DISTRICT 109 RECOGNIZED FOR COMMUNICATIONS EXCELLENCE BY NATIONAL PEERS

Deerfield Public Schools District 109 has been recognized for its exceptional communications efforts, being named a Golden Achievement Award winner by the National School Public Relations Association and capturing six additional state-level awards.

“We are proud to receive this recognition from our peers. We work every day to bring our community into our classrooms: giving them a glimpse into how students are being challenged, the inspirational ways in which they are collaborative, and the incredibly creative learning environments that are present in our buildings,” Eric Steckling, Director of Communications for DPS 109, said.

DPS 109 won a national Golden Achievement award, one of the highest honors given in school public relations efforts, for our “Define 109” campaign. This roughly 5-month process solicited hundreds of data points and stakeholder feedback through focus groups, surveys, and informational videos that helped shape our new mission & vision and will inform our soon-to-come strategic plan. You can view our ongoing work at www.dps109.org/define109. 

Our district also won six awards at the state level from the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association. Awards of excellence were given to our introductory video of the Define 109 concept, and a What’s Good in 109 feature on a book igloo at Kipling. Awards of merit were given for promotional videos developed for our four world languages, a What’s Good in 109 feature on a legacy tile project at Wilmot, and an inspirational back to school video from fall 2021 featuring our students!

“We are proud to recognize the winners of the 2022 Communications Contest, who demonstrate excellence in communicating clearly, effectively, and creatively with their school districts and communities,” INSPRA President Tom Jackson said. “Having a robust communications presence in education has never been more important as we emerge from the pandemic and face numerous other challenges in educating today’s students. The exemplary work of these professionals is a testament to their commitment to serve their students, staff and communities.

Please see below for links to all of DPS 109’s award-winning work:

NSPRA Golden Achievement - Define 109 Campaign

INSPRA Award of Excellence - Define 109 intro video

INSPRA Award of Excellence  - What’s Good in 109: The Book Igloo

INSPRA Award of Merit - World Languages in 109
French
Spanish
Mandarin
Hebrew

INSPRA Award of Merit - What’s Good in 109: The Legacy Tile Project

INSPRA Award of Merit - A Back To School Message From Our Students