MISD Wins Two Communications Awards of Merit at WSPRA Awards Banquet

MISD Communications Coordinator Ian Henry holding Awards of Merit certificates won by MISD staff

Mercer Island, November 4, 2024 - The Mercer Island School District won two Awards of Merit at the annual Washington School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) Conference and Awards Banquet at the Davenport Historic Hotel in Spokane on October 28.

The Awards of Merit were for the district’s 2023-24 Cultural Calendar and the 2023-24 social media campaign celebrating MISD staff. Both awards were in the category of schools with an enrollment of 10,000 students or less.

WSPRA recognized by publishing a cultural calendar for the first time we honored and recognized members of our schools as well as the cultural and religious traditions that embody our community. They saw the new cultural calendar as a visual tool that helps MISD athletic groups, fine arts groups, school groups, and PTAs plan events and make accommodations to our learning environments so our students, staff, and parents can fully participate in personal as well as school-related experiences.

MISD staff members receiving an Award of Merit certificate for the cultural calendar included:

Fred Rundle – Superintendent
Erin Battersby – Executive Director of HR, Legal Affairs, and Compliance
Michelle Mueller – Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
Ian Henry – Communications Coordinator
Julianne Baron – Graphic Designer (contractor)
Rachel Hood – Facilities Scheduling Coordinator

Prior to the district’s Instructional Tech Day last year, which all staff attend and took place on the Monday before school started, the MISD communications teams notified staff that there would be a photo booth set up for staff to take photos for a social media campaign.

Staff were surprised to find “dad jokes” at the photo booth that they were able to choose from to use in their photo. The professional photographer the district partnered with took a photo of staff holding the joke with a blank look or small smile, a close up photo of the joke, and then a photo of the staff laughing heartily at the joke.

Each Wednesday during the school year, but not during school breaks, we posted the MISD Joke of the Week presented by the staff member or members in the photos. Each post included the three photos we took and a thank you message for the staff in the photos.

Through this campaign WSPRA saw we showed our community that education is fun and also humanized our teachers. By including a dad joke WSPRA saw how we better connected our staff to our students and families and showed their lighter side.

The district provided WSPRA with five examples of this campaign.

• Celebrating Staff 1
• Celebrating Staff 2
• Celebrating Staff 3
• Celebrating Staff 4
• Celebrating Staff 5

MISD staff members receiving an Award of Merit certificate for the social media campaign celebrating staff included:

Fred Rundle – Superintendent
Michelle Mueller – Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
Andreeves Ronser – Director of IT
Jamie Prescott – Director of Learning Services
Ian Henry – Communications Coordinator
Brian Liesse – Photographer (contractor)

District communications coordinator Ian Henry was in Spokane to accept the awards.

WSPRA is a nationally recognized professional organization of K-12 education professionals. They strive to improve communication among all stakeholders in our state's public school systems. Members represent schools, school districts, educational associations, consulting agencies and organizations. WSPRA is a state affiliate of the National School Public Relations Association. WSPRA meets three times a year throughout the state of Washington to collaborate, learn and build their members professional capacity as communication professionals.