The Newton County School System (NCSS) Department of Public Relations received eight awards at the recent Georgia School Public Relations Association (GSPRA) conference at Georgia Technical College in Atlanta. All of the awards were for publications and other marketing materials for the new, Newton College and Career Academy (NCCA). In all, the department received five Gold Awards of Excellence and three Best in Category awards.
Items submitted for consideration included the NCSS Pathway Offerings brochure, the NCCA Program Cards Packet, the NCCA Public Service Announcement, the NCCA logo, and NCCA posters, tote bags, etc. The Pathway Offerings brochure earned a Gold Award of Excellence in the Special Purpose Publication category with a score of 95 and the Career Academy Public Service Announcement won a Gold Award of Excellence in the Electronic Media category with a score of 95 as well. The Career Academy Program Cards packet and the Career Academy Logo also earned Gold Awards of Excellence, each with a perfect score of 100 in the Special Purpose Publication Category and Image/Identity Package Category respectively. The entire collection of marketing materials for the Career Academy recruitment campaign earned a Gold Award of Excellence in the Marketing Campaign category with a perfect score of 100.
School Public Relations Departments throughout the state of Georgia are eligible to participate in the GSPRA Awards recognition program and this year 77 publications were entered for consideration. Publications are judged on design, skill, and meeting the overall PR goals/objectives and can earn bronze, silver or gold awards. In addition to the individual awards, GSPRA also selects from each group, a Best in Category Award, meaning out of all of the submission submitted from the various schools systems, that particular publication is considered the best in class. This year, NCSS earned three Best in Category Awards. The NCCA Logo earned Best in Category in the Image/Identity Package; the Career Academy PSA tied with two other school systems for best in category in Electronic Media; and the entire packet of Career Academy materials earned Best in Category for Marketing Campaign.
"It is exciting that NCSS and NCCA received such great accolades," said James Woodard, Director of Career, Technical, and Agriculture Education and NCCA principal. "However, the credit should be given to the students who worked with local professionals to create the logo and the entire marketing plan. The plan represented ideas from students who would be the benefactors of the campaign."
"This truly was a group effort," said Sherri Davis?Viniard, Director of Public Relations for Newton County Schools. "Mr. Woodard knew exactly the kind of publications he wanted for the new school so he put us in the right direction and Cynthia Marvel (Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator) and I worked on the content. Then our local design company, Current Events Productions, did a fantastic job of putting it all together to create a fantastic promotional campaign. In fact, the judges noted on the score sheet that, ‘this designer deserves an A+.' So it really was a team effort. Of course, the students from Newton High School definitely deserve the most praise because they are the ones who actually designed the Career Academy logo. They worked with Current Events Productions to create that logo and it will now be used on all Career Academy marketing materials."
NCSS Superintendent Gary Mathews added, "With a one?person P.R. Department, it is important that we collaborate with others throughout the school system and community to tell our many stories. For NCSS to earn eight statewide awards, inclusive of three best in category is really excellent. Thanks to Ms.Davis?Viniard and the many others who collaborate with her to produce a quality product."
