School district receives three national communications awards
Talisa L. Dixon, superintendent, with communications team members Joy Henderson, Angee Shaker, Camilla Ziss and Cynthia Barnes Booker, and Ron Register, BOE president.
In June, the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) recognized the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District for excellence in communications. The district received the highest Award of Excellence for its website, an Award of Merit for its Update print newsletter, and an Honorable Mention for its weekly electronic newsletter. At its Sept. 2 meeting, the CH-UH Board of Education (BOE) recognized the communications team for its achievement.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my communications team. We are extremely grateful for this recognition,” stated Angee Shaker, director of communications. “The tools we use to communicate are evolving and the amount of information we need to communicate continues to increase while our budget continues to tighten. The demand on the department is high but we do our best to not only keep up, but lead with the latest communication tools, populate them and train and empower our school teams to do the same.”
The district launched a new website on Monday, Sept. 8. “Our current website has served our district really well for over four years and has won two national awards,” said Shaker. “Design does matter, but the real draw is the stories and photos we share about our dynamic students and dedicated staff. The new website will be faster, brighter and have even more functionality for the user.”
“Our website is a vital communication tool for us,” Shaker noted. “It takes a strong commitment from many members of our staff throughout the District to keep it up to date. It’s the go-to place for immediate information and forms.”
The district’s weekly e-newsletter is e-mailed to all parents, staff, and any community residents, family members and alumni who sign up for it.
The district’s print newsletter, Update, is a quarterly publication that is mailed to all Cleveland Heights and University Heights residents. “Update is not only a way to keep our school families informed, but also a method to get our message out to the entire community,” stated Shaker.
Achievement awards from NSPRA recognize exemplary school public relations plans, marketing materials, websites, videos, print newsletters, special purpose publications, photography, writing pieces and e-newsletters. The competition is open to all education-related organizations throughout the United States. There were 725 entries in this year’s contest.
Cynthia Barnes
Cynthia Barnes is the public relations liaison in the communications and community engagement department at Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District.