The School District of New Berlin was honored by the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) with three Spectrum Awards for its work in school communications.

WSPRA presented the Spectrum Awards at its annual conference, this year held virtually April 7-8. The SDNB earned an Award of Excellence for its Class of 2020 Senior Spotlight Video as well as two Awards
of Merit for its last two annual reports (last year’s award season was cancelled as a result of COVID-19). What’s more, the video was one of six projects statewide to receive perfect scores from two sets of
judges.

“The last two school years have been unique in all aspects and as we’ve had to change the way we do just about everything - school celebrations, athletics, day-to-day routines and more - our communications
department and our collective communication efforts have been vital in maintaining the community’s support for our schools,” Superintendent Joe Garza said. “The award-winning projects represent the best
of our efforts but are just a tiny sample size of the multitude of ways we engage and communicate with all of our stakeholders annually.”

Spectrum Awards recognize high-quality public relations efforts produced by or on behalf of Wisconsin school districts. This year, this statewide competition honored 52 school districts with awards.

“The work submitted by the Spectrum Award winners is a testament to the importance of school communications and community engagement,” said WSPRA President Tracy Habisch-Ahlin. “This year of
COVID has highlighted the critical role communication professionals play in education. The award winners demonstrate how schools and communities serve the needs of our children best when they work together
to understand educational priorities and needs.”

WSPRA’s Spectrum Awards are judged by members of other school public relations associations throughout the United States, including from Illinois, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, New York,
Texas, Alabama, Arizona, and South Carolina. All entries were judged on a 30-point scale in six areas: goals and objectives, research and planning, execution and evaluation, results, language, and design.

WSPRA is a professional association representing schools, school districts, educational associations, consulting agencies and organizations. The theme for the 2018 conference was “Building on the Best.
Creating the best possible school communications for student success!”

WSPRA is a state affiliate of the National School Public Relations Association. The mission of WSPRA is to expand the capacity of its members to provide effective communication management for the purpose of
strengthening educational opportunities for all students.