The scoop at Yarmouth: Students step up to real-world challenge

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Maine Department of Education

When a company like Friendly’s struggles to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, desperate times often call for desperate measures.

Could students at Yarmouth High School help?

Friendly Ice Cream Corp., based in Wilbraham, Mass., is a 77-year-old company known for its ice cream and hamburgers. When the economic downturn, coupled with higher costs and high rents, drove it into bankruptcy, company leaders realized the need for a new model, a new business plan and a new image.
The VIA Agency is a hip advertising and marketing firm located in Portland.  Already engaged in a fresh ad campaign for Friendly’s, the group’s creative director decided to reach out to a resource that had sparked great ideas in the past.

“While on a field trip with my students to tour VIA, Teddy Stoecklein asked if I thought my students would like to help out with a real creative challenge,” recalled Melissa Noack, an Art and Graphics Design teacher at Yarmouth High School. “I embraced the opportunity.”

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