LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) - Sixth through eighth grade students at Live Oak Middle School have spent the past twelve weeks learning about marketing and public relations, all while planning a student-driven campaign to curb vaping.  Eighteen students were given an opportunity to take the 12-week elective course led by Sapphire Marketing Group’s CEO Kary Hauck through funding offered by the Live Oak Unified School District and the Sutter County Superintendent of Schools.

During the twelve-week program, students learn how to build a website, write a press release, lead a Focus Group, create designs, maintain brand integrity, identify the target audience, digital and social marketing, placing media buys, and more. “Many of the skills these students learn provide immense value as they enter high school, move on to pursue higher education and get started in their chosen career path,” said Sapphire Group’s Kary Hauck who led the 12-week course.

What makes the program unique is that the students make every decision regarding media buys, design, messaging and more.  “I provide them with information, pricing, analytics and more and they choose how to spend their marketing budget,” said Hauck.  The middle school students participating in the course chose to purchase a billboard in Live Oak along state route 99 at Archer, produce posters for school sites, activate a website they helped design and film a video.  Outfront Media, the company that leased the billboard space for the campaign, liked the idea so much they provided the students with 100,000 digital impressions (online ads) that will target people who pass the billboard, visit, or live within a 5-mile radius of the billboard, free of charge.

“LOMS students have taken a proactive approach to address the national youth issue of vaping,” said Parm Virk, Principal at Live Oak Middle School.  “Sapphire Marketing Group has provided our students a unique opportunity to learn about marketing and media to take their efforts beyond our school site and gain real world skills in the process,” said Virk.

On Tuesday, March 28^th, a student-led focus group was held with peers of the participants to test the marketing they had developed.  During the next month, students will provide a presentation to the Live Oak Unified School District Board of Education and the City of Live Oak.

The curriculum for the class was developed by Sapphire Marketing Group and is made available to school districts throughout the Yuba-Sutter region.