Telling Your Story to Validate and Sustain Your Efforts
We are living in an age of the media, and it is very important to remember to take advantage of that in telling your story. Guidepost #6 is the spot where you follow the actions, but not the ethics of advertising: promote your product.
Make certain that your school, your community, your county, and your state know what strides you are making in social and character development. How has it affected school discipline? Attendance? Academic performance? Attitude of students, staff and parents? Faculty meetings are ideal starting points to congratulate staff members on the progress they have made, but go far beyond that. Newsletters to parents and community, presentations on local television stations, articles in newspapers, mentoring of other schools, applying for state and national awards-all of these serve as excellent ways to spread the good news and ensure the continuous support of your initiative. A good suggestion: a public relations committee ready to tout your progress via the media.
The action plan you develop in Guidepost # 4 should contain an objective that focuses on making sure you set things in motion to track your progress and herald your successes. For example, is there staff or students who like to take digital photos or movies of events for your records and website use? Have you alerted the local press to your annual cycle of events so they can be sure to have someone attend if they find it of interest?
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