Today's Lesson, Sponsored by . . .

Aissa Rouse, 8, left, and her class won $6,000 in contest money from Dunkin' Donuts for a commercial on "selling" the importance of homework. (Michael Williamson -- The Washington Post)

In addition to the contest, Dunkin' Donuts provides an eight-page activity guide and doughnut coupons for students who consistently complete their homework. The coupons are good for two donuts -- one for the student, another for the "helper," usually the parent.

"Doughnuts are not the major focus of the program, but just a small part, a little sweet addition to doing something," McCullogh said.

Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sarah Delea said the company decided to offer its "School House Jam" contest after concluding that music education is often underfunded. "Everybody loves the jingle so we saw a lot of synergy," she said.

The company teamed up with the National Association of Music Educators. Mike Blakeslee, the group's deputy executive director, said the program was a "real white hat issue."

While they may promote a product, the "jingles are valid music," Blakeslee said. They provide a point of departure for learning music. "You can talk about structure, pitch, rhythmic value," Blakeslee said. And for younger kids, he said, there is value in performing -- being on a stage and learning patience and teamwork.

The association estimates that school music education programs have collected more than $5 million from companies over the past few years. More than $1 million of that came from Oscar Mayer.

Georgia Pacific's Mattos said the Angel toilet paper contest's teacher's guide was distributed to more than a million students in 40,000 classrooms. The company wanted "to differentiate this brand from our competitors and have a connection with consumers and create goodwill among moms, kids and schools."

Schools that do not win any prize money are still eligible for other benefits -- visits from the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile or the Marshmallow Peeps bus.

To celebrate the 50th year of Peeps, for example, candymaker Just Born Inc. offered a "Peeps" bus tour to 100 schools. Joel Moses, an art teacher and fine-arts coordinator for the Petersburg, Va., school system, leaped at the chance. Students from kindergarten to second grade at three of the city's seven elementary schools got a ride and learned about the history of Peeps, making crafts from the marshmallow candy and taking home some free samples.

"Peeps has a lot of sugar so it's a very valid question" whether it should be a product promoted during school, Moses said in a telephone interview. However, he added, "I saw this as an unusual opportunity for kids to have a twist on their educational experience. Petersburg doesn't have that much money and any opportunity to bring cultural events into the community, if it's free, I grab at."

Paul Kurnit, president and founder of Kidshop, which specializes in kids marketing, urges marketers to consider schools a venue for reaching children. "Ten years ago, I was the one to say 'TV, TV, TV' when it came to reaching kids," he told 250 marketing executives who traveled to Orlando last month to participate in the 10th annual Kid Power convention for kids-marketing strategies.

Why schools? It's simple, Kurnit said: "It's where they meet and hang."

Contests with prizes, he added, "provide real tangible value for the schools, which makes it an easy 'yes' for administrators and teachers." It's a yes for some companies because contests are far less expensive than television ads, yet they still provide children with what he calls "the brand experience."

Oakdale Principal Judy Sherman said she sees no problem with the Oscar Mayer and Dunkin' Donuts contests, and no parents have complained.