NEW YORK — First Lady Laura Bush and her second-grade teacher encouraged Time Inc. magazine publishers on Thursday to donate space in their publications for a series of public service announcements to promote teaching as a profession.
The former librarian and her former Midland, Tex., teacher Charlene Gnagy appear in one of the full-page ads for TeachersCount, which has partnered with Time and Jones Apparel Group’s Jones New York in the Classroom initiative.
“The ads we are unveiling today are a new expression of an old, timeless truth: Behind every person is a fabulous teacher,” Bush said.
Jeremy Piven, Edie Falco and Bradley Whitford are among other famous people who pose with their favorite teachers in the ads shot so far, which have run in publications such as Time, Fortune and Essence. More ads are on the way, and Time Inc., which has already donated almost $1 million in ad space, has promised to kick off a company-wide campaign to regularly feature the ads in many of the company’s 149 titles. The purpose of the discussion in the Time & Life building here was to get individual publishers on board.
Jones chief executive officer Peter Boneparth will model for his own ad, most likely with a professor from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he said. Jones founded its Jones New York in the Classroom program in 2005, and TeachersCount is one of the four nonprofit organizations it supports.
Diana Burroughs, co-founder and executive director of TeachersCount, said the campaign could be the next Got Milk public service announcement. She cited a Public Agenda survey that found more than 80 percent of teachers would prefer more respect to higher pay.
First Lady Joins TeachersCount
First Lady Laura Bush and her second-grade teacher encouraged Time Inc. magazine publishers on Thursday to donate space in their publications for a series of public service announcements to promote teaching as a profession.