Almost a year ago, the co-founders of children’s literacy business Literacy Lane faced down the investors of Dragons’ Den for the show’s 14th season and walked away with a $20,000 grant from the Desjardins GoodSpark program — which they are using to donate their product to elementary schools around the country, including Moose Jaw.
Entrepreneurs Laurie Haliwyz-Way and Lisa Warken travelled from their home base of Medicine Hat to bring one of their Adventure Packs to William Grayson School thanks to their newly-awarded grant funding.
The pair installed a handful of decal sets from the pack and laid out their vision for the rest of the decals so that William Grayson staff can install them in the future.“[There's a reason why] we wanted to return to Moose Jaw too. It’s just that hometown feeling and giving back because we've been fortunate to receive the support from small communities,” said Haliwyz-Way.
Literacy Lane’s adhesive floor decals are designed as learning aids to improve children’s literacy skills while also giving them a chance to take a movement break.
It has been very exciting for Haliwyz-Way and Warken to see their product in schools outside of Medicine Hat, especially as they find movement-based learning works well for children with special learning needs.
“In the schools where there's high incidents of language learning disabilities or autism, I think those are the schools that we're getting really positive feedback from,” said Haliwyz-Way.
“It's win-win because you've got the kids that need the break, and then you've got your other more typically developing kids who need a break as well, from some of the noise and the distraction in the classroom too,” said Warken.
“And also for the teachers too, who get a break to regroup,” added Haliwyz-Way.
Using their grant, Haliwyz-Way and Warken have installed their full pack of decals free of charge in six schools so far, with a total of nine schools across Canada who have received a donated pack from the entrepreneurs.
The pair have already travelled to Toronto to bring their learning aids to five elementary schools there, before returning to do the same here in Moose Jaw at William Grayson.
“We were very well received [in Toronto],” said Warken.
“We're planning to go back in February to reconnect, see how they're using it and to provide some guidance with that too,” said Haliwyz-Way.
The first set of decals at William Grayson went into the Grade 1 room, with teacher Cheryl Berenyi already forming ideas on how to utilize the learning aid in her classroom’s daily schedule.
“I'm really looking forward to finding all the different ways to use it with the little ones,” said Berenyi. “They're so colourful and motivating and new, and we were really fortunate [in applying for the grant.]”
With new products in design and a continuously growing interest, Haliwyz-Way and Warken are looking forward to what the next year will bring Literacy Lane.
“It's been just over a year, from concept to this, and it's been a huge learning curve and huge amounts of work and effort have gone into it,” said Haliwyz-Way. “We're excited with where things are at and we hope next year proves to be as prosperous as this past year.”
The entrepreneurs are already talking about returning to the Den with this new success under their belt, especially after receiving some mentorship from unnamed Dragons following their previous pitch.
Literacy Lane is also hoping to see more Moose Jaw schools express interest in having their learning aids become a part of their classrooms, which is why they have created a promo code just for Moose Jaw.
“You know, when the local schools welcome us in, we're more than happy to give a little kickback to the local area for helping us out,” said Warken.
For those purchasing the Adventure Pack on the Literacy Lane website, using the coupon code “moose” will apply a discount to the order.
“Our objective is really to get the product out because we know it's effective and we know it’s helpful and teachers are appreciative of it,” said Haliwyz-Way. “The more we get out there, the better, and that's our mission.”
