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Times-shamrock communiTy newspapers 149 Penn Avenue Scranton, PA 18503 Phone: (570) 207-3473 Fax: (570) 207-3448 E-mail: triborobanner@ timesshamrock.com
September 3, 2015
www.thetriborobanner.com
At Riverside, ‘United One In Heart’
ON THE INSIDE The lastest happenings in our area Page 2
BANNER
As school opens, award-winning branding push continues
by Kimberly M. Aquilina
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBORO BANNER
Riverside School District recently won five awards from the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association’s (PenSPRA) “Excellence in Education Communication” contest, but apparently Vikings don’t rest on their laurels. Paul Brennan, superintendent for the school district, already has plans to take Riverside’s social media presence — and the school’s branding — to the next level. “Backpack alerts are great — the old flyer in the backpack — but things happen and people want information and they want it now,” Brennan said. “Communication is one of the most important things in a school. “We use everything from the Remind app to robocalls,” Brennan explained. “If you don’t get the word out quickly, it’s already out and it’s the wrong person telling the story. We know we’re not perfect at Riverside, but we want to be able to show that there are a number of pretty amazing things that happen within these walls.” Some of the “amazing things” won Riverside a “social media award of honor” and four “promotional video awards of excellence” from PenSPRA. According to their website, PenSPRA “is an organization of school public relations professionals whose goal is to improve educational communication and support student achievement through systematic, proactive and responsible public relations programs.” Riverside’s multi-media presence got a boost last year when Brennan opened nearly every Riverside School Board meeting with a video. “Last year, I was telling the story and teachers were contributing and administrators were contributing, just by being at events and snapping pictures and taking video,” Brennan said. Between teachers Shawn Murphy and Susan Roche pulling P.R. duty and Brennan’s smartphone, the World Wide Web was seeing more of what the Vikings can do. Since Riverside had videos made — with
TS_CNG/TRIBORO/PAGES [T01] | 09/02/15
10:03 | CORNELLCHR
A photo depicting graduation bears the new hashtag. Paul Brennan, superintendent for the Riverside School District, is at the podium.
some help from Frank Deom from VidYourBiz. com. — the school district decided to enter in the PenSPRA contest. “We were lucky enough to win,” Brennan said. “You never settle for where you’re at, so we’re looking to get the community involved.” A new social media initiative is how Brennan hopes the community will get involved — students, faculty or “it could be alumni that haven’t been through the Riverside halls in 20 years doing a ‘throwback Thursday’ from the 70s,” Brennan said. The hashtag Brennan plans to use is taken from the alma mater, that ends, “United One in Heart.” “That’s going to allow everyone from a parent to a student to a community member to an administrator to one of our teachers to contribute and showcase what Riverside is all about. That’s how we’ve been doing it and we were recognized, which is nice, but that’s not why we’re doing it.” If you’re looking for the school’s activities
on Facebook, you can go to the account named “PM Brennan” (facebook.com/vikingshelpingvikings). After something is posted there, Brennan takes it and reposts it on Twitter and, as he puts it, tells the story there as well. “Facebook is kind of a concept from yesterday. Parents are just catching up,” Brennan said while laughing, “but kids are already done with it.” To see the award-winning videos, like “Ice Bucket Challenge,” “The Textile Troops,” “Wheels of Friendship” and “The Viking Voices,” check out The Riverside Vikings channel on YouTube. To be part of the #UnitedOneInHeart movement, just jump on Twitter and share your Riverside story with @RiversideVikings. “It’s a good thing for our kids to see that somebody recognizes their success,” Brennan said. “We have a lot of kids at Riverside that do some pretty amazing things and it’s our job as educators to showcase them and to be their biggest fans.”