Educating with Big Pieces of Printed LexJet Tyvek

Montessori Timelines Printed on LexJet Tyvek

The title is a tad misleading. It’s not the LexJet TOUGHcoat 3R DuPont Tyvek that educates, but what ETC Press Inc. prints on the Tyvek that does it.

Educational Timelines Printed on LexJet TyvekETC Press, a subsidiary of ETC Montessori based in Houston, provides curriculum and educational materials to Montessori and applied learning schools. Among the important teaching aids ETC Press produces are 107″ x 17″ educational timelines printed with the company’s HP Designjet Z6100 on LexJet TOUGHcoat 3R DuPont Tyvek.

ETC Press executive director Aki Margaritis says LexJet Tyvek is the go-to material for the timelines because it’s durable and images with clarity.

“The timelines need to be very durable because they’re handled quite a bit by the kids. A timeline needs to last in a class for a minimum of five years with constant handling, and the LexJet Tyvek has held up,” says Margaritis. “The images are coming out nice and crisp, the colors are vibrant, the kids love it and we’re very happy with the print material.”

Margaritis adds that a student once unwittingly stamped the edge of one of the timelines with the tip of his chair leg when he sat down, leaving an indented ring in it. “We told the teacher to just let the timeline sit out like it normally would, rather than trying to push out the crease or roll it up, and sure enough, the indentation went away,” he says.

The timelines tie into the curriculum the company publishes. The timelines often tie into each other, as well. For example, one timeline outlines the history of communication from 25,000 B.C. to today, while another follows the same timeline, but focuses on the progress of mathematics.

“The kids can line up the timelines one next to other and see the relationship between communication and mathematics and how each affects the other,” explains Margaritis. “They have to be small enough to fit in the classroom and large enough to allow two to three groups of kids to gather around the timeline and focus on the different events and subjects they’re studying.”