"The Bottling Line" Issue #312 - June, 2010

GIVING BACK : A FAMILY TRADITION

Sara Williams Berry is no stranger to giving back to her community. As a member of the fourth-generation of the Weaver-Williams Coca-Cola family in Corinth, Mississippi, this dynamo has it in her blood.

A vivacious, creative mother of five, with a heart for teaching and a head for business, Sara's Integrity Time curricula are helping lay a strong foundation for elementary students in the communities not only where her family holds Coca-Cola franchises, but across the South.

"When my first child began first grade, I, like many other parents, was very apprehensive," Sara shared. "The school she was to attend had an excellent reputation, but I also was bombarded with news stories that filled my mind with many 'what if's'. I was determined that I would do whatever I could to make this the best experience possible, and began to think of ways to volunteer in the classroom."

Some parents volunteer in the classroom. Mrs. Berry created an entire curriculum! With the belief that a foundation built through the partnership of parents, teachers, and other caring adults will make the difference not only in the lives of individual children, but also in the world that they, in turn, will influence, Integrity Time was born. With a background in teaching, Sara's mind immediately went to thinking of a way to partner with her child's teacher and help all the students learn about the many important issues of Integrity.

"I wrote an interactive lesson each week dealing with an issue of Integrity and volunteered to teach it in the classroom," she explained. "By the end of the year, the teachers had requested that I share what had now become known as Integrity Time with their classes the following year." Throughout the summer, and especially as fall approached, many mothers began asking about Integrity Time. They, too, wanted to partner with their child's teacher and do something significant in the class room.

Now classrooms in schools across the United States are sharing in the privilege of learning through the beautifully crafted lessons, since Integrity Time is now offered to registered schools via My Coke Rewards for Schools as one of the reward choices. Integrity Time became a part of the reward pool in January of 2010 and will be included again for the 2010-2011 school year.

"This concept spread by word of mouth and soon moms from other schools were asking me about how they could be involved in doing Integrity Time at their children's schools. This is literally how Integrity Time began," explained April Conrad, Coca-Cola North America Market Development Manager. April calls on the Corinth bottler, and has witnessed the impact of the program on the local schools. When the MCR for Schools program launched, she knew Integrity Time would be a perfect fit for providing positive impact in the schools and giving bottlers additional ways to partner with the educational leaders in their local communities.

What can you do? First, Conrad encourages all Education Channel managers to ensure ALL the schools in their territories are registered with My Coke Rewards for Schools. It is a mechanism for keeping our brands top of mind with moms and students while helping make a positive impact. Second, bottlers need not wait for schools to earn enough points to choose Integrity Time as a reward. Local sponsorships for entire school systems are possible, and the two separate parts of the program, Know It and Grow It, are designed for grades K-5.

For more information on local sponsorships through your franchise, contact Sara Williams Berry directly (at info@integritytime.com) or visit www.mycokerewards.com/schools.