PNC

The Results

Social Engagement
280,000+
Participants
2,845 pre-schoolers
Locations:
15 states & District of Columbia

The Brief

The PNC Financial Services Group focus their philanthropic efforts around one major cause through PNC Grow Up Great; a $350 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative which launched in 2004 to help prepare children for early school and life success. The program emphasizes the importance of the first five years of life, which research has shown to be critical to long-term achievement. As part of the program, PNC provides opportunities that enable families, teachers and community partners to enhance children’s learning and development. To celebrate Grow Up Great’s 10th anniversary, PNC wanted a fun and exciting event that would highlight a key focus of the program - quality early childhood education and vocabulary development.

The Solution

PNC briefed GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS to design an interactive educational event for young children that aligned with the firm’s commitment to early childhood education. GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS created a first-of-its-kind record category for the program: the Largest vocabulary lesson in multiple venues. The record challenge raised awareness of PNC’s program and promoted the importance of children’s vocabulary building, while also providing pre-schoolers with a fun and engaging activity. In addition, it also attracted employee participation through volunteer opportunities as part of the event and connected non-profit community partners in a shared purpose.  

The vocabulary lesson was drawn from the book Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, a picture-led book by Caldecott Honoree Peter Brown. Almost 3,000 children and teachers participated in the vocabulary lesson which took place simultaneously in 37 cities across 15 states and D.C.

Words unlock success for children. The more words they hear before kindergarten, the more success they often achieve. The pursuit of this record title helped us increase awareness of the critical role vocabulary has in a child’s development.

— Sally McCrady, President & Chair - PNC FOUNDATION