Dive Brief:
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Every school and classroom has its own story that can be told by students and teachers to add context to a district’s higher-level vision, mission statement and slogan that might have been created by a small group of people.
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Middle school teacher and curriculum coordinator Heather Wolpert-Gawron writes for Edutopia that a vision, mission statement and slogan can help tell a district’s story, but there’s real power in collecting and curating stories that define individual schools and students.
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These stories should include children, teachers and parents as protagonists; they should identify conflicts and how they are overcome; and students should be encouraged to write their own stories, knowing they have control over their endings.
Dive Insight:
Social media provides a platform from which administrators can tell their schools’ stories and promote stories students and teachers are writing themselves. Many administrators still do not see the value of having social media accounts, but others have not only engaged their communities through this type of activity but put their schools on a national stage and set them up for grants and other opportunities because of it.
In New Jersey, New Milford High School became known as an innovation hub, in part because Principal Eric Sheninger chronicled its transformation on Twitter and through his blog. He was able to attract donors from the New Milford High School alumni base as well as through more distant corporate connections. At a recent Future Ready Schools conference, Sheninger said other schools can do the same if they get better at telling their own stories.