HANCOCK, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School third-grade students in Cassandra Crosier's class participated in our Junior Marketers Create an Ad series. 

 

We contacted Berkshire County teachers and asked their students to help create an ad for our sponsors and the community delivered. For the next nine months, we will showcase ads made by our creative next generation. 

 

This month, students showcased Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort's winter season, which includes 45 trails for skiing and snowboarding, terrain jumps, scenic chair lift rides to the summit, snow tubing, the Kids Rule program, which teaches children ages 3 to 14 how to ski and snowboard, and much more. 

 

The resort, located at 37 Corey Road in Hancock, works to be the most respected family resort in North America, said Katie Fogel, Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort director of marketing. 

 

Fogel met with the students to answer their questions about the resort's history, activities, facilities, and the mountain's typography. 

 

One student asked how the resort got its name, and Fogel explained that the story is from when the area was flown over in the 1940s. It is believed the pilots said, "by Jiminy, that's a peak," she said. 

 

Students were also intrigued by how the resort's buildings were named, some of which are named after people who played an integral role in making it what it is today.

 

Fogel explained that Crane Lodge is named after Fred Crane, one of the founders of Jiminy Peak, and JJ's Lodge is named after the resort's former chief financial officer, Jack Filiault, whose nickname was JJ. 

 

She also highlighted how the resort's longest slope is Left Bank, two miles from the summit to the base. 

 

There are bunny hills for beginners, including chipmunk and cricket, and shorter trails that connect to some of the mountain's other trails, including Deer Run and Glider. 

 

Second place Create an Ad winner, Ruby Sosne, who is an avid skier, also highlighted the Cutter Skiing Trail, which is short and steep.   

 

One student asked about the resort's Kids' Rule program, which is a cornerstone of the resort, Fogel said. 

 

"We take a lot of pride in teaching children how to ski and getting them into snow sports because they are lifelong sports that you can do when you're kids, but also throughout your life," she said. 

"So our Kids' Rule Mountain Camp program is something that we put a lot of emphasis on, and it's a big part of who we are as a resort."

 

Jiminy Peak does a lot of advertising in a fun and different way, she said, to see the resort from the perspective of kids. 

 

"We're the one that's telling the story. So, it was fun to get the story from the way they see Jiminy and their view of it. Kids are such a big part of what we do, and we are such a family resort that it was very cool to see it from their eyes," Fogel said. 

 

It was interesting to see how the students highlighted the snow-making and the turbines in their drawings, which is something that you would think maybe they don't notice as much, but they do, she said. 

 

Williamstown Elementary School interim Principal Griffin Labbance also expressed how it was interesting to see the students' vision of a community business. 

 

"It's always nice to have students show their vision of something in our community. We have so much great to offer in our local Berkshire area. So it's always great to see how the students picture our local attractions and our area through their eyes in their drawings and their work," he said. 

 

One of the first questions the students were excited to ask was how the resort makes its snow. 

 

Fogel explained that Jiminy Peak utilizes a system of summit reservoirs, pressurized air, and a network of snow guns to create artificial snow across their trails and slopes when there isn't enough natural snow. 

 

The resort has reservoirs at the summit that contain pressurized air and water. One of the summit reservoirs has a big liquid pond at the bottom of a turbine. 

 

They use the water from the reservoirs and the pressurized air to push the water out through the snow guns. The water then nucleates into snow, Fogel said. 

 

Jiminy Peak has about 450 snow guns that can cover the entire mountain, though only about 200 can be run simultaneously.

 

It was hard to pick three winners from the ads the resort received from Crosier's class because of how great they all were, Fogel said. 

 

"I think the ones that we picked were because they really did encompass all of Jiminy," she said, listing how they incorporated the resort's chairlifts, turbines, snowmaking, and the lifestyle side of the business. 

 

The Create an Ad winner Jack Smith was very detailed and had the resort's chairlift, skiers and snowboarders going down the mountain, a hot chocolate stand, and a windmill in the background peeking behind the mountain. 

 

Ruby highlighted some of the resort's trails that she has skied on by drawing signs for the Left Bank green trail and Westway blue trail. She also drew the top of the Berkshire Express chair lift and mountains and trees in the background.

 

Third place winner Hazel Barenski drew the chair lift and a bunch of snowy trees. Underneath the skiers and snowboarders riding the lift was someone skiing down the hill and highlighted the ski jumps the resort has in the background. 

 

Labbance said participating in the Create an Ad series gave the students the opportunity to express themselves creatively and engage with local businesses and attractions. 

 

"They're creating something for something that is bigger than them. So, it kind of puts them out of their classroom world, and it gives them a little taste of adult advertising and what it takes to be able to sell something or promote something," he said.

 

Giving students the opportunity to work with local businesses to create something it will use increases students' confidence in their work, Labbance said. 

 

"It increases their desire to do better. It encourages them to look outside their school community or their town community into what's what's out there to offer more," he said.