Public Relations

NYS School Boards Association

TEACH THEM THE REAL STORY

Public education is facing a significant public image challenge in New York state, as it is all around the country. Not only is it being attacked, but there is increased public skepticism about public school systems, as well as school boards. To compound the problem, vouchers, charter schools and private educational systems are being touted as viable alternatives to public education.

The New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) believed there was a window of opportunity - before the issues became inflamed - to promote the value of public education and its school boards to the public, publicize what's right with public education in New York state, as well as to reinforce the fact that public education is an integral aspect of American democratic society.

PUT THEM ON THE ROAD

Because NYSSBA lacked the financial resources to conduct an effective statewide media campaign, Rueckert Advertising decided to implement a grassroots approach to get our important messages about public education out throughout New York state.

We chose to center the campaign around a "School Board Ambassador Program." The program involved empowering approximately 40 articulate, informed school board members with a range of communication tools and themes who, in turn, would fan out across the state to spread the message.

To prepare Ambassadors for upcoming public presentations and media interviews, we organized an intensive, two-day workshop in Albany, designed to help our Ambassadors hone both their public speaking and on-camera skills.

We also worked with NYSSBA to produce a dynamic, three-minute video, which could be used by Ambassadors to kick-off their presentations, and which would help them frame the issue in an emotional, exciting and powerful way. Segments of the video could also be used at a later stage for public service announcements.

PROGRAM EARNS A+ GRADE

To date, ambassadors have addressed nearly 420 civic groups and have been interviewed by the media more than 850 times. The NYSSBA Ambassadors Program has also been emulated in six other states.

Read the article from On Board Online, an internet publication produced by the NYS School Boards Association. (View PDF)