Make It Public:
Creating a Public Engagement Plan

Publicity is key. How else will the community find out about your event and partnership? The following pages provide a guide to working with local and state officials and with the media. Recruit volunteers who have experience with both to help you navigate.

Involve local and state officials in your America Goes Back to School event and partnership. Their support and recognition will increase the visibility and the strength of your event and partnership. Here is some information to help you obtain a proclamation or a resolution for America Goes Back to School at the state, city, and school board level.

Local Proclamations

Ask a local official to issue an America Goes Back to School proclamation declaring an America Goes Back to School month, week, or day in your city or community. Draft a proclamation and send it with a cover letter explaining the significance of America Goes Back to School. Indicate your interest in meeting with the official and make an appointment. For the signing, work with the official's staff to alert media. Arrange to have a photographer at the signing and distribute the photo to local papers. Be sure to display your proclamation at America Goes Back to School events and reproduce it in newsletters and programs.

State Resolutions

Ask your state superintendent of schools, state legislature, state representative, or governor to endorse America Goes Back to School events by passing a resolution recognizing the importance of developing partnerships among families, schools, communities, and employers to help children learn.

Along with local and state officials, local celebrities can also help increase the visibility of your event and partnership. Enlist the support of area sports teams, newscasters, artists, and authors, business CEOs, religious leaders, a local university president, the school superintendent, and others in your community with wide name recognition. They can help by participating in America Goes Back to School events; by mentioning your event and partnership when speaking to groups and to the press; by wearing any promotional merchandise you may design, such as a t-shirt or button; and by lending their name as an official sponsor of your event and partnership. Use quotes from your celebrities in flyers, articles or speeches. Approach the celebrity or the celebrity's assistant with a pitch for why he or she would want to get involved and how they could be an important part of your event or partnership. Local celebrities are often very interested in helping their local communities and may be flattered by the request. It's a "WIN-WIN" situation for everyone.

Appoint an official or a local celebrity as the America Goes Back to School honorary chairperson.

Public engagement is one way of letting your audience know about your America Goes Back to School event and partnership, what its purpose is, who's involved, and how others can get involved. The media can take your message to thousands of people at once.

Getting your story out through the media can help you:

• Recruit participants, volunteers, and audiences;
• Educate the public about the event and partnership; and
• Highlight what's happening in your community in support of children's learning.

Effective relations with the media can greatly enhance the impact of your event and partnership. Reaching the news media starts with doing some homework and planning a strategy. When making decisions about media outreach, remember that you've got a lot of newsworthy competition. Several characteristics make information newsworthy. Reporters and editors respond best to timely news stories and ideas that include:

Local interest. You always have a better chance of making the news if your story is based in the community, centered on a local activity or individual.

Widespread appeal. People respond to stories that involve a topic currently in the news, such as getting ready to go back to school, or a common human characteristic (for example, courage or triumph over adversity) shown in a new way.

A local angle to a national story. State and local reporters like using a "hook: to illustrate the significance of a national story to their audience. Your hook would be the connection of your event and partnership to the national America Goes Back to School initiative and the thousands of other events and partnerships happening all across the country.

When planning events and activities, consider the most appealing way to present them to reporters. Think about developing a succinct message or "pitch"--a few words that will convince the media that your story is important and newsworthy. Press coverage could begin with the appointment of the America Goes Back to School chairperson or the signing of a mayoral proclamation and continue with a series of news releases describing various events. See the "Innovative and Exciting Ideas" for more ideas about potential events.

In working with the media, remember that every editor, reporter, and producer is a professional whose primary task is to present important and interesting information to the public. Your material should be relevant, timely, and interesting. Prove that you are a reliable source of information for your partnership. If a member of your group has a personal contact with the media, use it!

Public Information Outlets

Billboards and Banners

Businesses and community organizations can help publicize your events by sponsoring a billboard, hanging a banner, or posting a flier. Bank and hotel lobbies, restaurants, store windows and bulletin boards, electronic billboards at ball games, libraries, community centers, doctors' offices (especially the orthodontist!), local YMCAs and YWCAs-any place that the public visits regularly-make great places for advertising your events and partnership.

Newspapers

Newspapers provide in-depth coverage of stories, and they include regular news and features, editorials, commentaries, letters to the editor, investigative reports, and opinion columns. Think about how you can get your message across in each of these different sections. Print reporters spend a great deal of time learning about and explaining complex issues. They appreciate all the documentation, facts, and figures you can provide. In addition to daily newspapers, don't forget weekly newspapers, which are a major source of information for people outside of metropolitan areas, and college newspapers.

Magazines

Stories of interest to magazines include profiles of interesting people, trends, or exceptional performance in some area. Articles in special interest publications, or in trade and professional journals, reach specific, key audiences that can be important to your partnership and event. When approaching such publications, you should tailor each story to the specific audience. Remember that most magazines work with a lead time of several months.

Television

Television provides several opportunities for airing your message: feature segments, public service announcements, local news programs, public affairs programs, talk shows, editorial comment, and local cable television shows and public access TV. Your message for television must be short and simple. Television segments and public service announcements usually last 30 to 60 seconds. The assignment editor in a TV news department generally assigns reporters to cover stories one day in advance. Inform the assignment editor and reporters of scheduled events in advance with a media advisory and follow-up call. Be sure to tape an on-air piece on the VCR, so you'll have a copy handy to share with others.

Radio

Most radio stations tailor their programming to a very specific audience (for example, older adults or minorities), so you'll want to tailor your message accordingly. See the section on public service announcements for more information about how to use the radio to get your message out. Radio stations usually need at least two weeks notice to air an announcement. Talk radio is also a great way to let people know about your event and partnership.

Public Information Materials and Activities

Fact Sheets

One of the first things you will want to do is create a simple, easy-to read one-page summary of your event and partnership. As you generate interest, you'll need something handy to pass out with general information on the project and, more importantly, contact information. Use a "who, what, when, where, why, and how" format. Include a contact name, address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail and Web addresses if possible. Pass the fact sheet out at meetings, send it home with Students, use it in mailings, post it on bulletin boards. Distribute flyers at churches, community centers, hair salons, doctors' offices-anywhere people come together. The fact sheet is your first and easiest publicity tool. See the "Sample Media Materials and Helpful Tips" for information to use when writing about your local event.

Press Releases

A press release is a succinct account of your story (usually one page) and should be written as a news article. You can use a press release to publicize an event or your partnership, announce an upcoming activity, or report news relevant to your event and partnership. Newspaper editors often use portions of press releases in their stories. Have a colleague read over the press release to make sure you included all the important details and to catch any spelling or grammatical errors. See "Sample Media Materials and Helpful Tips" for an example of an America Goes Back to School press release.

Media Advisory

A media advisory is an alert to the media about an upcoming event (for example, a press conference, awards ceremony, or parade). A media advisory is written in the style of a press release but is much shorter and to the point. The headings who, what, when, where and why are commonly used to organize the information and make it stand out. Advisories should be faxed to reporters about three to five days before an event and followed up with a call to confirm reporters' attendance or to offer additional information. Be sure to include detailed information on where the event is to be held, including directions if necessary.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor offer a ready vehicle for discussing an education issue, for example, the value of setting high standards in the school curriculum. Summon all your persuasive powers, but be precise and get to your point without wasting words-one typed page is usually enough. Sign your letter and include your address and telephone number. Your personal information will not be published but may be used for verification by the editor. It may seem obvious, but remember to address your letter to "Letters to the Editor." See "Sample Media Materials and Helpful Tips."

Photographs

Photos generally full into two classes: news photos and feature photos. News pictures may tell a story themselves while feature photos may supplement newspaper stories about events, individuals, or activities such as concerts, parades, and workshops. Newspapers prefer to receive pictures with news stories. See "Sample Media Materials and Helpful Tips." for things to remember when submitting photos.

Public Service Announcements

Public service announcements (PSAs) are short messages that radio and television stations air free of charge on behalf of the public interest. Many radio stations are happy to run PSAs for school events. In addition, some TV stations air a community bulletin board of events. Some will even help you produce the PSA. The key is to contact the public service directors of your radio and TV stations early to see what arrangements can be made. Usually, stations need at least two weeks notice to run an existing PSA.

Press Conferences

Press conferences should be held only if you have major news to announce. A press conference would be appropriate for:

• The announcement of the chairperson and steering committee of your America Goes Back to School event;
• The signing of a proclamation by the mayor or a school board resolution;
• The launch of a new year-round partnership or activity through America Goes Back to School; or
• The release of survey results or a new study on education your community, perhaps around one of the five key areas in education.

Press Kits

A press kit is a set of materials that provides the information a reporter needs to write an accurate article. Press kits can be sent anytime to reporters, however,, they should always be on hand at press conferences and other special events. Among the materials you may wish to include are press releases, fact sheets, partnership brochures, an agenda for an event or press conference, biographical sketches of speakers or participants, photos of speakers or participants, a copy of your latest newsletter, any other important program information, including details of upcoming America Goes Back to School events, and your contact information.

Activities Calendar

Most papers print an activities calendar regularly. Many people in your community use it as a quick reference for things to do in their free time. Find out deadlines and the person in charge of the calendar so you can gain the widest publicity for America Goes Back to School and related events.

Banners, Posters, and Fliers

Ask a local graphic design or printing firm to donate services and materials to create banners, posters, and fliers to post around your community. Or ask children in a local summer program to design and create unique, one-of-a-kind advertisements for your events and partnership.

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