b"Minneapolis, May 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jostens, the nation\xe2\x80\x99s leading provider of custom class jewelry, graduation products, and yearbooks serving the K-12 and college education markets announced greater than expected growth of its emerging school photography business, Jostens PIX.\xc2\xa0 The company cited a variety of factors leading to the 4x growth in school year 2021, including digital technologies and a nimble service and delivery model that preserved the school photography tradition for thousands of schools facing COVID-19 challenges this year.\n\xe2\x80\x9cWhile we launched JostensPIX prior to COVID-19, our paperless ordering and direct to home delivery made it a logical choice for schools this year\xe2\x80\x9d said Kurt Scheppman, General Manager of JostensPIX.\xc2\xa0 \xe2\x80\x9cJostensPIX was able to photograph 90% of our schools because it was the safest, surest way for schools to get student photos to their families and for their yearbooks.\xe2\x80\x9d\n\xe2\x80\x9cJostensPIX was designed to take the friction out of the traditional school photography experience,\xe2\x80\x9d said Brandon Potts, Vice President and General Manager of Jostens Emerging Markets.\xc2\xa0 \xe2\x80\x9cWe heard from schools and families that packets and order forms and picking up orders from school were just some of the hassles they didn\xe2\x80\x99t want to deal with anymore \xe2\x80\x93 and of course this school year there were enough hassles to deal with already.\xe2\x80\x9d\nOther unique features driving JostensPIX accelerated growth include photo customization, ordering, and printing options provided directly to families, as compared to standard photo package configurations, designs, and lead times associated with more traditional school photography providers.\n\xe2\x80\x9cJostensPIX is all digital, which we love as much our families,\xe2\x80\x9d said Crystal Barber, principal at Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma.\xc2\xa0 \xe2\x80\x9cNo fliers and packets to send home with kids, no order forms and checks to collect from parents \xe2\x80\x93 it removes all of that.\xc2\xa0 And our yearbook committee was able to get the student photos needed for our yearbook almost immediately.\xc2\xa0 Everybody wins.\xe2\x80\x9d\nThe company is planning for continued growth of JostensPIX across all U.S. K-12 schools in the 2021/2022 school year, with additional features to be announced this fall.\nJostens is a trusted partner in the academic and achievement channel, providing products, programs and services that help its customers celebrate moments that matter.