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UPS generously provides the uniforms for the Postal Service employees.
Spotlight On: Parcel Service
If you were to ask me which shop demands the most of its employees over the course of the day, the Parcel Service would certainly be somewhere at the top of my list. A small storefront nestled at the end of Profit Parkway, the Parcel Service, sponsored by UPS, plays a major role in the success of any day in Towne.
The students working in the Parcel Service are in charge of the timely delivery of all of Towne’s mail. This includes all of the business checks written by each shop’s accountant paying off their bills as well as the postcard competition entries. Back at school students fill out four postcards with a return and mailing address to be entered into competitions held by different shops. The TV station has a mind bender; the College runs a trivia contest; Towne Hall has a design-your-own-stamp contest; the Radio Station announces the joke of the day. In order to mail these, students must first visit the Parcel Service and purchase stamps before dropping them into the mailbox. The Parcel Service also sells neon postcards and small gift boxes that can be sent through Towne mail.
In addition to these more traditional mail items, the students working in Parcel Service must stay on top of online deliveries. New to Towne this year are touchscreen kiosks on the Towne’s central “green” that enable kids to shop online for briefcases ordered from the container store, and dog tags from the warehouse. These two shops process the orders on the tablets in their store. Once they hit “mark complete,” the Parcel Service receives notice of the new shipments. It is a lot of work to stay on top of, but generally the kids who work in Parcel are impressively on top of it.
The Postal Service employees must check the mailbox routinely to ensure quick delivery.
Our Parcel Service Sponsor: UPS
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, each shop has a corporate sponsor and that sponsor is UPS for the Parcel Service. Shop sponsors outfit the kids with uniforms and provide items to authenticate the experience. At our headquarters location we just received a new mailbox for Towne that tells the students whether mail has been picked up or not – very fancy! The students working in Parcel Service wear UPS hats and shirts and use a UPS cart to deliver the mail. Towne wouldn’t be half as close to real life in simulation if it weren’t for our awesome sponsors like UPS.
Teacher’s Tips
Consider taking extra time and bringing in extra help – such as parent volunteers or older students at the school – for the interview stage of the curriculum. Some teachers have reported blocking off a half day for this step of the job selection process, noting that it heightens the seriousness of the situation for the kids. The students will often dress up in business attire and craft resumes and cover letters to mimic true job interview experiences. Simulating a true-to-life experience provokes the students to adopt a mature sense of ownership of the job selection process, and mirrors the hands on work simulation they receive while running Towne.
