Brand journalism — new approach tells an old story

Brand journalism is the latest buzz in the public relations industry — and school districts and boards of education are rich with more resources to “mine” than almost anyone. What is brand journalism? Simply put, it’s content (or stories) written by a company about its products or services.

This is a no-brainer for school boards and staff, so don’t worry about having to institute a new approach to your PR program that involves money and people. Adjust your approach to work the art of storytelling into your communication plan. If you don’t have a formal plan, focus on telling great stories about students, staff and programs, knowing that your audience wants to see how well your students are learning and how wisely and creatively you spend their tax dollars.

Every day, your district brims with amazing stories; you just have to switch your PR gears to listen. Tell stories at your school board meetings, in your newsletters and blogs, through social media and on your website. School board members should have at least two or three quick stories they can share when chatting with community members.

Where are the stories?

Where do stories come from? Telling stories about district and school activities is not new for most districts, but thinking about board reports and newsletter articles as stories may be.

You may already have a storytelling plan in place if you salute successful students, staff or programs at board meetings. Just don’t let it die there and don’t worry about finding amazing big stories.

Stories are best if they’re your own — something you’ve seen or experienced. When visiting a school, keep your eyes and ears open for touching moments. For example, “I visited a kindergarten classroom the other day, and a little girl sent me the sweetest poem. I was so touched by it — it’s why I love serving on this board.” Or, “I talked with our oldest volunteer and learned why she reads to children every day.”

Walk into a school or classroom (with permission and advance notice to the teacher) and you’ll find amazing things kids are doing. When you talk to administrators or teachers, ask them for story ideas. To protect student confidentiality in sensitive, inspiring stories, don’t use names.

Think like a reporter

Reporters are always looking for something new, a situation that stands out, because it’s unusual, funny or even sad. Good stories involve people winning or losing, like kids learning something in math that leads to joining a robotics club and winning a state title. It doesn’t have to just be about getting better test scores. Or, a teacher that ends a long day grateful that a struggling student actually came back to “just talk” so he or she could help the student build confidence. Or, the after-school program you lost through budget cuts. Maybe that story is about reaching out to community partners because you’re worried about at-risk kids needing healthy activities when their parents aren’t home.

Connect your stories to your messages

Here’s a classic example: Superintendents can turn the “I can’t believe the year is almost over and we’re nearing budget season” message into “When I visited with our high school principal last week, you wouldn’t believe what I saw the students doing ...” Amazing things don’t happen every day, but you get the idea: focus on relating a story about what’s happening in school.

Don’t just talk about your facilities, test scores, tight resources or budget numbers. You can still do that, but engage your audience first. The human brain is wired to remember stories that touch them emotionally, and brand journalism also is about building trust.

Get your audience to listen first. They will be more likely to be interested in your key messages and mission statement later. Also, they’re more likely to trust those messages if you touch their hearts.

Amplify all of your stories through your traditional communication channels. Stories are perfect fodder for blogs and speeches.

A more effective way to reach your audiences

Brand journalism is storytelling that helps build trust and credibility. Top PR companies are increasingly using this approach over traditional public relations tactics to connect with audiences.

Remember the last Super Bowl commercials? The ads centered on stories, not on touting the benefits of a product. Many companies have online newsrooms or blogs. See The Network by Cisco Systems Inc. (http://newsroom.cisco.com/home), Merck & Co. (www.mercknewsroom.com), Boeing Co. (www.boeingblogs.com/randy) and Red Bull (www.redbullstratos.com). Companies are producing a range of content to build and engage their audiences.

Don’t take this the wrong way: people care less about you and more about what people are doing in your school district. The good news is that they care about the things you care about, too: kids who will grow up to succeed, which is why you joined the school board in the first place, right?

So tell them what they want to hear.

Contributed by Shannon Priem, communications consultant

Dealing with irate parents and difficult patrons

We all have to deal with angry people and difficult situations at one time or another. The best approach is prevention. Do what you can to keep people from getting upset in the first place.

Sometimes, however, you don’t have that option. You are in the right place at the right time to be on the receiving end of someone’s built-up anger. You may represent your department on a day when things go terribly wrong or you genuinely made a mistake that people are angry about. It happens.

When it’s not possible to prevent people from getting angry, the best thing you can do is learn how to defuse them effectively.

Safety first

Raising one’s voice, gesturing wildly and making abusive comments does not necessarily mean that the situation is going to become violent, but you should understand that a person exhibiting those characteristics has already lost some form of control. The safety of you and the people around you needs to be foremost in your mind.

Glenn Krause, a high school counselor near Chicago, is accustomed to dealing with angry parents. He said, “If they become irate, I simply tell them, ‘If you continue this type of behavior and language, this meeting will end.’” Krause says it is up to you to follow the guidelines you have set and end the meeting if they can’t behave appropriately. “If they refuse to leave, then call your school security,” he advises.

Sometimes logic — plus a healthy dose of listening — works wonders

Pamela Redd, a principal in the Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston, said, “I let them vent, respectfully. And I listen.” Redd has found that, in most cases, parents can calm down when she is fair and people know where the boundaries are. “In the rare cases that they don’t, they know that I will not even address their concerns until they are calm and reasonable.”

Dr. Patricia Clarkson, a former high school principal and current CEO of Stachlen LLC in Carrizo Springs, Texas, said her approach depends on why parents are irate in the first place. “One thing that often worked for me was listening to them and acknowledging their concern. Before I start to seek a solution, I ask them what they want the outcome of this problem to be. Then I spend time working with them to find a solution,” she said.

If your irate school board member or angry parent can be calmed down enough to discuss ways to resolve their problem, you are in a good place to continue the discussion. Sometimes, however, the anger seems to have no end, and then you have to start looking at the less logical reasons.

Anger is a symptom

Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Nadia Persun points out that most angry people are suffering from a core issue of feeling that their needs are not being met or respected. These are the feelings behind the obnoxious behavior, shouting and gesturing. “Most likely they are trying to tell you that they are feeling hurt, ignored, disrespected, unappreciated and unloved,” Persun said (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/48837).

Neill Gibson, author of What’s Making You Angry, suggests that it is important not to take anger personally because their anger is never about you. “This can be challenging, but you can start learning how to avoid taking things personally by understanding this: Everything people do or say comes from a desire to meet their needs or support something they value. For example, an angry person may need consideration or value responsibility. And they are doing the best they can to express their needs and values.”

Give out an imaginary cupcake

After you recognize that the angry parent or colleague in front of you has some core feelings that are not being respected, Persun has a silly-sounding suggestion with some good psychology behind it. She suggests giving out an “imaginary cupcake” to soothe your angry colleague.

“Cupcakes are sweet, peaceful, calming and smile- inducing,” she explains. “Raging people often are in dire need of an imaginary cupcake. A big part of their anger is driven by their belief or feeling that they never get any or someone stole or damaged their cupcakes,” Persun said. “So, generously give them one or even a couple, even when they seem to be undeserving of any sweetness.”

Persun suggests that listening and responding to the angry person’s unmet needs calmly and emphatically can serve as the key to getting more cooperation from emotionally agitated people. She suggests saying, “I think I understand what is going on here, but feel free to correct me, my friend” and so on. Then offer some reflective listening, validating their concerns to an extent,” she said. Even if you do not agree with their point of view, you can usually find a way to agree with them in theory without assigning any blame or offering any argument.

What about when you’ve used up all the cupcakes?

Sometimes, despite using all of the above techniques, your colleague or parent still remains upset. What do you do then? Fortunately, beyond a certain point, anger isn’t your problem — it’s theirs.

After you have done your best to actively solve the problem, taken responsibility for mistakes you or your department made and/or put in place methods to prevent the problem from occurring in the future, their emotions are beyond your control.

Clarkson has her own technique for dealing with an angry person who simply refuses to be soothed or helped. She says, “That’s when I have a cup of tea and move forward.”

Contributed by Megan J. Wilson, freelance writer and communications consultant

Radio isn’t dead — don’t forget this important communication tool

Have you ever known someone who dropped their old friends to hang out with a flashy new friend only to regret it later? School districts may be doing that with radio. In the rush to keep up the district website, Twitter feed and Facebook page, many districts miss one of the best ways to send positive messages to targeted audiences.

Nielsen ratings reveal that people are listening to the radio — a lot. Ninety percent of Americans listen to the radio every week. The biggest age group is 45-54, although all adult age groups are represented. African- Americans and Latinos are the biggest consumers of AM/ FM radio.

Evidently, not everyone is constantly using social media or they have radio playing in the background while they post and tweet.

Mature people listen to a lot of radio, and they vote at higher rates than younger people, who are savvier about social media. Younger people still listen to the radio when driving their cars, working and just hanging out with friends.

Each station can tell you who their listeners are so you can target your messages to the right audiences. Older music and talk shows draw older listeners — and they vote. Newer music draws students and young parents who need to know a different type of information than the older voter. Spanish language stations are one of the best ways to reach Latino parents and citizens. These are all important audiences, and radio helps you tailor messages for them.

PSAs

A public service announcement (PSA) is one place where public schools have an advantage over businesses in getting their messages out on radio. Stations have an obligation and desire to help the community by changing how we think about social issues. Public schools provide a public service, so many stations will help them via free advertising on issues of societal importance.

Consult your local stations to see if and how they do PSAs. Every station has a slightly different approach. It is an announcement, not a story. But what you announce tells the audience what you care about.

The best PSA is short, clear and appeals to emotions. Student health issues, volunteer opportunities and public meetings are all good candidates for public service announcements.

A simple PSA could be, “It’s hard to learn when you’re hungry. This radio station and School District X ask you to help a hungry child by donating canned food at your local school anytime in April. Orange food barrels will be outside the front door at each school between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. every school day this month. Please take five minutes to make a donation and a difference.”

News

Radio newscasts are among the shortest and most localized reports available. Larger news stations take more time with the news, but smaller stations often limit the news segment to two or three items due to lack of reporting staff at most small stations. If you supply your local stations with short, easy-to-use local copy, they benefit as much as you do.

The best way to start is by calling the news director at your local station and asking how he or she would like to get news tips or stories. Stations looking for local news will be happy to work with you. The easiest product for the small station is the ready-made news story with sound bites. Your local station may appreciate an email with a script and sound bites as an attached file. The radio personality can record the script in his or her own voice and plug in the sound bites from the superintendent, students or teachers that you supply. This allows the district to push messages to the audience and it gives the station an easy news story.

Other stations want good, old-fashioned press releases. Press releases are fine as long as you are committed to setting up a phone interview with the right person to answer questions and provide interesting quotes. It is wonderful when radio reporters come to school but, in reality, they rarely have the time. They need the basic facts in the press release — email is fine — followed with a quick phone interview.

Talk shows

National talk shows may be shouting matches, but local talk radio is often more civil and informative. Before asking to be a guest, the first step is to listen. Is the host respectful? Do they allow caller questions? Are they interested in discourse or verbal jousting? If a show has a good reputation and you have listened enough to know, give them a call and offer to be a guest or set up your superintendent to be a guest.

Offer a specific topic or several topics rather than expecting the host to come up with the ideas. In most interviews, the district spokesperson or superintendent is not going to talk about themselves; they are going to talk about district operations, goals and progress on improved outcomes for students. Supply the host with background information and suggested questions. The host may choose not to use your questions, but most of the time he or she will use them so you will be comfortable. And by supplying a list of questions ahead of time, you help the host save time researching and developing questions.

Offer to do a regular monthly appearance or to supply someone from your district. Identify the guest when you define the topic. Ideas are as simple as the issues on your board meeting agenda each month, or the key topics on your school calendar, such as what’s new for back-to-school or graduation.

Your first experience should be a simple talk segment with no callers. As you or your superintendent become more comfortable, you could try a segment with a few callers. The best approach is to add call-in questions later. Dealing with angry questions and comments on the radio is a skill that takes time to develop.

As your relationship with the station evolves into a high level of trust, you can expand your guest list to include district employees with less media experience. Real people who are closer to the work are the best guests. But they need a little coaching about staying on topic and dealing with off-topic questions politely.

Give radio a try

Video did not kill radio and neither did the Internet or social media. Radio is still one of your oldest and dearest friends as a PR person. Don’t forget radio for sending out positive messages to targeted audiences.

Contributed by Jay Remy, communications director, Salem- Keizer Public Schools, Salem, Ore.

Safety communications — communicating with parents before, during and after a crisis

A parent’s worst nightmare is something terrible happening to their child, especially when the situation is out of their control. A school district crisis can send parents into panic mode. To minimize anxiety during a school crisis, the district must make efforts ahead of time to inform parents of school building and district safety plans. During the crisis, the district must provide consistent communication during the incident.

After the incident has been resolved, parents want to know how a district learns from an incident, so follow-up also is important after a crisis ends.

Before a crisis

Preparation is the key to preventing mass hysteria when a crisis occurs. We prepare students and staff fora crisis by holding drills and practicing procedures so the actions are familiar — not scary — when an incident actually occurs. The same holds true for parents.

Informing parents ahead of time about the district’s safety and emergency procedures and how they will receive communication during an incident will assure parents that the district is in control and has the safety of their children as a priority.

Each year, the district should plan to remind parents of policies, procedures and plans related to school crisis events. This information can be sent home with registration information and housed on the district’s website. The link and a reminder should be included in regular communications to parents.

Include information about safety on the district website. A district’s website can link parents to policies, explain procedures and outline the steps that will likely occur in a crisis at a school. Information about the district’s safe schools committee and its meetings also can be linked here.

Be sure to have an easily accessible and visible link to emergency procedures during an emergency. A great example of this is on the Pendleton School District website, www.pendleton.k12.or.us. There is a School Safety button at the top of the page that includes an “In case of emergency” link for parents to click on during a crisis. This information outlines exactly what will happen in a variety of situations.

Post procedures in schools and buildings. Make sure emergency plans are visible in classrooms and offices. When parents visit the school, they can easily see that plans are in place.

Tell parents how you plan to communicate with them during a crisis. Will it be through email? Automated phone notifications? Information on the website and Facebook or Twitter? Make a plan and inform parents so they know where to look when a crisis occurs — it could reduce the number of parents driving directly to the school to figure out what’s going on. Assure parents the district plans to keep them updated throughout an incident.

Your district may consider involving parents in safety planning efforts, such as sitting on the safe schools committee. This will show parents they have a voice in the process and that the district wants collaborative efforts along the way.

During a crisis

When a crisis occurs, keeping parents up to speed is critical. Remember, the safety of their children is in your hands and out of their control. Constant communication reassures them of their children’s safety and makes them less likely to contribute to the chaos at the school.

Use an automated parent notification system to send out a mass communication to parents quickly. Many of these systems allow districts to simultaneously send an email, text message and phone call. In addition, post the information to your district website home page and social media pages. If you have a mobile app, send out a push notification with details.

Once you have additional or updated information that can be released, make sure to update all of these communication portals. Use local media to help get the information out as well. Media, especially radio and television, can easily be allies in these situations; use them.

Forward the school phones to a central call center. Many parents (and nosy neighbors) will try to call the school and/or the district office during a crisis to find out information. This can tie up phone lines and burden staff. In addition, school staff likely won’t be able to answer phones during an emergency. Streamline the process by having all of that school’s phone lines temporarily rerouted to the district office. Then, staff several phones at the district office with staff members who have the latest information and a scripted response to provide to callers. If possible, have three or four staff members ready to help out in this situation so that all calls are answered quickly.

After a crisis

Plan a debrief meeting to discuss what went right and what went wrong. Once a crisis has been resolved and the dust has settled, it’s time for the district to debrief and determine the lessons learned and what might change in the safety plan for the next potential crisis, hoping, of course, that there isn’t another crisis.

Parents should be told that the district has done this due diligence follow-up work. This is particularly important if response to a crisis didn’t go as planned or as well as district staff would have hoped. Parents will want to know what the district is doing to remedy the situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

While we all hope we never have to deal with a crisis situation in our schools, we need to be prepared. Be proactive, involve parents and keep them informed for a smoother, less frantic process.

Contributed by Casey White-Zollman, vice president public relations, Blue Mountain Community College, Pendleton, Ore.

What does Common Core mean for schools?

If you want to start a hot debate, just mention Common Core. Although 45 states are in the process of implementing these new, more rigorous education standards, many people still have concerns. Much of the confusion stems from a lack of understanding about just what the Common Core State Standards are and what they are intended to accomplish.

The new standards outline common expectations for K-12 schools across the country. For decades, states have had wildly varying standards in reading and math. Experts contend that most set the bar too low. With Common Core, the goal is to hold students to the same set of rigorous standards, no matter which state they live in.

Another focus will be on teaching critical thinking skills that better prepare students for college and career. For example, students will be asked to read more nonfiction than fiction. They need to explain math problems rather than simply memorizing formulas.

The new standards are not the only new system for measuring how well students perform. New tests are place starting this school year. Besides measuring student performance, the new tests provide benchmarks that make it easier to compare how students are doing from state to state.

The more people know about the new systems, the less discomfort they will feel about them. As you talk about Common Core with different audiences, here are some key points to remember about the new standards.

School boards

• The standards let school boards continue to provide a local voice in district decisions.
  Common Core is not a curriculum. It is a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills that will help students succeed. States and local school districts will drive implementation of the Common Core. Local teachers, principals, superintendents and others will decide how the standards will be met.
• The standards build on what is working.
  Common Core is not just “one more thing” for districts to do. It builds on practices and programs that are already effectively implemented in many districts, like proficiency-based teaching and learning, response to intervention and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.
• The standards provide consistency across the country.
  Common standards mean that all students in Common Core states are learning the same content and skills. This places everyone on an even playing field and eases transitions among states.
• The standards increase collaboration.
  A benefit of the common standards is that states will be able to work together to develop textbooks, teaching materials, assessment systems and other tools to support schools and educators.

Teachers

• The standards provide consistency.
  Since the standards are consistent from school to school and state to state, teachers will have an easier adjustment if they transfer from one subject area to another. They will be assured that the learning expectations and process will be similar.
• The standards increase expectations.
  These new standards will make teachers think differently about the way they teach. Expectations are higher. It will require a shift in how and when some content is taught.
• The standards build on what works.
  Don’t think of it as adding a new responsibility or more work. The standards are supported by best practices and programs already in schools, with a special focus on student engagement.
• The standards offer more support.
  Because the Common Core has been adopted across the U.S., national organizations and individual teachers have already begun designing lessons, curriculum units and materials that teachers can use free of charge.

For parents

• The standards are the same wherever you go.
  Common standards mean that students are learning the same thing across the country. Students moving into or out of a state will have a smoother educational transition because the learning goals will now be the same.
• The standards are modeled on success.
  The Common Core are aligned to international standards from the highest achieving countries. This means students will be well prepared to compete both nationally and internationally.
• The standards emphasize real life.
  What students learn in school should be directly related to what they’ll be required to do once they leave. The Common Core places a strong emphasis on reading informational and technical texts to prepare students for the demands of college and the workplace.
• The standards are designed to prepare students for college.
  College should not begin with remediation. Too many students entering universities and community colleges require remedial classes in English and math. The Common Core standards are designed to make that a problem of the past by fully preparing students for college-level course work.

For community

• The standards focus on 21st century skills for 21st century jobs.
  The Common Core are designed to prepare students to compete in and contribute to the 21st century, global economy. These standards will help produce graduates ready for today’s — and tomorrow’s — jobs.

Global competitiveness

• The standards are aligned with global standards.
  The Common Core are aligned to international standards from the highest achieving countries. This means students will be well prepared to compete both nationally and internationally.
• The standards focus on real world skills.
  What students learn in school should be directly related to what they’ll be required to do once they leave school. The Common Core State Standards emphasize reading informational and technical texts to prepare students for the demands of college and the workplace.

For students

• The standards even the playing field.
  Common standards mean that students are learning the same content and skills as students from around the U.S. This places everyone on an even playing field and eases transitions between states.
• The standards emphasize math skills.
  Basic math is not enough. The Common Core for math emphasize conceptual understanding, not just computation, to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed as they move through school.
• The standards emphasize reading and writing.
  English class is not the only place students need to read and write. The Common Core includes standards for reading and writing in social studies, science and technical subjects designed to help students apply and develop reading and writing skills in all of their classes.

Learning is a lifelong skill. It is very likely that students will change careers more than once after they leave high school. The Common Core provides the knowledge and skills needed to take advantage of a wide range of career opportunities in the rapidly changing 21st century workplace.

Resources:

• “How the National PTA Supports the Common Core State Standards,” http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/50308
• “The Complete Common Core State Standards,” www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards
• “Myths vs. Facts About Common Core State Standards,” http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/76831

Contributed by Connie Potter, chief of staff, Forest Grove School District, Forest Grove, Ore.