I mentioned in my podcast with Dean Shareski that a favourite part of my job is asking myself, “How do I get to ‘Yes’?” when students come to me with big ideas and challenges that are not easy accommodate in a school. Yesterday I had an easy one, any easy ‘Yes’ when a student came to me wanting us to purchase a silk screen printing kit.

The student came to my office with the pitch just a couple minutes before I was set to have an online meeting. I told her that I had the meeting coming up and asked if she could email me, and one of my teachers, and explain why this was something good for the school, and to provide me with an Amazon link to the kit she wanted to purchase. Knowing the kid, I probably should have expected what I got from her 35 minutes later, but still, I had to chuckle at her email. Here it is in full. If you don’t want to read it all, the funniest ‘justifications’ were #12 and #15. Also noteworthy is #6, her commitment to make it easier for others to use.

Dearest Mr.Truss,

We have gathered here today to discuss the impacts a screen printer would serve this school, If you kindly agree to the purchase.

PROS

Number one. It will elevate the school’s shirt making/crafting personality. As you may know the school already own a Cricut (only cuts one colour) and a sublimation printer (only prints on white polyester shirts). We need to fill an obvious gap. We need a tool that can print multiple colours on a darker coloured shirt. A screen printer would be able to achieve this and not only that but….

Number two. It saves on material/waste used. As you may or may not have noticed but the Cricut requires the user to weed our bits of material that is unwanted in a design, creating lots of little bits of garbage. The sublimation printer uses entire sheets of paper per design. The screen printer however would not add to the amount of waste produced from our shirt making machine collection. 

Number three. I have talked with Mr.Hopkins and he thinks it’s a good idea. He mentioned that he would consider making it a media arts project so other student would be able to learn how the process works. 

Number four. The screen printer is not even a machine tbh. It’s literally just a frame and some ink. So it wouldn’t take up much space in the classroom. 

Number five. Though you might think that the ink will be messy, I assure you that I will personally make sure that anyone using it will have the proper coverage on the surfaces they’re working on. 

Number six. I will create a document with step by step instructions so people can refer to it if they need reminders or instruction on how to work it. 

Number seven. Because the screen printing screens are reusable and because screen printing itself is long lasting. It opens the possibility to mass produce clothing. Similar to the pink shirt day assembly line, we could possibly make clothing or designs for the school. 

Number eight. The Amazon kit that I am proposing provides a light. We could use the light for Media Arts as well. 

Number nine. Your students will be amazed. Incoming students will be impressed with the amount of tools at their disposal. There are many students who are interested in fashion, so they could perhaps use this new system to create their own clothing designs. 

Number ten. It does not require the use of the heat press. Unlike the Cricut and sublimation printer you won’t have to worry about students burning or pinching themselves in a hot press. 

Number eleven. The kit itself is reusable, with the photo emulsion remover you’ll be able to put different design on the screen, so you won’t have to spend more money on more screens. And even if, for whatever reason it does need a new screen, you can probably go to fabricana to get some cheaper screen and purchase it by the yard. 

Number twelve. If you desire I could make u a complimentary shirt. 

Number thirteen. If you’re gonna mass produce shirts for the school, maybe you could create shirts to sell to other people and earn more than the money you invested into this kit. I’m just saying, you’ve got students who are good graphic designers, it may be time to put them to work. 

Number fourteen. Mr. Sarte was talking to me about how beneficial a screen printer could be last year, so he’ll probably be happy if you get it too. 

Number fifteen. As a student I really value my time, but I’m sure you can imagine how much time it has taken me to write this email, thus i think it is important and worth my limited time. I could be working on my UBC personal profile right now…..

Number sixteen. This screen printer will bring you’re students closer together. It is with this screen printer that we will become an even tighter knit community. I mean you could create intramural shirts with this thing. 

CONS

Number one. It doesn’t come with yellow ink, so could we please get some so we’ll have all the primary colours and can mix different colours from there?

Thank you for considering this purchase. I’d be deeply grateful if you gifted the school with a screen printer. 

Here is a link to the Amazon kit that has all the tools we would need. [Link to item]

Here is a link to some yellow ink. [Link to item]

Much appreciation,
[Student full name]

Thank you for using your valuable time for this proposal [Student name]!

My concern isn’t the cost of the purchase, but rather the quality.
I’ve asked a few teachers if this will do, or if we should spend a bit more on a kit that is more durable/better quality… You too can make suggestions (if you have time).

Thanks,
Dave

If I didn’t have a meeting that I had to attend just a couple minutes after this student came to my office, this would probably just have been a short conversation and an easy ‘Yes’. As much as the bad timing created a lot more ‘work’ for the student, I’m glad that it happened this way. I think it’s a valuable process for a student to through, and if I’m honest, reading her email was the highlight of my day.