Multi-faceted Refractions

As an administrator at an Independent School, I realize that there are processes which allows us to attract new students to our campus. Over the past few evenings, I have been processing the information that I have collect during my conversations about Internet Safety that I do for all of our students, from fourth grade through twelfth grade. Here are a few informal responses that I have gotten back from our students, from 6th - 12th grades:

1. For most of them, the mobile phone is used more for sending text messages than talking
2. Most of the students (over 80%) have visited YouTube in the past month
3. 50% of our 7th Graders have a social network account (Facebook or MySpace), 75% of our 8th Graders, and the number increases when we get to the high school to the point that nearly all seniors are participating in these networks

I am not surprised by these replies, as I am the father of two girls, who are within this demographic.
So I wonder, are there new ways beyond the current processes that we currently use to  create a buzz for school aimed at prospective students? Could we:

1. Create a networking messaging account on a service such as Twitter, Plurk, or the like. We could then update it with news and announcements about what is going on at North Shore, to create a desire to want to come here. Prospective students would be able to access these via their computer or via SMS (text messaging) depending on how they choose to access the information.
2. Create a YouTube channel and put short marketing videos that students may find. When they go to search North Shore, they will  get content driven by us, rather than just the drivel that some of our students have created. We could create short, 2-3 minute videos which highlight various activities, homecoming, the plays, choral concerts, exciting classroom projects and present them in quick burst on a site where students are already drawn. We could engage a students to produce these videos.
3. We could use students to  act as social networking/digital ambassadors, the same way that we use them as guides for prospective students shadow day, to keep in contact and follow up to ask more questions. These students would use the existing social networks to reach out to prospective students, making them want to come to such a “hip” and together school.

These are just a few of my thoughts. I am hopeful that this will spur further discussion and conversation.

Today, I began enjoying my teacher’s appreciation gift from Starbucks Coffee. From Starbuck’s Ideas in Action Blog:

It’s not an apple to welcome teachers back to school, but a cup of coffee.  In recognition of teachers, Starbucks is offering school teachers, grades K-12 a complimentary tall cup of brewed coffee on Mondays during the month of September.  Bring in your teacher identification to any Starbucks.  We appreciate the many ideas you’ve shared on MSI to recognize the wonderful work of teachers.

I am not a coffee drinker. I have been fortunate that my local Starbucks have been allowing me to get a free cup of tea. Living in the Chicago area, I stopped on my way to school, after-school, and during my evening errands. What a pleasant way to begin the year.

I am now at the second leg of my summer workshop schedule. The second leg brings me to Memphis, Tennessee for the Laptop Institute. I am really excited about the learning that I have to do these three days in order to be ready for the upcoming year.

What I find most interesting is that I have not published any of reflections from NECC. With the July 4th weekend right after the conference, I opted to disconnect for family time. A number of projects, both at home and school were the focus of my attention last week, and family birthday celebrations filled the weekend. I hope to push some of those out in the next few days, as I may have some downtime.

I will be live blogging multiple sessions for those who may be interested in joining in the conversation. Keep watching my twitter for session announcements.

Normally on my blog, I try to focus on topics which relate to my job as a Director of Academic Technology. These include my thoughts on the larger questions that many of us face, interesting books that I have read that I feel are important, and reflecting on the day to day grind, sharing both the success and obstacles that I face working with teachers, parents, and administrators. Today, I am going to beg your indulgence while I share a personal aspect of my life.

During this academic year, I have had many personal obstacles which I have had deal with. The most significant were the health issues that my eldest daughter dealt with from August 2007 through December 2007. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and I am please to share how proud I am of her that she has “survived” her sophomore year. It was a struggle for her to make up the work caused by her six week absence from school, but she finished her finals yesterday and seems to have achieved a reasonable level of academic success, hopefully maintaining a B average, while also participating in JV soccer in the spring. She downplays her achievement, but she is doing a phenomenal job of managing her illness.

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCFA) has a fundraising walk, Taking Steps, in various cities around the country. Our high school’s community service club and I are collaborating and have set up a fundraising team, Team North Shore, for this years edition of the walk. We are participating in the walk in downtown Chicago on Saturday, June 7th on the Great Lawn just east of Soldier Field. Registration for the walk is free and be done either online or in person from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. The 3 mile walk kicks off at 7:00 p.m. and will feature entertainment and hopefully, a wonderful evening along the Chicago Lakefront.

This is the major fundraising event for the CCFA. CCFA provides a wonderful network of resources for all of the affected by the diseases. They provide forums for those who have been diagnosed with the disease and their families so that they can become educated and share resources on new treatments and news. They provide free teleconferences for the members of their network which are informative and helpful. I have been received the same benefits from my participation in the CCFA networks for the past six months as I have from the variety of education learning networks, blogs, nings, and twitter, I have immersed myself in over the past 20 months. Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) are important elements of our lives which helps us interact with others that we may not have had access to before.

I welcome anyone who will be in the Chicago to register for this free event and join us in the walk and show your support. For those of you who aren’t able to attend, I would hope that you would consider giving a donation to CCFA in the name of our team to help them maintain their resources and educational opportunities.

Thank you for letting me indulge in something personal.

One of aspect of our school that we cherish is our sense of community. On Friday, May 16th, we had a wonderful example of how this manifests itself with the honoring of our physics teacher, Eric Skalinder, who will be retiring at the end of the year. Today was the last day that our seniors would be on campus before scattering off to complete their senior service projects and it was a fitting tribute.

Our dean of students and Biology teacher, Jeff Terwin, sent out an email last week asking all faculty to dress in the “Skalinder uniform”. This consists of athletic shoes, blue jeans, a white t-shirt (with printing that shows through), and a white dress shirt. It also includes three felt pens, red, blue, and green, placed in the pocket in the order of the spectrum from inside to outside. One student created a Facebook group and the network began to spread the word. Hundreds of us, me included, participated in the day. There were freshman who hadn’t even taken a class with him, faculty, staff, and even the head of school, who I have never seen in blue jeans, dressed for the day.

Eric then best sums it up best in an email he sent later in the day:

Thanks to all of you for your surprise this morning.

I was surprised when, after about five minutes, I realized that students in my first class were almost entirely dressed in white shirts and jeans. I thought, “How clever of B Block students to give me such an amusing tribute.” It gave me a real case of the goose bumps.

I should have realized that something more was up when the Director of Communications came into the room to take a few photos. When I had a brief break right after 9AM I was absolutely floored to discover that a stunning number of folks were running around the halls of the Upper School wearing white shirts and jeans.

It is truly an honor to receive the warm wishes inherent in this gesture and I love the amusing way in which it has been expressed! Thanks a million for the wonderful feelings this has brought to me on this beautiful spring day!

Below is a picture of the large number of participants.