DPS 109 Communications Team Wins Highest State Honor

Press release from the Deerfield Public Schools District:

Sept. 17, 2021

The Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Communications team, along with a Board of
Education member, several administrators, and one teacher have been honored by the Illinois
Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association with awards for their work during
the 2020-2021 school year.

The communications team won the Golden Achievement Award for Excellence, which is the
highest award given by INSPRA and recognizes best practices as demonstrated by a
single public relations effort or campaign, for their approach to keeping stakeholders
informed with website updates, video updates, town hall meetings, and more.

“We are extremely proud of the hard work we put in to keep the entire DPS 109
community informed during a school year full of constant change. Thank you to INSPRA
and our colleagues for recognizing our work and underscoring the value of clear,
consistent, honest, and empathetic communication,” said Eric Steckling, Director of
Communications.

The district also captured an Award of Excellence for In-House Video Production for
the montage that was put together of the 2021 graduation ceremonies for Caruso &
Shepard middle schools.

The communications team won an Award of Merit For Electronic Newsletter for the
weekly 109 Community Update newsletters they produced during the 2020-2021 school
year.

Dr. Dale Fisher, Dr. John Filippi, Joanna Ford, Danielle Arnold, Scott Schwartz, Greg
Himebaugh, the communications team, and Board of Education member Ryan Kuo
were presented with an Award of Merit for Special Purpose Publication for the
Reopening Scenarios document they created in late summer of 2020.

DPS 109 captured three other Awards of Merit for In-House Video Production for the
“Sights & Sounds of the First Week Back” video produced in March 2021, “Envision Our
Future 109,” where Mr. Simeck laid the foundation for the mission & vision work starting
this fall, and “Foran Traveler: Art on a Cart,” where the communications team followed
Ms. Elizabeth Foran, art teacher at Kipling Elementary School around for a day, using a
GoPro on her cart to document her travels.

You can find links to all of the district’s winning entries below.
GRADUATION MONTAGE
FORAN TRAVELER: ART ON A CART
ENVISION OUR FUTURE 109
SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF THE FIRST WEEK BACK
REOPENING SCENARIOS
109 COMMUNITY UPDATE

This press release was produced by the Deerfield Public Schools District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.