The Alberta Teachers’ Association

During the August 8 opening session of the ATA’s 57th Annual Summer Conference, Holy Spirit Catholic Local and Parkland Local received awards for excellence in public relations.

Holy Spirit Catholic Local won the best overall program award of excellence for its submission "Hello, my name is . . . ." The PR program encouraged teachers to wear "Hello" nametags and to initiate communication as frequently as possible. The local’s slogan was "Invite, Meet and Share," and its objectives were to inform, learn, lead and celebrate.

Although face-to-face communication was the focus, other methods of communication included e-mails, newsletters, displays, a website, video segments, information packages, magnets and news releases. Communication was noticeably increased with the superintendent, trustees, MLAs, teachers, parents and community members. The judges applauded the local’s comprehensive program and its clear and measurable objectives: "What a pleasure to review such a well-thought-out submission! It reflects good thinking about how the pieces fit together to accomplish a PR goal."

Parkland Local won the special project award of excellence for its Provincial Election submission. Through public forums on education issues, newspaper advertisements and print materials, the local created an awareness campaign aimed at increasing voter turnout for the 2004 provincial election. The judges applauded Parkland teachers for their proactive approach to engaging community members and politicians in discussions about educational issues: "This is a very impressive entry. Doing is better than saying! Well done!" wrote the judges.

During the ceremony, Rocky View Local received an award of merit in the newsletter category and Holy Spirit Catholic, Lethbridge Public, Red Deer City and Trumpeter locals received awards of merit in the special project category.

Local public relations awards are presented annually to ATA locals that demonstrate the most effective and innovative public relations programs.

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