Easy & fast tips for your back to school stories
Written by Ashley peterson-deluca
Honest question: How full is your inbox right now? Has it reached hundreds of unread emails yet? In the days leading up to the first day of school, it is totally normal to have an overwhelming amount of information thrown at you.
Buried in many inboxes are great story “nuggets” that deserve to be told. Maybe it is the student who learned to love science during the fun summer camp she took. Maybe it is a teacher who is bursting with fun, new blended learning ideas to engage his social studies class after the professional development session he attended in July.
These narratives are gold for showing how your district is helping students thrive. Below, I share three ideas for how to tell these stories before they go stale, no matter how little time you have!
If you have 15 minutes: Do a social media post.
Quick! Before you do anything else:
Turn that story into a social media post. Even a couple of lines can paint a picture. For example, it could be as simple as something like: 10th grader Natasha Forest can’t wait to start her biology class this year! She loved her PSD science summer camp so much that she wants to become a scientist who works with dolphins.
Ask for a photo or graphic to use. It is worth your time – a post with a photo is 10 times more likely to get engagement.
Once you receive the image, then you’ll have everything you need to put it up on your social channels so others can also enjoy the excitement of back to school!
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If you have ~1 hour: Capture the full story!
If you have some time set aside, you can capture their full story. Here are a few tips!
Get in touch to interview the individual. (We have some tips for how to interview families and students). If you know how to ask the right questions, you can keep this interview to 10-15 minutes.
Transform their responses into a short narrative for your website or newsletter. My colleague Niki Juhasz has research-backed recommendations for how to craft a great story.
If you’re up for something new, try capturing the story as a video interview! A recent Nielsen report showed that adults spend at least 35 minutes per day watching video on phones, tablets and/or computers.
You can even use Zoom or another video conferencing platform to record your chat, which makes it super easy to produce a video! If you are proficient with the record button, you can even manage to create a video without any editing. Just start and stop the recording during the clip you’d like to use! Keep the length to less than 3 minutes – shorter videos have stronger engagement!
If you have a few hours: Establish your story pipeline.
Teachers and students deserve to be celebrated for their accomplishments all year long. To set yourself up for regular storytelling and recognition, here are a few things you can do:
Establish a contact in each school who is a reliable source of information about the great things going on in the classrooms! It doesn’t have to be the principal. For example, it could be someone who works in the office or the media coordinator.
Keep a running list of stories to tell. Once you hear of a cute story, drop it into a tracker with the contact person and the featured individual. That way you can ensure you’re telling diverse stories from every corner of your district. And – you’ll never run out of great stories! This saves you so much time and effort in the long run, too.
Create a cadence for how often and how you share the stories. Monthly sharing is often a great idea. And, if you go above and beyond by developing a template for what information you include and how long the story is, you’ll be able to get into the groove of consistently showcasing the amazing people who are part of your district.
This is our favorite time of year. We look forward to reading all your cute stories about heading back to school!
