Local teacher, students on North America's largest billboard
A Muscogee County teacher and some of his students are gaining fame in New York City at the intersection known as "The Crossroads of the World."
If you happen to be in Times Square during the next month or will be watching on TV as the New Year's Eve Ball drops tonight, you might catch a glimpse of them - depicted larger than life on North America's biggest billboard.
An image of Eric Crouch in his first-grade classroom at Double Churches Elementary School is among the five featured in the advertisement for DonorsChoose.org, a website that helps teachers raise money for educational projects. In the past four years, the website has enabled Crouch's classroom to receive items totaling at least $20,000, he said, such as 20 iPads, 20 iPods, a 3D printer and hundreds of books.
The billboard, affixed to the Marriott Marquis hotel at 1535 Broadway in New York, spans the block from 45th Street to 46th Street, where more than 300,000 pedestrians are estimated to walk each day. At over 25,000 square feet, the screen climbs eight stories tall, stretches almost as long as a football field and contains 24 million LED pixels.
The going rate for that Clear Channel Outdoor ad space is approximately $2.5 million for four weeks, according to the The New York Times, but the newspaper reported that Google declined to reveal the terms of its deal when it became the billboard's inaugural advertiser Nov. 25. Google then donated 1 minute of screen time every hour to six nonprofit organizations, including Donors Choose. The image of Crouch sitting with students using iPads is seen in the ad for about 10-15 seconds during each rotation.
Crouch got involved in this mega media blitz, he said, because Donors Choose spotlighted him a few years ago as one of the 50 most influential teachers who have benefited from the website. Fast forward to Tuesday, when Phenix City natives Brittni and Casey Sloan of Birmingham, whom Crouch photographed during their wedding as part of his side business, notified him that they saw the billboard while visiting New York City.
"I had forgotten all about it," Crouch said with a laugh.
Now, it's another memorable way to motivate students.
"It's a neat thing for the kids, and hopefully it will help get more teachers to participate on the site and get more people to donate," he said. " We're just fortunate to have a lot of good partners in Columbus to help us get some nice things. That makes a big difference when you think about a kid's excitement level. When they know they can use technology in the classroom, they work harder for you as a teacher."
In a text message, Brittni said it was “breathtaking” to see Crouch on the famous billboard hundreds of miles away from home.
“We are extremely proud of all the work Eric has accomplished with Donors Choose,” she said. “It is evident that he truly cares about his students.”
By the way, the world's largest billboard, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is outside the King Khaled International Airport in Saudi Arabia, measuring 32,291 square feet (820 feet long and 39 feet tall).
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow Mark on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
This story was originally published December 31, 2014 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Local teacher, students on North America's largest billboard."