Contestant's Case to Win

As a preschool teacher and owner for nearly 13 years, I noticed a shortage of high quality curriculum for preschool aged children. I wanted to provide my students with an exciting curriculum that would not only prepare them for Kindergarten but would excite and stimulate their young minds. I began developing my own curriculum, activities and projects based on the guidelines set forth in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for my own school. The children flourished. It occurred to me that the countless workbooks and activities may benefit other teachers, parents and daycare providers. With the help of fellow educators, I began to conceptualize a way to educate preschool children on a larger platform. The Adventures of Scuba Jack was born.

The Adventures of Scuba Jack (ASJ) is a DVD series designed with stay at home moms, daycare providers and preschool teachers in mind. The DVDs simulate a typical day at preschool, with a few exciting differences: Children are visited by various characters throughout their day who teach both scholastic and moral lessons. They are also taken on amazing adventures outside the classroom by their tour guide, Scuba Jack. If that wasn’t enough, parents and caregivers are able to access and download the projects and activities being completed by the students in the video via The Adventures of Scuba Jack website -www.adventuresofscubajack.com.

The pilot episode was released in 2008 and received wonderful reviews by parents, educators, and preschool facilitators. At ASJ, we have a product for the ever growing educational toy market with an innovative approach to hands-on education.

This past year, I have seen first-hand the effects the recession has had on local families and have watched many of my parents regretfully remove their children from our program due to layoffs and other financial difficulties. Through the use of the Adventures of Scuba Jack and the associated website, these parents have been able to maintain their child(ren)'s educational progress. It is heartbreaking that these children have had to leave their school and their friends, but it is exciting for me and for their parents to see that the learning can and has continued despite the change in location. It is my hope that other families will be able to use the Scuba Jack products either as a supplement to their child(ren)’s on site preschool education, or as a means of continuing their preschool education in the comfort of their own home.

Toward that end, we have some exciting new videos planned that will help our homeschooled children continue to prepare for kindergarten through our website. In addition, we will be filming three new episodes in 2009: “Whales”, “Lobsters” and “Fun on The Farm”.

We are also developing a line of retail items. These items include but are not limited to:
- Toys based on the lovable characters from the series - The Mermaid Princess, Pirate Lucky, Scuba Jack, Professor Galaxy, Octavian the Octopus, Carlos the Crab, Paco the Pelican, and other sealife characters.
- Educational toys and storybooks.
- Coloring books and learning curriculum books.
- A children's music CD that includes new songs as well as old favorites.

Future opportunites include, but are also not limited to:
- Children's costuming based on the ASJ characters.
- Children's performance tour including songs, music, dance and education across the United States. (Much like the Wiggles and Barney)
- And much, much more!

Thank you for your consideration in the StartUp Nation's Leading Moms Competition.

Beth Costanzo
Preschool Owner and mother of 3