Creative Snow Day Announcements in Kentucky

I hope all of my KYSPRA colleagues are staying safe and warm during these LONG dreary winter days. Snow days are some of my least favorite days to work in school PR, as I am sure many can relate. So many experts, opinions, and social media really seems to bring out the best in folks. (Yes, that was sarcasm.) And while I can without a doubt say my Superintendent is not signing up to do any snow day sing-song announcements, I did find a few creative efforts on the Twitterverse from Kentucky superintendents.

Superintendent Benny Lile sings Walk Softly because there is no school in Metcalfe County:



Green County Schools have a few creative videos on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/greencoschools/timeline.

Ohio County School District's Superintendent Scott Lewis with his version of a snow day rhyme to call all students, faculty and staff:



And Lyon County is having a "school closing" parody video contest with videos to be submitted by 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. We'll check back to see what the Lyon Co. Lyons create.

If I have missed any other unique announcements, please share links in the comment box!

Stay warm!

Leslie

Leslie McCoy
KYSPRA President 2014-15

Summary of February 6 KYSPRA Board Meeting

The KYSPRA Board of Directors met on Friday, February 6, 2015 for the third quarterly meeting of the school year. In an effort to keep KYSPRA members informed on action from the Board of Directors, below is a summary of information discussed at the meeting. This should not be considered official meeting minutes.

Linda Salyer reported that invoices for membership dues have been sent to current members. Linda also provided a summary report from the 2014 Fall Conference, sharing there were 36 conference registrations and nine one-day registrations, which included four students from Campbellsville University. Twenty-three additional tickets for the OASIS banquet were purchased. After expenses, the Association earned $3,233.42 in revenue from the Conference.

Organizational Reports:

·         Nancy Rodriguez of the Kentucky Department of Education shared information about the Kentucky Rising initiative that is still being discussed. (Click here to download a draft Fact Sheet from KDE). In summary, Kentucky Rising is a program to take Kentucky’s College & Career Readiness efforts to the next level. More details will be shared from KDE in the future. Nancy also mentioned that there will soon be an open position for Editor of the Kentucky Teacher publication. Interested applicants should check the KDE website for more info.

·         Madelynn Coldiron of the Kentucky School Board Association informed the Board of upcoming pre-conference professional development for Board of Education members, including sessions on The Perfect Interview, School Crisis Management, and Ethics. Madelynn also led discussion to gather feedback on the OASIS Professional Development Program which is coordinated by Brad Hughes of KSBA. The Board will work with Brad to brainstorm all suggestions and will share changes with the requests for entries that will be sent to members later this year.

·         Tom Martin attended the Board of Directors meeting on behalf of Kentucky Educational Television. He talked about the recent Financial Aid call in show on Education Matters, as well as an upcoming show regarding the Core Academic Standards, airing first on KET Monday, February 23 at 9:00 pm EST. Also, KET is currently accepting submissions for the 2015 KET Young Writers contest, a statewide competition designed to improve the advancement of children’s literacy skills through hands-on, active learning. Students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade are invited to submit entries to KET’s Young Writers Illustrated Story Contest. Students in 4th and 5th grades are invited to submit entries to KET’s Young Writers Short Story Contest. Entries must be received by April 11. More info on the contest: http://www.ket.org/pressroom/2013/11/youngwriters2015.html. And last, Tom said if KYSPRA members would like to be added to a distribution list from KET for notice of shows or programming, contact him via email at tmartin@ket.org.

Old Business:

·         Tracy Green reported that she has been working with Susie Hart and a small committee to update and redesign the KYSPRA website with the goal to make the site more interactive, linking several resources to the page, as well as adding more features to recognize distinguished OASIS projects.

·         The blog and Twitter account are being utilized to share day-to-day information with members and members are encouraged to share posts with KYSPRA to keep the blog updated and active. Kyspra.blogspot.com and @kyschoolpr on Twitter.

New Business:

·         Spring Professional Development: Wayne Walden led discussion about upcoming professional development opportunities. Based on feedback from the post-conference survey in the fall, it seems many members would prefer more regionally-based opportunities to limit travel time and costs. Wayne will be working to organize three to five one-day meetings with similar agendas to be held in areas across the Commonwealth. More details will follow regarding specific opportunities and registration.

Thanks to each of you for all you do for Kentucky schools.

Leslie McCoy

KYSPRA President, 2014-15

Board of Directors Agenda: February 6, 2015

Kentucky School Public Relations Association

Board of Directors

February 6, 2015, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time

Roux Restaurant: Louisville, KY

1. Call Meeting to Order

2. Approve Minutes from November 12, 2014

3. Reports:

• Financial, Linda Salyer, Association Manager
• Membership, Linda Salyer, Association Manager
• Regional, Board Representatives
• Organizational (KDE, KSBA, KET)

4. Old Business:

• Fall Conference Wrap-Up, Cindy Williams & Linda Salyer
• Blog, Twitter Stats and Post Commitments, Leslie McCoy
• Redesign KYSPRA Website, Susie Hart & Committee

5. New Business:

• Spring Professional Development, Wayne Walden

6. Adjourn

Links: Kentucky Immunization Laws and Regulations

Vaccination requirements and parental choice are making local and national headlines. In Kentucky, immunizations are required for children enrolled in child care and schools, however the requirements do provide exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services website lists the most current certificates, schedules and requirements: http://chfs.ky.gov/dph/epi/School+and+Childcare.htm as well as a "cheat sheet" for quick reference.

The Kentucky Department of Education also provides immunization resources specifically directed to public schools. By law, current immunization certificates for all students should be on file at the school within the first two weeks of enrollment.

WE DAY Kentucky – The Movement of Our Time

On April 17th 2015 the third annual “mini-WE DAY KENTUCKY” will take place in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center For the Performing Arts, from 9:30-1:30. We anticipate hosting 1500 students and educators from over 100 schools. 2015 speakers and performers are expected to include Kentucky Education Commissioner Dr. Terry Holliday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, global WE DAY speakers Spencer West and Molly Burke, and renowned area musicians Harry Pickens, Ben Sollee, Justin Lewis, kRi and Hettie, among others. This event is free of charge – lunch will be provided.

What is WE DAY? Youth coming together to make the world a better place is the global movement of our time. Young people today need a starting point and WE DAY is that starting point.

WE DAY brings together inspiring speakers and performers with youth to celebrate a year of service, action and leadership. You can’t buy a ticket to WE DAY—you earn it through service - by leading one local and one global service action.

More than a one-day event, WE DAY helps young people turn the day’s inspiration into sustained action. WE DAY inspires young people to find their spark in order to create the positive change they want to see. Together, WE DAY and student-led service projects provide a blueprint to support the next generation to become active citizens.

WE DAY was created in 2006 by Free The Children, founded by Craig & Marc Kielburger - a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to empowering a generation to shift the world from “Me” to “We”, from a focus on the individual to the power of community. With a focus on education and empowerment in both local and global communities, Free The Children is revolutionizing how we help young people fulfill their potential as active citizens and leaders, to help make the world a better place.

Today WE DAY takes place in 14 major cities across three countries. First introduced to the U.S. in 2013, WE DAY is now a growing platform in Washington, California, Minnesota, and will soon expand to Illinois and beyond.

Why WE DAY? Every young person has the potential and the power to positively change the world. We believe in supporting this potential by connecting today’s students to the greatest local and global issues of our time, and connecting them with each other. We believe in celebrating the actions of young people and inspiring them to redefine what is possible.

Why is WE DAY important for Kentucky? We believe that Kentucky and Kentucky’s youth need WE DAY! We all understand education is vital to successful, engaged citizenship. Data show that students who have participated in the WE DAY movement are more likely to graduate, feel more self-confident, volunteer, make philanthropic donations and vote at twice the national average. In short, they are more likely to become active citizens, committed to making a positive change. Educators who have participated report feeling a renewed sense of purpose. And the requirement to participate in one international service project helps students focus on building their global competence outside of the classroom.

To make this movement truly statewide, we would appreciate your help to reach more schools in Kentucky with passionate students and educators who might wish to get involved and earn their tickets to “mini-WE DAY KENTUCKY”. Please email your recommendations and referrals to Wendy@WeDay.com. And thank you for all that you do every day to support, educate and empower Kentucky’s youth.

Submitted to KYSPRA by
Wendy and Kris Sirchio, We Day Ambassadors

NSPRA in Nashville: They're Playin' Our Song

Our neighbors in Tennessee are hosting the NSPRA National Seminar July 12-15, 2015! Click to learn more and register: http://www.nspra.org/national_seminar!

The 2015 Legislative Session & School PR

Kentucky’s 2015 Legislative Session kicked off this week and will continue through Friday, January 9 before a break until February 2, 2015. It is likely that several bills will be introduced but with action delayed until February. In my school district, working with the District Leadership Team and our Community Advisory Cabinet, I try to stay up-to-date on issues and bills being discussed by our state leaders. I am then able to provide district administrators notice of potential decisions impacting various departments, as well as the ability to proactively prepare issue-specific information for local legislators, community members and/or media. Beyond the daily headline and news services, three resources I use to stay informed of education-related bills are Bill Watch , the Kentucky Association of School Administrator’s Legislative Insider Community, and Twitter #kyga15.

Bill Watch

Bill Watch is free and allows unlimited tracking of legislation during the session. This includes keyword and topic searches, notifications of new bills, and of course tracking of existing bills. Today, I searched by topic and found the list of bills to the left filed under keywords “Education- Elementary/Secondary,” and “Education Finance.”

Legislative Insider

Each year the KASA Board of Directors approves a LegislativeProgram including the top priorities of schools, educators, and education leaders to the General Assembly. The KASA Board also takes a position on many education bills and the Association the provides lobbying efforts on behalf of school leaders. As a member of KASA, one of many member benefits is the Legislative Insider Community. This service provides frequent and relative legislative updates from KASA Executive Director Wayne Young and KASA lobbyists, as well as an open forum and bill reports. As a member of this community, KASA members also agree to assist with efforts by establishing positive working relationships and communicating with local legislators. If you are a KASA member (or if you join KASA) and would like to participate as a Legislative Insider, click here to register:
http://admin.kasa.org/KASA_Legislative_Insider_reg.html.

Twitter
Using Twitter, I follow @GovSteveBeshear, @@KYSenateGOP, @KYSenateDems, @KYHouseDems, and @KYHouseGOP, but tweets using #kyga15 provide 140-character updates and links related to action and conversation in Frankfort.
#kyga15 Tweets

If you have any questions about these services or how they assist in school public relations, feel free to contact me.

Happy 2015!

Leslie McCoy
Bowling Green Independent Schools

KYSPRA President 2014-2015

P.S. KYSPRA does not have a new President; my name has changed because I married over the winter break.