E-COMM ALERT
November 11, 2005 – Vol. 1, #11
A Weekly Bulletin of News and Notes for Members of the Pennsylvania School Public Relations
Association
1. PenSPRA Symposium Update
The PenSPRA Symposium is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7, 2006 and Wednesday, March 8,
2006 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. An exciting lineup of professional
development workshops and seminars is being planned, along with the annual publication awards
ceremony. Mark your calendars and keep posted for registration information coming in the next
few weeks.
2. Central Meeting Report
Central Program Chairs’ Anne Garber and Lisa Smith reported an excellent turnout for the
website management workshop on Wednesday. Penn Manor School District Technology Director
Charlie Reisinger present on his district’s award winning website and Rick Letterman from
SchoolWires, along with Jessica Long and Kiri Bisney from Hempfield School District, discussed
their experiences using SchoolWires for website development. A copy of Charlie’s presentation
is available at http://www.pennmanor.net/staff/charlie/WebsiteTrends.pdf.
3. Hurricane Relief Partnerships
Karen Smith from Central Bucks SD has been active with hurricane relief efforts and is offering to
put PenSPRA members in touch with needy organizations. Below is her note to members:
Fellow PenSPRA members:
I have been heavily involved in a hurricane relief effort involving our district and several other community
organizations. A couple of weeks ago we even traveled to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi with a truckload of
supplies for three school districts. The devastation is more vast than can be described and the need is
overwhelming. On the other hand the spirit of the people and kids was heartwarming.
I now have contacts in the area if other PA districts are interested in pen pals or organizing collections.
There are options for a class to adopt another class, for a service club to arrange a collection or for a districtwide event. It has been a wonderful service learning opportunity for our students. Making the contacts in the
hurricane affected area was the hard part though, so if you are interested in contact information, please
contact me at ksmith@cbsd.org. I'd love to share and locate more sources of help from PA for these folks.
Thanks-Karen Smith, Central Bucks School District.
4. Scholarship Available for NSPRA in Chicago
An extra ½ scholarship has been provided by the National School Public Relations Association
for the 2006 Chicago seminar (www.nspra.org, then click “Events & Seminars”) as a result of
PenSPRA’s efforts at this year’s Boston seminar. The scholarship will go to a Pennsylvania
member who has never attended NSPRA. If you would like to apply for the ½ scholarship, please
email Todd O’Shell (oshell@southbutler.k12.pa.us) by December 31, 2005.
5. REMINDER - PenSPRA Salary Survey
The PenSPRA statewide membership salary survey will be closed soon. Take a few moments to
complete the survey so comprehensive salary information can be provided to our membership.
The survey is on the frontpage, lower left corner of the website, www.penspra.org.
6. Three Simple Tips for Thinking More Clearly
Too often, getting a task done is clouded with all sorts of bad judgment. People sometimes have
a hard time distinguishing the forest from the trees. However, there are ways not to botch
matters. Learn to think in simple terms and with common sense when trying to complete a task.
Consider these tips:
Remove your ego from the situation. Good decisions and good judgment are based on reality.
The more you screen things through your ego, the farther you get from reality.
Avoid wishful thinking. We all want things to go our way, but in many cases, we cannot control
the outcome. Good common sense tends to be in accord with the ways things are going.
Be a better listener. By definition, common sense is based on what others think. It is thinking
that is common to many people. If you do not pay attention to others, you shut yourself off to
common sense. (adapted from Business Basics, LLC)
If you have difficulty viewing E-COMM ALERT, please contact Todd O’Shell at (724) 352-1700, ext.
1604 or email oshell@southbutler.k12.pa.us.