Learn How to "Think Like A Patron"

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what your school district patrons are really thinking – and why – this is the session for you. Real-life examples drawn from research with patrons of school districts of all shapes and sizes will provide you with a road map to more effective communication. You will learn what 20 years of patron research tells us about the topics that school districts should be talking about with their patrons if they want to build great district/patron relationships. Three communication categories will be addressed – Essential, Important, and As Needed – and you’ll receive specific, research-based recommendations you can put to use right away. Discover how to align topics with your patrons’ interests so their eyes don’t glaze over and build great district/patron relationships as a result. Your presenter is the author of Think Like a Patron (Without Losing Your Mind) and a co-founder of Americans for Public Education, a non-profit organization that champions what’s right about public schools.

  
Presenter: Ken DeSieghardt, CEO/partner,
Patron Insight, Inc.
Stilwell, Kan.

Community Engagement – Lasting Change Built on "Partnership"

Successful community engagement is built on getting the right people to the table and engaging them in creating support structures around kids and school staff, even in the midst of deep budget cuts. This Action Lab will explain how the framework of Joplin Schools’ successful Bright Futures program was developed and how other districts and communities implementing their model have experienced profound change. You’ll discover how to bring business, social/human services, and faith-based sectors of the community together to create a culture where kids can learn and education is valued. You’ll learn how to: evaluate your needs and resources; get key people on board to carry the message; gain buy-in and educate the public to real needs; and determine ROI, reevaluate and refine your program. You’ll have an opportunity to interact and discuss best practices and marketing, and receive a sample implementation plan/timeline to help you start a successful program in your district.

         
Presenters: C.J. Huff, Ed.D., superintendent; and Kim Vann, director, community development, Joplin (Mo.) Schools; Tony Rosetti, Ed.D., superintendent, Webb City (Mo.) R-VII School District; and Jill Filer, director of communications, Harrisonville (Mo.) Schools

10,000 Hours: Gaining Mastery as a School Communicator

It takes 10,000 hours of skill-building, experience, and practice to truly master something. After 10 years in school PR you’ve put in about 30,000 hours. Have you spent them wisely or on chores that cause repetitive stress and “carpal tunnel vision” in your career? Whether you’re just starting out or hitting your career stride, this invigorating workshop offers techniques to achieve mastery as a school communicator while juggling the demands of systemic, situational and strategic communication. This Action Lab is aimed at professionals wanting to successfully get over the mid-career hump. It also helps new professionals create a career development plan and pathway to mastery in their job. In breakout work, participants will audit their own areas of expertise and match those to their time allocations. Success is habit forming; are your career habits helping you succeed?

          
Presenter: Tom DeLapp, president,
Communication Resources for Schools
Rocklin, Calif.  

Effectively Communicating School Security and Crisis Safety Issues in a World on Digital Media Steroids

Do your school administrators duck and cover when they see a reporter coming? What would you do with dozens or hundreds of reporters, cameras, and TV news trucks in front of your school? Facebook threats, bomb threats sent through international proxy servers, rampant text messages of a rumored school shooting, parental safety anxiety following high-profile school shootings, and the politicizing of school safety are creating major communications challenges for school administrators and communication leaders. This session will help you prepare by providing practical messaging and management insights. Gain an understanding of what parents want to hear and what reporters are thinking when they come to your schools for answers. Find out how to manage the messages as well as the politics of school safety. Learn from a leading school security expert who provided on-site live analysis and commentary for numerous network news shows and media outlets during recent high-profile school shootings, including Sandy Hook Elementary School.

        
Presenter: Ken Trump, M.P.A., president
National School Safety and Security Services
Cleveland, Ohio

Public Participation: Theory, Practice and a Model for Capacity Building 

School administrators typically use experts to address complex problems, leaving “non-expert” citizens out of the process, breeding disengagement, distrust, questionable solutions, and negative media. This Special Session focuses on the theory of public deliberation and presents a new model for systematically raising the capacity for parent engagement, building public trust, and preparing citizens to advocate for their school district. The session will include: an interactive software demonstration and hands-on experience with a participant survey; active research data; small group discussion; and a Q&A panel with the presentation team. You’ll leave with a solid overview and understanding of public deliberations theory and a model for building public participation capacity in your district.

       
Presenters: John Poynton, Ph.D., executive director, organizational development & communications, and Don Haddad, Ph.D., superintendent, St. Vrain Valley Schools,
Longmont, Colo.; Laura McDonald, parent and president, Grassroots St. Vrain,
Niwot, Colo.; and Martin Carcasson, Ph.D., director, Center for Public Deliberation,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo

Rookie Round-Up: Sharing Lessons and Getting Started on the Right Foot

Now that you’ve landed the job you wanted in school PR and communications, are you feeling a bit overwhelmed with the scope of work you face? Getting started in the world of school PR can seem like a monumental task at first, and after seeing what your colleagues in other districts are doing, it’s easy to feel inadequate and overwhelmed. Well, not to worry, we’ve all been there and if you’re in need of a little help and encouragement, this is the session for you! This Special Session is designed to help you lay a solid foundation and get off to positive start. You’ll learn from and interact with NSPRA colleagues who were in your shoes not too long ago and have gathered to help you by sharing their lessons learned as school PR rookies. The session will focus on 10-12 main areas and strategies that you can use to get your program up and running fast. There will be lots of discussion and Q & A time to address your most pressing challenges and needs. This is peer-learning at its best and you’ll leave feeling confident that you have the skills to shine on the job!.

    
Presenters: Zac Rantz, director, communications, Nixa (Mo.) Public Schools; Lana Snodgras, communications/community relations director, West Plains (Mo.) Schools; and Dan Sherman,coordinator, communications, Questar III BOCES, Castleton, N.Y.

Making Public Education – and Personal Leadership – Matter in a Kim Kardashian World

In this provocative Special Session, you’ll discover how to be an education leader who makes a genuine, authentic impact in a world dominated by the false and insincere. From the power of the story, to the art of humility, you will learn how to become the anti-Kardashian. Learn about key strategies for breaking through the clutter and delivering key messages, both internally and externally, gain an awareness of new vs. old techniques and tools, understand the role of social media as integral to PR, and find out what will make an impact on a hard-to-reach public. You won’t garner huge TV ratings, but you will be able to deliver the message of public education – and have it heard and remembered!

    
Presenter: Brian Woodland, APR, director,
communication & community relations,
Peel District School Board,
Mississauga, On., Can.

Helping School Leadership Lead in Tough Times

Helping leaders be leaders when facing difficult challenges is among the most important work communicators do. As trusted strategic advisors, communicators are the ones to help leaders deal with angry and agitated constituencies, conflict and contention within their organizations, overzealous, competitive public officials, and organized opposition. And these are the easy ones! In this session you will learn the power and importance of the seven disciplines of the trusted, strategic advisor. Constructive, helpful strategies for guiding leaders dealing with tough issues will be discussed and illustrated by one of the foremost PR practitioners of our time, who advises, coaches and counsels corporate executives worldwide. You will learn from a master how to have a more interesting, powerful, influential and successful career working on the toughest challenges communicators can face.

 
Presenter: James E. Lukaszewski, APR, ABC, president,
Lukaszewski Group
Division, Risdall Public Relations,
New Brighton, Minn.  

The Hub of a Community: School District Roles in Community Tragedies

How would you respond to a tragedy in your community? School districts plan for school disasters, but what is your role in a community tragedy? Leaders from three Colorado urban and suburban districts will share experiences and lessons learned in the aftermath of devastating wildfires and a tragic theater shooting that impacted their communities. In this Action Lab, participants will work in small groups on a variety of community tragedy scenarios and assess responses. You will learn how critical schools and districts are when community tragedies occur, how to partner with community leaders in times of crisis, how responses differ from school-related tragedies, and mistakes to avoid when supporting the community, students and staff. You’ll also receive a sample district disaster recovery plan and incident response protocol and a checklist of questions to consider when responding to a community tragedy.

       
Presenters: Georgia Durán, chief communication officer, Aurora (Colo.) Public Schools; Devra Ashby, APR, public information officer, Colorado Springs (Colo.) School District; and Danielle Clark, director of communications, Poudre School District, Fort Collins, Colo.

Gold Mine Session

Long a favorite session of Seminar participants, the Gold Mine roundtables let you gather a treasure-trove of best practice ideas on a variety of topics to try in your district. Here’s your chance to attend four mini-sessions of 20 minutes each (Seminar session speed dating!). Plus, you’ll receive a resource CD containing tip sheets from all the roundtables at the end of the session. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to capture the best ideas from your colleagues in a time-saving format. 

BACK TO TOP OF PAGE