Hamilton County Schools wins national communication awards
Posted on 08/08/2019
Photo:  Lily Akins, a student in the BlueCross Technology Academy at Red Bank, received an “I Am Hamilton” shirt for her efforts as an ambassador of Future Ready Institutes.  The shirt is presented by Blake Freeman, director of Future Ready Institutes in Hamilton County Schools and Amanda Baron, Computer Science teacher and lead teacher in the BlueCross Technology Academy.Hamilton County Schools has won four awards for communications from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) in the organization’s 2019 Awards and Recognition program. The district won awards for the district's website, a video about Hixson High winning the Vans Custom Culture contest, Hamilton County Schools 2019 district animated budget video, and the “I Am Hamilton” recognition program.

The top award was the “I Am Hamilton” recognition program of Hamilton County Schools. “I Am Hamilton” received a 2019 Golden Achievement Award. The Golden Achievement Award is one of the highest awards presented by NSPRA. The award is connected to a four-step process of analysis and need, planning, communication, and evaluation. “I Am Hamilton” has been a very successful program that spotlights the contributions of alumni, teachers, parents, students, support workers, and community members in providing opportunities for children in the classrooms of Hamilton County Schools. Better opportunities for children today mean a brighter future filled with possibilities for our graduates, their families, and the community.

Nominations for “I Am Hamilton” came from school district staff, students, parents, and the community. The recognition program included videos, photo recognitions, social media posts, and website recognitions. T-shirts with “I Am Hamilton” on the back of the shirt were presented to recipients of the recognition.

I Am Hamilton Videos: Mayor Jim Coppinger; James Howard, Tyner Alumnus; Bria Sibley, teacher at Orchard Knob Elementary; Zavier Chavez, 2019 graduate; Kelly Houston, cafeteria manager, Loftis Middle; Joe Barbeauld, volunteer.

The Hamilton County Schools website received an Award of Honorable Mention in Digital Media Awards. The website, www.hcde.org, was completely revamped in July of last year and opened new avenues of communication between the district and the community. Kelly Mayer is the webmaster for Hamilton County Schools. There were 1,148 entries in the NSPRA 2019 Publications and Digital Media Awards contest, with only 667 entries from school districts across the country receiving recognition.

The Vans Custom Culture video also received Honorable Mention awards from the NSPRA Awards. The Vans video shows students from Hixson High School winning the custom-designed Vans shoes contest top award in the national contest of the Vans™ Custom Culture competition. The student’s creative work on the shoe designs featuring some of Chattanooga’s top landmarks wowed the nation-wide voters to win the competition's grand prize of $75,000. You can view the video by using either the YouTube or Google links. Chad Wilson is the videographer and multimedia specialist for Hamilton County Schools.

Vans Custom Culture Video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0V6kLZdK0U

The final award was an Honorable Mention Award for the Hamilton County Schools 2019 District Budget Video. The animated video presented the information concerning the school budget for last year to the community. You can view the video by using either the YouTube or Google links. Chad Wilson is the videographer and multimedia specialist for Hamilton County Schools.

Budget Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Iz13e5l9hnY

The Tennessee Value-added Assessment System (TVAAS) that measures student growth year over year will be released this week. On TVAAS, a student’s performance is compared relative to the performance of his or her peers who have performed similarly on past assessments. The TVAAS release will provide Tennessee Reward Schools, and the announcement of schools and districts ranked from level 1 to 5 for student growth. You are invited to join Hamilton County Schools to celebrate the historic progress of students and schools in the district on Wednesday, August 14, 2019, at 1 p.m. The celebration will be held at the Tennessee Aquarium located at 1 Broad Street in Chattanooga.

Photo: Lily Akins, a student in the BlueCross Technology Academy at Red Bank, received an “I Am Hamilton” shirt for her efforts as an ambassador of Future Ready Institutes. The shirt is presented by Blake Freeman, director of Future Ready Institutes in Hamilton County Schools and Amanda Baron, Computer Science teacher and lead teacher in the BlueCross Technology Academy.