The New Jersey School Public Relations Association (NJSPRA) named the
Cherry Hill Public Schools a winner in the 2021 School Communications Award Contest for
outstanding print and electronic collateral used in educational communications programs.
Cherry Hill received first place in the Media Relations: Human Interest; Special Interest
Publication; and Video categories, with a perfect score on the video entry. Cherry Hill also
received second place in the Photography category. District Public Information Officer Barbara Wilson created the winning entries.
The Media Relations: Human Interest entry centered on media coverage – including a segment on ABC News Nightline – of the student led initiative to create a mandatory African American Studies course at the high school level in the district. The Special Interest Publication entry was a poster created as part of a larger “Welcome Back” campaign for the district’s “hybrid learning” students who chose to come back to in-person classes in January 2021.
The Video entry was part of the same campaign, as was the Photography entry. All three featured the district’s two high school mascots, Westley the Lion from Cherry Hill High School West, and Crimson the Cougar from Cherry Hill High School East.
The NJSPRA School Communication Awards were developed to recognize professional school communicators in New Jersey, and the products they develop, that go above and beyond to disseminate important messages to their various stakeholders.
“Congratulations to the Cherry Hill Public Schools for both the outstanding tool they have created for their audiences as well as setting a standard for all of us in this important field of school communications,” said Lori Perlow, public information officer at Haddon Township School District’s Communications Consortium and president of NJSPRA.
The 2021 contest was the most competitive on record with 78 submissions from 35 different school districts. The video category had the most submissions which supports the need for school districts to utilize multiple channels in their communications.
Submissions for the 2021 School Communication Awards were judged by an esteemed
panel of 14 judges including professors from Rowan University and other industry experts across the country.
Awards are given out in eight different categories: Electronic Newsletter: Marketing, Branding, Image; Media Relations-Human Interest; Photography; Social Media; Special Interest Publication; Video; and Website. For a complete list of winners, visit www.njspra.com.
