Our Story Give a kid a choice between a textbook and a colorful, kid-friendly magazine and it won't take him long to choose. Put the two together and you've got a winning combination-educational material that makes learning fun! CEO, Ed Rickers is at the helm of a company that does just that.Studies Weekly began in 1984 when 4th grade teacher Paul Thompson found no state history textbook to use in his class. He decided to write a state history "textbook" in a weekly magazine format, and Studies Weekly was born.