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

The SDNB earned Awards of Excellence in the special projects category for its 2020-21 Sponsorship Guide as well as in the writing category for its mid-year newsletter cover story Standing Strong: How the SDNB Has Navigated the Global Pandemic. Both SDNB projects also earned “best in class” recognition in their respective categories.

Spectrum Awards recognize high-quality public relations efforts produced by or on behalf of Wisconsin school districts. This year, this statewide competition honored more than 80 school districts with awards, which were presented at its annual conference held Nov. 3-5.

“It’s certainly great to be recognized with awards, and I’m incredibly proud of our communications department, but the importance of both of our award-winning entries is what stands out this year,” said Superintendent Joe Garza. “The story in our newsletter told our community about how we were able to provide a quality education to all students last school year and throughout the pandemic. For those who didn’t have a connection to our district, it was important that we shared with them, and everyone, the challenges we collectively overcame.

“And our sponsorship guide was a key tool that helped us reach an agreement with Drexel Building Supply on a 10-year, $150,000 naming rights agreement for the West Fieldhouse. We hope the guide continues to be a resource for other businesses and organizations that want to partner with our great district.”

WSPRA’s Spectrum Awards were judged by members of other school public relations associations in 15 different states, from New York to California. 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.

“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. “Projects
submitted were a result of work completed during the 2020-21 school year, which was challenging due to COVID. The award winners demonstrated the critical role communication professionals play in education.”

The Wisconsin School Public Relations Association (WSPRA) is a professional association representing schools, school districts, educational associations, consulting agencies and organizations. WSPRA is a state
affiliate of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). 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.