Fremont County School District #215

PR Plan Whitney Wilson

Hi Im Whitney!
I am a senior at BYU Idaho studying Communications with an emphasis in public relations. I am proficient in: creating social media content for namely Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram, writing, marketing promotions, event planning, researching, designing informative materials such as: fliers, brochures, business cards, letterheads, posters, logos and surveys and presenting projects. I am member of PRSSA, a national society for Public Relations students and was a Consulting Leader for the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) at BYU-Idaho. I currently volunteer as a Marketing and PR Intern for the Standard Journal in Rexburg, Idaho and I am the Marketing Director for a non-profit organization, STAARC, located in Shelley, Idaho. Upon graduation I hope to continue in my profession of Public Relations through social media platforms and non-profit organizations.

Whitney Wilson 2014 Any use of the content of this document without the written consent of the copyright owner, Whitney Wilson, is prohibited.

Table of Contents Executive Summary................................. 4

Background............................................... 5 Situation Analysis.................................... 6 Goals and Objectives............................... 7 Target Audience....................................... 8 Key Messages........................................... 9 Research Methods.................................. 10 Strategies and Tactics....................... 11- 12 Communication Vehicles....................... 13 Time Chart............................................... 14 Budget...................................................... 15 Summary and Conclusion.................... 16 Appendix.......................................... 17- 23

Executive Summary
Fremont County School District #215 seeks the best education for students in the Upper Valley of Southeast Idaho. The Mission of Fremont County School District is: The system that chooses excellence through continuous improvement, is to ensure that all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to be contributing members of society by creating a system of real-life assessment, curriculum, and instruction; a safe and caring environment; and an active partnership that embraces the home, community, and school. 1 The School District also respects the vision of the Idaho State Department of Education in innovating a flexible education system that focuses on results, inspires all students and prepares them to be successful in meeting todays challenges and tomorrows opportunities.2 Fremont County strives to provide high quality education by assisting students personal needs and teaching educational excellence and instruction.

1. Parker, Gary. Educational Beliefs and Mission Statement. Fremont County School District #215. 22 May 2008. http://www.sd215.k12.id.us/School%20 Board/Section%20100%20The%20District-%20Its%20Mission/101.0%20 Educational%20Beliefs%20and%20Mission%20Statement.pdf 2. Vision, Mission and Goals. Idaho State Department of Education. http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/visionmissiongoals.htm

Background

Fremont County strives to provide high quality education by assisting students personal needs and teaching educational excellence and instruction. Fremont County School District 215 is one of the only counties in the state of Idaho with two high schools located within the county. Because there are two high schools in the county there is a huge rivalry between North Fremont and South Fremont. This rivalry tradition run deep into their history and causes many controversies between the two high schools. This is a challenge that Fremont County hopes to improve on in the near future. All of the seven schools however are doing exceptionally well in their overall school rankings. All seven schools have a four or five star-rating for statewide excellence in testing and participation. The schools demographics are mixed between mostly White/Caucasian and Latino/ Hispanic. Changes in education are continually happening and Fremont County is looking to expand towards an all digital platform starting with The South Fremont Junior/ High school next year. The County hopes to continue to expand this to more schools in the future. They also have considered their demographics with Spanish being the secondary language of some of their students, they have some elementary schools that have integrated a dual language system to help students learn in their native language while learning English. It is because of these advances that Fremont County wants parents and college students to learn more about what opportunities there are for children and student teaching.

Situation Analysis | SWOT

Strengths The South Fremont Junior High School will be implementing a digital platform within their school. Henrys Fork Elementary School has bilingual classes that allow students who speak mostly Spanish the opportunity to learn in Spanish and English. Weaknesses Not very many parents know about all the programs available to their children. Not very many college students know about student teaching opportunities in Fremont County. Not very many parents are volunteering to aid in classrooms. Opportunities Expansion of parental awareness of opportunities for their children within the education system. Expansion of college student awareness of student teaching opportunities in Fremont County. Inform the community about new developments in the school district that will be put into effect next school year. Threats Because of the high poverty rate, communication vehicles may not reach everyone in the County. It takes around 20 minutes to get to Fremont County from BYU-Idaho. This could be a barrier for college students. Many parents in the school district speak only Spanish, so materials and information would need to be provided in both English and Spanish languages. Asking for parents to take time from their day to volunteer in schools is hard with such a high poverty rate.

Goals and Objectives

The overall goals are to:

Increase parental awareness and understanding about different programs available to them in Fremont County by 10% within 3 months.

Increase the number of student teachers from local colleges by 5% within 3 months.

Increase the number of parent volunteers to aid in the classrooms by 1% within 3 months.

Target Audience
Meet Marissa
Primary Audience: Young Parents ages 30-45

Marissa is a 36-year-old single mother of two boys and one girl all under the age of eight. Marissa and her family have lived in Fremont country for 23 years. She is Hispanic. She works as a waitress for a local restaurant and makes about $28,500 a year. She will be registering her students for next year and wants to be informed about what services and learning opportunities are provided for her children in Fremont County.

Meet Ben

Secondary Audience: College Students ages 18-27

Ben is a 23-year-old senior who will be graduating with a degree in Math and Science education. He is looking for student teaching to fulfill his requirement of practicum hours and potentially gain employment upon graduation. Ben currently works as a Student Resources receptionist at BYUIdaho and was recently married last fall semester. He makes about $17,500 a year and wants to know about opportunities to teach in Fremont County.

Key Messages
The unique character of Fremont County School District makes it one of the greatest places to learn from. Fremont County provides quality education for every child. Students and Teachers are placed in a learning environment where quality education is achieved and interpersonal skills are acquired. Student teachers provide meaningful insights and bring new ideas to the teaching experience. This creates memories with their students that will last a lifetime.

Research Methods
Preliminary Research Remind101 In December 2013, a local BYU-Idaho Professor of Communications, conducted a survey that evaluated the use of Remind101 and the impact on learning experiences for students. The results showed a positive correlation of educational enhancement. Based on these survey results, the use of Remind101 would be an effective way to relay school/classroom updates or reminders to people. Further research would explore local opinions from teachers, students, administrators and parents on the use of Remind101. Marketing to College Students Mintel conducted a study about how college students spend their leisure time. The results showed that 84 percent of college students eat out, 80 percent hang out with their friends and 53 percent of play other sports or exercise. Additional research showed that 74 percent of students use social networking on a daily basis. These could be marketing tactics that could help increase student internships with Fremont County School District 215. Marketing to Parents In a 2011 Pew Research study about social media, it concluded that 65 percent of Online adults use social networking sites with women being the highest user. The highest social sites were listed as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. In a more recent study, by Mintel, it confirmed that eight out of ten women use social media sites to connect with family and friends. Additional Research Methods Different methods of research that will be examined during this PR plan will answer the following questions: 1. How to motive parents to volunteer? 2. What are other schools doing to increase their student teachers? 3. What are other schools doing to inform their bilingual community? 10

Strategies and Tactics

Strategies BYU-Idaho Internship/ Career Fairs and ISU Career Fairs Tactics Internship Fair Booth Fremont County School Information Brochure Internship description paper for college students Tri-fold informational display poster Mail or email a county newsletter each month that highlights different school accomplishments, reports, updates and other important dates for parents, teachers, administrators and students. Handouts that children can take home to parents that relays needed information. Remind101 is a way for students, teachers, administrators and parents to receive school/classroom updates or reminders through mobile texting. These texts could be shared periodically throughout the year. Facebook and Twitter will appeal to college-age students as well as young parents. Frequent posts will keep things current and keep parents attentive to those pages.

County Newsletters (One per month)

Informational Handouts to Parents Remind101

Social Media

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Strategies and Tactics

Strategies Updates on School Websites

Tactics Many Fremont County school websites could use a face-lift to make it more user-friendly. Some suggestions could be to provide an internship opportunity or higher out a designer to do it for the school district. Creating a basic template that could be used for every school would be ideal so that everyone is uniformed and to ensure that every website contains all of the same information. Classroom Blogs Blogs provide a new face to the classroom that parents dont often see. It helps parents get involved in the learning experiences of their children. Teachers, teacher aids, student teachers, or parent volunteers can help with posts. Frequent updates will keep things current and keep parents attentive to classroom blogs. What can you do in 20 Minutes? This video will show students YouTube Video that in 20 minutes they can do a lot of things, but they can also influence the life of a child by student teaching. This could be shown at college Internship/ Career fairs to entice students to participate in these programs.

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Communication Vehicles
Through the use of print materials, the target market will be reached. Brochures, fliers, and handouts will provide students and parents the proper information that they are looking for. Mobile use is the way of the future. Through the technology of Remind101 students, teachers, administrators, and parents can communication in new ways then ever before. Remind101 is a texting program that allows communication with a special safety feature where teachers never see students/parents phone numbers, nor do students/parents see teachers phone numbers. Mail is another form of communication that is currently being used. Mailers to parents of students is a way for children to get updates on current events and campus happenings. Social media is a new revolution way to communicate with a large group of people through an Online platform. Through the use of social pages, such as Facebook and Twitter, students and teachers will be able to connect with their students and their parents on a more personal basis. Blogs are another great way to connect and help parents see what is happening in individual classrooms. Online Forums allow teachers to communicate with teachers or other administrators or staff and also allows parents to share their community input about school board decisions that may or may not be in the best interest of the student, teacher or parent.

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Time Chart
Strategies BYU-Idaho Internship/ Career Fairs and ISU Career Fairs Time chart March 20, 2014 Internship Fair at BYU-Idaho March 26, 2014 ISU Spring Career Fair April 2, 2014 Education Career Fair at ISU County Newsletters Fourth Monday of every month (One per month) mail out newsletters for the upcoming month Informational Handouts to Handed out periodically or in Parents coordination with activities Remind101 Sent out periodically or in coordination with events Social Media Posted periodically or in coordination with activities or other events Updates on School Websites April 2014 Internship opportunity for BYU-Idaho web design student Fall 2014 Internship opportunity for ISU web design student Or hire a professional web designer during Summer 2014 or 2015 Classroom Blogs Posted periodically or in coordination with activities or other events What can you do in 20 Minutes? Video production intern creates the YouTube Video video Fall 2014 Post on YouTube for Fall Internship or career fairs

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Budget
Item Internship/Career Fairs Table Reservation Content Creation Tri-fold Brochure Internship description paper Tri-fold display poster County Newsletters Content Creation Mail Email $Estimated cost $50 per table per time $10 an hour $250 for 100 brochures $1.20 for 30 sheets $20 for display poster Actual Cost Charge Number(s) Unit Number(s)

$10 an hour or integrate into faculty and staff pay $625 for 500 newsletters $0 for Emails $50 for 2,500 half-sheets $10 an hour $10 an hour or integrate into faculty and staff pay $10 an hour or integrate into faculty and staff pay $10 an hour Hire: $599 to $1,500 Volunteer Intern: $0 + a $50 thank you gift card $10 an hour or integrate into faculty and staff pay $10 an hour $300 per min of video Hire: $300-$500 Volunteer Intern: $0 + a $50 thank you gift card $4,296.20 of all hire $591.20 of all volunteer and integration of faculty and staff pay

Handouts Print Content Creation Remind101 Content Creation Social Media Content Creation School Websites Content Creation Webdesign Classroom Blogs Content Creation YouTube Video Content Creation Videographer Production Total:

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Summary and Conclusion

This PR Plan seeks to overcome miscommunication between parents, students, teachers and administrators through the use of print material, mobile updates, social media connections and other forms of Online networking. The goals and objectives of increasing parental awareness and understanding about different programs available to them, increasing the number of student teachers from local colleges and increasing the number of parent volunteers to aid in classrooms will be strengthened by the implementation of this PR plan. As these means of communication are executed, the target audience of college students and parents of K-12 students will be reached. Parents will be updated and informed about opportunities for their children to learn and grow in school. Parents will also learn of ways in which they can contribute to their childs educational experiences. College students will have a desire to be student teachers in Fremont County. They will see that as they provide meaningful insights and bring new ideas to the teaching experience, it will create memories that will last a lifetime. Careful consideration of a minimal budget was evaluated during the creation process of this PR plan so as to accommodate the School District on a tight budget. The budget is very minimal, and the cost covers mainly for printing as well as content creation/ work time from teachers, administrators and other faculty or school staff. The unique character of Fremont County School District makes it one of the greatest places to learn from. Students and Teachers are placed in a learning environment where quality education is achieved and interpersonal skills are acquired. Fremont County provides quality experiences for all students and seeks to provide opportunities for students to grow; not only intellectually, but physically, emotionally and socially so that students may contribute to society upon graduation.

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Appendix
Brochure

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Appendix
Newsletter

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Appendix
Internship Example Form
PR and Communications Internship
Company: Fremont County School District 215 Location: 945 W 1st N St. Anthony, ID 83445 Last Edited: March 1, 2014 Start Date: ASAP Hiring Deadline: rolling basis Approx Hours: 15-20 per week Time Requirements: Flexible (will work with school schedule) DESIRED MAJORS: Communications, Marketing, Communication and Media, Public Relations, Journalism, Advertising, Business, or any other related fields. Fremont County School District provides quality education for students in the upper valley region. The school district mission is to create a system that chooses excellence through continuous improvement, to ensure that all students acquire the knowledge, skills, and behaviors to be contributing members of society by creating a system of real-life assessment, curriculum, and instruction; a safe and caring environment; and an active partnership that embraces the home, community, and school. This PR and Communications internship plays an important role in helping Fremont County School District continue in providing the community with upcoming events and educational information. This position involves media and marketing research, providing new and innovative marketing strategies and tactics, creating new and existing relationships by connecting with parents, teachers, students and administrators and utilizing social media to help with marketing and communication initiatives. DUTIES Work with a staff mentor on creating and implementing marketing and communication plans Contribute to social media strategies and professional development Understand the importance of maintaining the Fremont County School Districts voice Research and keep up to date with trends in social media Identify influencers within social communities and build relationships Create new and existing relationships by connecting with potential sponsors through a variety of forms Create engaging social, written and visual content Manage social media content calendars for events and promotions Coordinate reviews and approvals as necessary DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE Self-starter driven to take initiative and find innovative solutions Excellent writing in AP style Strong PR and communication skills Ability to work independently, able to multitask, prioritize projects and meet deadlines Strong organizational skills, attentive to detail and creative Knowledge of social media platforms High-energy, team-oriented personality, eager to contribute and make an impact

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QUALIFICATIONS Current undergraduate or graduate student focused in business, public relations or other communication degrees Organized and professional work Demonstrated ability to work in a highly involved environment Personal passion for using social networking sites, creating content, proposing and implementing ideas and general excitement to learn new skills TO APPLY To apply please submit a resume, cover letter, writing samples and portfolio in your application. Also include any applicable social networking URLs and your ideal work schedule to DelRay Davenport at delrayd@sd215.net Thank you!

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Appendix
Handout _______________________________________________________________________________ Dear Parents, Remind101 is a new tool that Fremont County is implementing to help improve communication between teachers, students and parents. It is a text reminder system that sends reminders or updates to parents about school happenings. Safety is a primary feature with this program. Teachers never see students/parents phone numbers, nor will students/parents see theirs. Signing up takes less than two minutes on the website, https://www.remind101.com/, or iPhone app, or Android app. To begin receiving text reminders text one of the following schools or additional schools of which you wish to receive updates from: Ashton Elementary: text update @ 76016 North Fremont High School: text update @ 74686 South Fremont High School: text update @ 34162 Teton Elementary: text update @ 49314 Henrys Fork Elementary: text update @ 74226 Parker-Egin Elementary: text update @ 74726 South Fremont Junior High School: text update @ 78806 Through this program of Remind101 teachers and administrators will be able to take advantage of technology in a way that frees up their time to focus on what they do best: teach and help your students. Thank you! _______________________________________________________________________________

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Appendix
Website

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Appendix
Blog Examples

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