COVINGTON, Ga. — The Newton County School System (NCSS) Public Relations Department, comprised of Sherri Partee and Derrick Barnes, won 25 national awards in the recent 2022 Publications and Digital Media Excellence Awards sponsored by the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). 

Overall, the PR department won a total of nine awards of excellence, twelve awards of merit, and four honorable mentions. The NCSS PR department earned Awards of Excellence for a wide variety of submissions, including branding and imaging, electronic newsletters, writing, marketing, and videos. Every publication submitted by the NCSS PR department earned a national award this year. 

‘We are thrilled and honored to receive this recognition from the National School Public Relations Association,” said Sherri Partee, NCSS Director of Public Relations. “Our small department of two is responsible for providing public relations support for all of our schools and the various district departments. That keeps us very busy over the course of the school year. Whether it is writing news articles about students and staff, telling stories through videos, or creating branding and marketing campaigns for our departments and district, we strive to ensure our various stakeholders remain informed of important news regarding our NCSS.”

Partee added, “We were truly fortunate to be able to add a person to our team last school year. Mr. Derrick Barnes joined the public relations team as our communications and visual media specialist, and he definitely hit the ground running. Typically, we publish approximately 150 news articles per year. Last year, in addition to those press releases, we produced 39 videos that included the superintendent’s updates, news story videos, and marketing and recruiting videos. With Derrick’s expertise in graphic design, we were also able to revamp and polish our school marketing flyers and create marketing materials for both schools and the district departments. Together we make a great team, and I cannot wait to see what we accomplish in the upcoming school year!”

“Congratulations to our two-person Public Relations team,” said NCSS School Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. “You would not know that it’s just the two of them behind the

scenes by the accolades and volume of work they share.” 

She added, “Over the course of the year, they have produced incredible videos, flyers, and informational posts that highlight the myriad of events that take place in our schools and school system. They are most deserving of this recognition, and I am looking forward to seeing how they will tell our students, staff, schools and system stories in the coming year.”