Good morning, class, and welcome to U.S. history, brought to you by Molto Caldo Pizzeria.
In a cash-strapped Idaho high school where signs taped near every light switch remind the staff to save electricity, an enterprising teacher has struck a sponsorship deal with a local pizza shop: Every test, handout and work sheet he passes out to his students reads MOLTO’S PIZZA 14″ 1 TOPPING JUST $5 in bright red, inch-high letters printed along the bottom of every page.
“I just wanted to find a way to save money,” said Jeb Harrison, who teaches history and economics. “We have to sell ads for our yearbook, for our school newspaper. I don’t think this small amount of advertising will change my classroom.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS Doug Walker, a sophomore at Pocatello High School in Idaho, displays a class handout bearing an advertisement for Molto Caldo Pizzeria. “I don’t think this small amount of advertising will change my classroom,” said history and economics teacher Jeb Harrison.
School officials were not wild about the idea, but Pocatello High School Principal Don Cotant relented after Mr. Harrison explained that the advertisements could help illuminate such topics as the Great Depression.
“I had concerns. I didn’t know what this would open up for us,” Mr. Cotant said. “But we’ve let this happen because it makes a point about what economic hard times can force people to do.”
