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Creative Communications
Day School Services Include:
Strategic Development &
PR Plans
News Releases
E-Letters
E-Zines
Newsletters
Brochures
Recruitment & Retention Campaigns
Board & Lay
Leadership Development
Grant Research
& Writing
Dynamic Event Planning
Web Page Design
& Maintenance
Ghostwriting
Cost-effective Mentoring
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Laser Targeted PR
A secondary use of your capital should be addressing
specific concerns. For example, if some potential parents question your ability
to provide a solid secular education, allay their concerns through targeted PR.
Use your Purim release to highlight the many ways that Hamentasch baking
epitomizes experiential math and science learning. If you're worried about
losing fifth graders to the local public middle school next year, be sure that
your releases feature junior high schools students engaged in activities (such
as intergenerational Megillah reading) that the competition can't provide.
Of course, be sure that
you, your staff, and those on your team who are the public faces of your school
(your board, parents, and recruitment committee members) are able to articulate
your mission with comfort and passion.
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If you have questions about crafting or tweaking your mission statement
or developing a strategic publicity plan that will promote your mission
please call me at
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Feel free to share
March Mission Mania
and the
Purim Publicity Primer
with your colleagues.
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Greetings!
Mi She Nichnas Adar Marbim B'simcha
Purim is synonymous with photo-ops. Happy faces. Costumes.
Chagigot. Megillot. Matanot L'evyonim. No question about it. You are sure to
capture happy faces in all sorts of places. But before you go snapping away,
let's take a step back to examine the "Gantza Megillah."
Megillat Esther The Gantza Megillah?
Yes - focus on the
bigger picture: your mission.
After all, while it's a PR achievement to place a picture of
a costume-clad student into your local paper, that may or may not promote your
mission. If you regularly submit press releases that are calculated to promote
your school's ultimate mission, go to the head of the class! Skip ahead to the
Purim Publicity Primer below. However, if at times, you
feel that the mission takes a back seat to daily operations, read on. From a PR
perspective every release should promote either your school's mission or a
specific articulated purpose (for example, retention of sixth graders).
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 | March Mission Mania
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 Quite simply, the pictures you submit must go beyond the two
happy students with one dedicated teacher mold. If your mission statement
stresses community involvement and producing concerned citizens, you should
submit pictures of a community Purim project (for example, a Megillah reading at
the local senior center, or Mishloach Manot distribution to a nursing home,
police station, or homeless shelter.) If yours is a pluralistic school that
prides itself on its inclusive student body, your pictures should reflect that
diversity. If Zionism is key, highlight a Purim program that sends Mishloach Manot
to IDF soldiers, a school in Sderot, or your "sister" school" in
Ashkelon. Clearly, not every press release can speak to your entire mission.
Yet, it is imperative to spend your publicity capital wisely.
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| The Secret of Giving
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Check it out!
This textually based lesson plan from Babaganewz can help
you help your students explore the relationship between Matanot L'evyonim and
Purim. They will also look ahead to Pesach to discover the importance of Maot Chitim.
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| Purim Publicity Primer
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 Colorful carnivals and Chagigot, interactive Hamentashen
baking, and Mishloach Manot making are sources for dynamic pictures. Be sure to
submit some wonderful, clearly captioned close-ups to your local Jewish and
secular press. As mentioned above, these should be connected to your mission or
other timely concerns. But - how can you take your Purim PR to the next level?
Read on!
Embrace Purim to enhance your ties with specific target
groups you want to reach: past parents, potential parents, grandparents, and
alumni. Highlight the meaningful ways your students fulfill two integral Purim
Mitzvot: Mishloach Manot and Matanot L'evyonim.
Mishloach Manot
You can garner loads of good press, generate good feelings,
and involve your students in meaningful Mishloach Manot - with minimal effort.
Think "simple" when planning the contents: back to basics, some Hamentashen,
a fruit, and some Israeli treats. But - think out of the box when it comes to
considering who should receive the box!
Expand your recipient list while teaching your students
about hands-on Hakarat Hatov! Consider adding these key people in the school
who might otherwise be unnoticed or unappreciated:
School nurse
Bus drivers
Office staff
Custodial staff
Don't forget about community and public servants
Police
Firefighters
Post Office workers
Local Librarians
Crossing Guard(s)
Be sure to take plenty of pictures of your student as they
present Purim goodies to public servants. Email them to the press promptly. These
pictures of your students extending themselves to those who serve them and the
community daily are going to be sure winners. (If you were an editor - which
picture would you choose: a child at her desk decorating a basket or the same
child, in costume, handing Mishloach Manot to a uniformed firefighter? Make
your school's pictures be the ones that stand out!)
Matanot L'evyonim
While Purim focuses on fun it should not be frivolous.
Publicize the ways that your students raise and donate money to those in need.
Your target groups (present and potential families and donors, community
members, foundation officers, etc.) will, of course, smile when they see
pictures of students enjoying your Purim Chagiga. However, you want more than
fleeting smiles! Use this opportunity to foster appreciation for the lasting
lessons you instill in your students through involving them in creative Matanot
L'evyonim.
Grandparents
Consider sending a one page Purim mini-Megillah to your
grandparents. Feature several pictures and provide information about how Purim
was celebrated by ALL the grades in your school. Highlight the meaningful ways
that your students performed Purim Mitzvot - especially intergenerational
community Chesed.
Alumni
This year many college vacations coincide with Purim. Invite
your alumni back to participate in Purim Tefillot and celebrations.
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Should you have any questions concerning these Purim
suggestions or about any of
my day school school services, please call me at (516) 569-8070 or send me an email.
Until the next issue, Kol Tuv!
Sincerely,
Candace Plotsker-Herman
Creative Communications
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