The Clarke County School District’s Department of Public Relations and Communications received a dozen awards from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) in its annual Publications and Digital Media Excellence Awards announced last week. 

The department is responsible for communicating CCSD’s goals, objectives, priorities and district news to its various stakeholders through the dissemination of information in printed and audio-visual forms, media relations, and events. The department assists with crisis management/communication and provides marketing and stakeholder engagement support to individual schools and departments, language translation and interpretation services to students and families, and manages open records requests.

NSPRA’s Publications and Digital Media Excellence Awards recognize outstanding tactical materials such as publications, newsletters, videos, podcasts, websites, social media, and other forms of school communications. Each year, more than 100 experienced communication professionals from around the country volunteer to serve as judges in NSPRA’s awards contests using a set of established criteria based on industry best practices.

This year’s contests included content created from March 2023 through March 2024. CCSD’s awards included:

• Awards of Excellence for press release writing, photography, website, and video produced with an outside contractor for its collaboration with CV House Productions on CCSD Students Celebrate Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - "Dreams of Peace and Harmony"

• Awards of Merit for production of the district’s weekly “Better Together” digital newsletter, Superintendent Dr. Robbie Hooker’s State of the District video address released on Feb. 9, the district’s 2023-24 Back to School Guide, and the 2023-24 Student Art Wall Calendar in collaboration with Dan Smith, Fine Arts, Health, and Physical Education Curriculum Coordinator.

• Two Honorable Mention nods in photography and Honorable Mention for production of the 2023-24 Communications and Style Guide for CCSD employees and the 2023-24 desk calendar for employees.