer in Education’s objective of promoting literacy, in particular media literacy, among schoolchildren. We had wanted the kids to start reading the newspaper and, hopefully, keep the habit for the rest of their lives.
We believe this will assure us not only of readers but, more importantly, of citizens who, through newspaper reading, can acquire an awareness of the issues that have to be addressed and act on them accordingly so their communities, their country and the world at large can each be a better place.
Perfect bait
We needed a bait to lure the young into the wonderful world of reading and found a perfect one. Supplied by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) to newspapers all over the world to mark World Literacy Day, “Frannie Learns A Lesson” is the story of a fish, her schoolmates, her family and life in the sea world.
We encouraged fourth and fifth grade school teachers to adopt the serialized story as their language lesson. To include public school kids in the literacy program, we had to find a sponsor who could supply them with free Inquirer copies for the eight Mondays that “Frannie” was to be serialized. That was when Bench came into the picture.
“Frannie” was targeted at learners in the elementary level. At the time, this age bracket was not even a market of Bench for its clothing and accessories lines. But out of a genuine desire to help boost literacy in the country, Bench agreed to subsidize Inquirer copies for the students of four elementary schools that became our first partners in our serial reading program.
Bench also supported a second series for primary schoolers, the recently concluded “Jose-Fly Reporter,” also from WAN. Where we only had four partner schools for the “Frannie” series, we quadrupled the number for the “Jose” series.
Inspired by the goodwill generated by its partnership with Inquirer and the schools, Bench has since established stores called “b/tweeners,” which carry a young collection where the clothes and accessories are, according to owner Ben Chan, edited by the children of Bench customers. In malls where there are no b/tweeners stores, the Bench stores have the “tweeners” sections.
“The tween market (4-14 years) represents 55-60 percent of our demographics,” says Chan. “And though their purchasing power is limited, their influence on their parents as to what and where to shop cannot be ignored.”
‘Kidults’
It is an age group that, Chan believes, cannot be dictated to by Mom and Dad, fashion-wise. “Also because their parents are both working and don’t have time, these kids are left to develop their own sense of style and choose stuff for themselves. They are ‘kidults’ or kids who act like adults, and they are fast taking over the market,” says Chan.
Bench’s newspaper donations have elicited such a big volume of thank-you letters Chan has decided to put them to good use. Some—not all because there are far too many—have been tacked on bulletin boards installed at the biggest Bench stores right by the tweeners collection.
Bench also ushered in the current school year with window displays proclaiming its partnership with the Inquirer in promoting literacy.
Thanks to Ben Chan and his caring team, over 40,000 copies of the Inquirer have been distributed for free to 24 schools that have been only too eager to link classroom learning to what is happening in the real world.
In all, the IIE serial reading program has reached 7,000 students in Metro Manila, Cavite, Pampanga, Bataan, Olongapo and Baguio. Thank you, Bench! We couldn’t have done it without you.
