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September 23, 2005
Teaching A,B, C-scapes

Educator's company springs kids toward finer things

By JAMES MOSHER
Daily Record Business Writer

Most parents would be happy if they got their 3-year-old to stop throwing food. Angelica J. Menefee thinks the budding hurler can be taught etiquette.

Call it a revolution in education. A small one at least.

Etiquette is one of the courses offered by Trampoline: Learning Programs for Young Minds, the company Menefee founded last year. A former Baltimore County school teacher, Menefee writes course manuals that instruct teachers how to teach by encouraging interactivity and game play. Other subjects include foreign languages, fine arts and sports including yoga.

"There are so many benefits to exposing children at a very young age to foreign languages, cultures, fine arts and the skills of sportsmanship," Menefee said. "These are the tools that help create a well-rounded individual positioned for success."

Trampoline received its largest contract in January. The pact with Goddard Systems Inc., which operates schools in 25 states, promises to boost revenues as the number of Goddard schools increases, Menefee said. Initially, programs were sold to 90 Goddard schools in 21 states for an undisclosed sum.

"I didn't expect it to grow so fast," said Menefee, Trampoline's president. "I've tried to make the lessons very approachable. I seem to be connecting well."

Menefee's materials are used at Goddard schools in Columbia, Forest Hill, Marriottsville, Pasadena, and Waldorf. The programs, which include games, songs and activities, are also used in schools such as Apple Tree Children's Center in Cockeysville, St. Paul's Schools for Girls preschool in Brooklandville, and Step By Step Children's Learning Center in Sparks.

Michael Capp, manager of curriculum and compliance for Goddard, calls the materials "an excellent resource for the early childhood educator who wants to reach children in fresh ways."

Alyssa Thomas-Oakley and Julie Schissler, teachers at Step By Step, also endorse the products.

"Our Trampoline program is easy to understand and use. It is also convenient to add a daily routine. The adaptability is a major plus," they said in a news release from the company.

Step By Step started Menefee on the road to her business venture. The school asked her to create a foreign-language program. During that process the 15-year teaching veteran began formulating methods she would later incorporate into Trampoline's products.

The programs are sold over Trampoline's Web site at prices ranging from $795 to $1,795. Products and services are broken down into five areas – Explorer, which focuses on foreign languages; Scholar, which deals with art, music and etiquette; Competitor, which teaches sports and physical education; Advisor, which is a workshop guide for teachers; and Tutor, which provides supplies for carrying out lessons.

Programs are geared toward children ages 2 through 9. Menefee says she has plans to "go adult" in the future, crafting strategies for businesses with non-English-speaking workers.

"Offering tools to take learning to a higher level is the true goal of Trampoline," she said. "I like the idea that my programs help children better understand their global environment and all of the different ways that they fit into and can impact their world."

Each program is comprised of between three and 10 learning manuals. Compact discs accompany the music program but that's about as high-tech as things currently are. Menefee says she plans to incorporate computer software into some future offerings. She is proving that gadgets aren't integral to the learning process.

Trampoline started in foreign languages mainly because that is Menefee's area of greatest expertise. In addition to her teaching degrees, Menefee holds a bachelor of arts in Spanish language and culture from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. The Mount Washington native founded a foreign-language program for more than 50 children in an Owings Mills preschool before starting her company. She headed the foreign language team while teaching middle-school Spanish in the Baltimore County public school system.

Not surprisingly, Spanish is one of languages dealt with in Trampoline's programs. Also offered are French and Italian with a course in German in the works. Languages can be a major springboard to scholarly maturity and professional success, Menefee observed.

"I named my company Trampoline because I wanted to create the visual of intellectually placing students leaps and bounds head of the average curriculum," she said.

Trampoline is run out of an office in the Towson home Menefee shares with her husband, Ashton, and three children. The direction she's taken is shaped by her desire to spend time with her young children as well as keep one foot in the educational world. An active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Menefee continues to tutor students up to high-school seniors and teaches Spanish after school to elementary school kids. She also does monthly workshops for Goddard.

The ready access to young people presents opportunities for product testing.

"I regularly test my students and kids in the neighborhood with things I'm thinking about writing into programs," Menefee said. "They've helped me in many ways."