Anoka-Hennepin’s communication and public relations team earns national recognition
Anoka-Hennepin’s communication and public relations team earned a slew of national recognitions over the summer.
The National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA), which is a professional organization for communicators at public and private school districts and post-secondary institutions from around the country, announced Anoka-Hennepin the winner of 10 awards for its 2016-17 communication work during the group’s annual conference in July.
The district earned a prestigious 2017 Golden Achievement Award, which recognizes exemplary work in all aspects of school public relations, communication, marketing, and engagement, for its Got Veggies poster and community outreach campaign to get more elementary kids to choose healthful foods at lunch, including vegetables.
The team also won an Award of Excellence in the 2017 publications and electronic media contest for a video series aimed at secondary students illustrating the trauma of bullying and what to do when students witness it or are victims, and drug use.
In addition, the team also earned awards of merit for its community e-newsletter, Backpack Online (subscribe now), the district’s 2016-17 back-to-school video, and four Anoka-Hennepin Community Education videos focused on the district’s Adventures Plus program:
- Working for Adventures Plus illustrates what it is like to work in the Adventures Plus school-age care program and is used in tackling recruitment efforts. Vacant positions were reduced by approximately 40 percent after staff used the video at job fairs, recruitment events and on social media page to accompany job postings.
- Three additional videos were produced to share how valuable the program is for our schools and our community. The program (Adventures Plus School-Age Care) is aligned with the K-12 academic curriculum and provides additional opportunities for students to learn and grow outside of the traditional school day. Two of the videos were created to illustrate how the summer programs ease the transition to kindergarten (Adventures Bound) or middle school (Peak Adventures) for the students moving into a new school in the upcoming school year.
The communication and public relations team also earned two awards of honorable mention. One was for the district’s Focus community newsletter, and the other for the district’s staff e-newsletter, In the Know.
The communication and public relations team:
Director Jim Skelly.
Assistant Director Kay Villella.
Communications Coordinator for Community Education Heather Peters.
Communication Specialist Courtney Markuson.
Communication Specialist Derrick Williams.
Communication Assistant Janet Kimmel.