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The Studies Weekly Story

Some say the story of our company began in 1984, when a Utah elementary school teacher named Paul Thompson first walked into a classroom full of fourth-graders. Paul''s classroom, like so many classrooms, was missing effective social studies resources, and he longed for a better way to teach Utah history to his students. "What we need," he thought, "is a ''Weekly Reader'' that''s all about our state." Figuring on the support of his fellow teachers, Paul set out to develop such a product from a room in his home. In 1984, Utah Studies Weekly was born.

That year, teachers subscribed 4,500 students to Utah Studies Weekly. It was, they said, the perfect resource: something that could help them teach social studies standards and increase reading skills at the same time.

The success of Utah Studies Weekly inspired Paul to try the Studies Weekly concept in Texas. With the help of his two Texan sisters-Beverly Johnson and Linda Petersen-Paul developed Texas Studies Weekly, a periodical tailor-made for teachers in the Lone Star State.

Success in Texas proved to Paul that teachers everywhere might have a hankering for social studies publications designed just for them, wherever they might be. Only one year after the first printing of Texas Studies Weekly, publications followed for Arizona, Florida, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Today, Paul Thompson''s vision has grown to fill the whole country with standards-based publications that students and teachers love. From its fourth-grade roots, Studies Weekly now serves a full range of elementary school students, from kindergarten through sixth grade. There are more than 70 Studies Weekly publications for students in all fifty states, covering social studies and science standards for more than 1.5 million readers each week during the school year. Teacher-authors all over the country provide material for the publications.