![\"Monica](\"http:\/\/www.financenewmexico.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Monica-Abeita.jpg\" "\\"Monica")
<\/a>Monica Abeita, Regional Development Corp. for Northern NM Connect<\/p><\/div>\n
In 2009, Scott Laidlaw and Jennifer Harris founded Imagine Education as a New Mexico-based startup company to develop and market educational games. Since then they\u2019ve been assisted by numerous business and community resources, including a Las Vegas, N.M., charter school and other New Mexico educators, Los Alamos National Laboratory summer interns and LANL\u2019s Northern New Mexico Connect.<\/p>\n
Their company is now piloting Ko\u2019s Journey \u2014 the first in a series of games designed to teach math to middle school students through historical fiction \u2014 in six schools nationwide while marketing the product to public schools, charter schools and virtual schools worldwide. The company has made inroads with major publishers like Scholastic and McGraw Hill and with many New Mexico schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a product with its roots and heart in New Mexico,\u201d Harris said, \u201cand we look forward to implementing our curriculum in schools throughout the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Idea Based in the Classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n A former professor at Appalachian State University, Laidlaw moved to New Mexico to teach at Roots and Wings, a charter school in Questa that teaches core curriculum through project-based or \u201cexpeditionary\u201d learning. When Laidlaw arrived at the school, its students tested in the 28th percentile for math, prompting Laidlaw and other teachers to experiment with story-based curriculum. \u201cThe kids loved it and wanted more,\u201d Laidlaw said. \u201cWhen test scores doubled, we knew we were onto something.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2005 grant to study ancient cultures in Peru inspired Laidlaw to create Ko\u2019s Journey. Harris, who has a background in corporate finance, added her perspective to the project. \u201cWomen often say they are not good at math or managing money,\u201d she said, but \u201cgirls learn through relationships, and math is typically crammed down through mental skills. The games give us a way to reach girls and teach them critical math skills.\u201d<\/p>\n Resources Beyond Imagination<\/strong><\/p>\n Laidlaw and Harris were impressed with the business resources they found in New Mexico. \u201cOur challenges are typical for a startup company, and we need touches of support to turn them into opportunities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Those touches included Rio Gallinas Charter School in Las Vegas, N.M., which bought the game and paid for its development; master\u2019s of business administration students from LANL\u2019s summer intern program who are assisting with the company\u2019s marketing strategy; and New Mexico\u2019s educators, who have cooperated with the company on education standards.<\/p>\n LANL\u2019s Northern New Mexico Connect recently provided Imagine Education an assessment of the educational games market through its Market Intelligence program. Market Intelligence also assisted with search engine optimization through its partner WESST Corp. \u2014 a nonprofit, small-business development organization \u2014 and introduced the company to people in the entrepreneurial support community. \u201cWe\u2019ve received more support in New Mexico than we could have imagined,\u201d Laidlaw said, \u201cand it will help us get our product to market and grow a successful company.\u201d\u00a0 For more information about Imagine Education, visit www.kosjourney.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about Northern New Mexico Connect<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article 153<\/p>\n Download\u00a0153_New Mexico Business Resources Aid Launch<\/a>\u00a0PDF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Imagine Education, a New Mexico startup, received business assistance from LANL’s summer intern program, Northern NM Connect’s Market Intelligence program, WESST, and Rio Gallinas Charter School. \u201cWe\u2019ve received more support in New Mexico than we could have imagined,\u201d co-founder Scott Laidlaw said. Read about these assistance programs. Continue reading