2007- 2008 Blue Ribbon and Distinguished Chapter Awards

These chapters have done an outstanding job of enhancing the role of school public relations professionals while providing professional development activities for members as well as education leaders. It takes leadership, time, energy and commitment to become an NSPRA Blue Ribbon Chapter and we are very proud of the dedicated efforts of these exceptional chapters this year.

Blue Ribbon All-Stars: Arizona and Kansas

Since the first Blue Ribbon Awards were given out in 1978, Arizona (ASPRA) and Kansas (KanSPRA) have always been on the list of award-winning chapters. Even during tough times, these two chapters managed to put together Blue Ribbon years worthy of recognition. They have made extremely effective use of the Blue Ribbon formula as a tool to plan and execute their chapter programs and activities each year, and as a result have stepped into NSPRA history as our Blue Ribbon All-Stars. Pictured L-R: Lynn Strang (ASPRA) and Carol Pitts (KanSPRA)

Distinguished Year-Round Program Award - Michigan (MSPRA)

Over the past decade, MSPRA has continued to build their chapter program and advocacy efforts, creating strong collaborative alliances with other Michigan groups, providing professional development and resources for members and state educators. What truly distinguishes MSPRA is not the number of projects and activities undertaken, but the consistent quality and thoughtful planning that has gone into the development and execution of each project, program or activity.

Some of the notable MSPRA activities this year include:

• Development of a “Tips, Tools & Techniques for Talking About the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth” toolkit and training sessions (which received an Honorable Mention for Distinguished Single Project).

• An annual two-day communications conference for educators.
• Collaborating with the Michigan Department of Education and the Center for Educational Performance and Information on a communication toolkit for schools to describe and discuss the state’s move to report “on-time” cohort graduation rates.
• Contributing a regular “Communications Corner” column for the Michigan Association of School Administrators bi-weekly publication, MASA Leader.
• Maintaining an active chapter web site and online mailing list for members.
• Providing members with a monthly MSPRA Memo e-newsletter and In the News, a daily summary of education news links from around the state.

Congratulations to MSPRA for an exceptional year and for continuing to advance support for public education in Michigan!

Distinguished Single Project Award -Wisconsin (WSPRA) for “School Safety and Crisis Communication Project”

This year, WSPRA undertook an impressive multi-faceted year-long series of activities focused on school safety and crisis communication. As part of this effort, WSPRA is now represented on the Wisconsin Committee for School Safety and Citizen Preparedness, which is comprised of seven state safety response and educational agencies as well as several school representatives. The project objectives were to:
• Create an awareness of the need to incorporate communication into crisis plans;
• Provide background on communicating in a crisis
• Provide guidelines and information for districts in dealing with the media;
• Create formats and examples for districts to use in a crisis; and
• Provide additional crisis communication resources.
The project targeted a variety of audiences and included several major components:
• Five statewide Safety Workshop presentations;
• A day-long WSPRA School Crisis Communication Workshop;
• Development of the WSPRA Crisis Communication Tool Kit;
• Development of a webcast sponsored by the Committee for School Safety and Citizen Preparedness and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction;
• Publishing a special edition of the WSPRAgram; and
• Publishing an article in Teaching Today, a newspaper for Wisconsin educators.

Congratulations to WSPRA on a truly impressive and valuable project that benefits Wisconsin schools!

Honorable Mention for Distinguished Year-Round Program

Wisconsin (WSPRA)

Truly the workhorse of chapters, WSPRA continues to add to their outstanding repertoire of achievements.This year the chapter has delivered an impressive array of programs for members as well as several collaborative projects, including:
• A School Safety and Crisis Communication project (this year’s Distinguished Single Project Award winner) which included the creation of a Crisis Communication Tool Kit.
• Participation in the Healthy Child and Child Nutrition project with the Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, and the Wisconsin Extension.
• Offering Image Builders or Breakers workshops regionally in collaboration with the Cooperative Education Service Agency
• Preparing a video on school public relations in cooperation with the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.
• A day and a half fall conference.
• Contributed the Practical PR column for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards monthly Wisconsin School News magazine and continued the chapter’s cultural diversity awareness effort via the “Equity Corner” column in the WSPRAgram.
Congratulations to WSPRA on another impressive year!

Honorable Mention for Distinguished Year-Round Program
North Carolina (NCSPRA)

NCSPRA consistently offers a broad spectrum of solid professional development activities and resources for members and proudly supports NSPRA and our mission. This year’s outstanding effort includes:
• The 12th Annual NCSPRA/SCNSPRA bi-state three-day fall conference for school PR professionals and administrators.
• A Newcomer’s Workshop for members new to school PR as well as an active Mentor Program.
• Quarterly update meetings with the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction.
• Co-sponsorship of Drive-in Workshops with the North Carolina Association of Community Educators and State Department of Public Instruction.
• Monthly Tip Sheets on the chapter web site along with a regular electronic newsletter for members.
• Updated and expanded the chapter web site, adding an online discussion/message board and forums.
Congratulations to NCSPRA on another fantastic year!

Honorable Mention for Distinguished Single Project Award

Michigan (MSPRA) for“Tips, Tools & Techniques for Talking About the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth”

In a collaborative effort with the Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, MSPRA developed a communication toolkit and training sessions for 50 Demonstration Project school sites across the state that piloted the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth (MiPHY), a new online survey that meets the self-assessment requirements schools must meet to receive Title IV Safe and Drug Free Schools money. The chapter was charged with helping the Demonstration Project sites plan for communicating about the impending first electronic release of the potentially controversial results of the survey of risky behaviors of 7th, 9th and 11th graders. MSPRA developed the toolkit and conducted “how to” training sessions to help the pilot districts engage in high-quality communication around the sensitive subject areas. The goal was to generate effective communication resulting in data that can be used and reported in a way to motivate communities to effectively address the needs of youth and improve educational success. Congratulations to MSPRA on a terrific project that will continue to make a difference in schools across Michigan!

Honorable Mention for Distinguished Single Project Award - Kentucky (KYSPRA) for “Hand Washing Video Programs”

This past fall, many schools across the country found themselves dealing with health concerns related to MRSA infections. Knowing that conscientious hand washing can prevent the spread of many types of illness, including MRSA, KYSPRA saw this as an important communication issue and produced a series of videos aimed at getting elementary, middle and high school students to understand the importance of washing their hands. With the help of the Kentucky Center for School Safety, KYSPRA distributed the “Handwashing 101” DVDs to every school district in Kentucky. They hope to eventually be able to make the DVDs available to districts outside the state. Congratulations to KYSPRA on a true public service effort that benefits schools and communities across the state!

Blue Ribbon Chapters for 2007 - 2008

• Arizona (ASPRA)
• California (CalSPRA)
• Colorado (COSPRA)
• Florida (SUNSPRA)
• Georgia (GSPRA)
• Illinois (INSPRA)
• Kansas (KanSPRA)
• Kentucky (KYSPRA)
• Michigan (MSPRA)
• Minnesota (MinnSPRA)
• Missouri (MoSPRA)
• New York (NYSPRA)
• North Carolina (NCSPRA)
• Oklahoma (OKSPRA)
• Pennsylvania (PenSPRA)
• South Carolina (SC/NSPRA)
• Texas (TSPRA)
• Washington (WSPRA)
• Wisconsin (WSPRA)

Photos available here.