Tips for Sharing Your Convention Experience

CABE/CAPSS Convention November 17-18, 2017 Mystic Marriott Hotel, Groton

Out of the Public Schools Grows the Greatness of a Nation – Mark Twain

Tips for Sharing Your Convention Experience with Your Community

“The CABE/CAPSS Convention gives board members and

administrators an opportunity to learn about essential topics such as school safety and reducing the achievement gap. Attendees can learn about legislative/policy updates while networking with others. Inspirational speakers help us renew our vision and recharge our motivation.”

– Ann Gruenberg President, CABE; Hampton Board of Education

“Participating in the CABE/CAPSS Convention for Board members and School District Leaders is an investment of time that is important in today’s challenging public education environment.

The opportunity for networking, sharing ideas and gaining new learning is critical to assure children in our schools are receiving the highest quality education. Attending has always helped me, not only strengthen my knowledge-base, but also my relationships with my Board members.”

– Greg Florio Executive Director, Capitol Region Education Council

Tips for Sharing Your Convention Experience with Your Community The most important part of attending the CABE/CAPSS Convention is sharing the valuable information you take home to your community. The ideas and strategies you learn about through general sessions, workshops, speakers, and exhibitors can be implemented in your own school district for the benefit of your students.

You can help the public and news media understand why board member participation in professional development is essential, how the school district benefits from what is learned, and why attendance at these programs is not only legitimate but also a sound investment for the school district.

Why Do Board Members Need to Go to Conventions?

Conventions are about professional development. There are very few jobs today that don’t require some sort of ongoing training, and this is particularly true for school board members. We come to the board as citizens from all walks of life, and are required to develop and adopt policies for the school district, hire and evaluate the superintendent, and establish the budget, along with countless other responsibilities. To do this without initial and ongoing training would not only render us ineffective – it would be irresponsible. We expect school staff to engage in professional development; we must hold ourselves to the same standard.

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Before the Convention • At a board meeting, announce that board members and staff will be attending the Convention, and the purpose and value of their participation.

• Ask staff to prepare a press release to coincide with the public announcement. Incorporate basic information about the Convention and your district’s participation.

• Answer factually and promptly any inquiries about the upcoming Convention. All inquiries should be directed for response to one official spokesperson - usually the board chair or superintendent.

• Review the Convention program and determine which sessions, discussions, and activities will directly benefit your school district. Prepare to explain your choices.

During the Convention • List specific questions you want answered, and take notes during each session.

• Collect material to share with board members and administrators, including presentations, reports, studies, or reprints that have relevance to your school district. Include literature from exhibitors on applicable education products and services.

• Talk informally with other attendees during Convention events. You can gain a great deal by networking with colleagues from school districts confronting the same challenges as yours.

• If using social media, share content from sessions, quotes from speakers and presenters, and other relevant information that will inform readers about the value of what you are learning. Use the Convention hash-tag, #CABECAPSS2017, when posting to social media.

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After the Convention • Have a news release or op-ed piece ready for distribution detailing the success of the Convention, the overall value of your school districts and local community, and the education topics discussed. Including quotes from attendees on how the Convention related to your school board’s programs and goals (see page 5-6) • At a board meeting, share your Convention experience. Explain the benefits and return on investment for Convention participation. Be positive and well informed about the Convention programming and its relevance to your local school district.

• Be available to respond to media inquiries, interviews requests, and other matters relative to the Convention. Be prepared, informed, and direct in your response.

What’s News?

Print and electronic reporters evaluate an item’s news worthiness by its potential impact on their audiences. An item that affects a large number of people (such as the cost of school lunches going up 50 cents) will receive more attention than a matter that touches only a small group.

So, when you pitch a story, examine your idea from the perspective of how broadly it will reach the reporter’s audience. Be ready to explain why your idea will help the media outlet’s audience.

Some key elements that dictate the value of news: size and scope (how many in the community are affected); catastrophe (such as death or violence); timeliness (when the news item occurred); proximity (closeness of the news to the media outlet’s service area); and celebrity (if the news involves a person or place the average reader/viewer would recognize).

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Pitching Your Board’s Convention Story If you would like your local news media to report on the useful strategies and programs you discovered at the CABE/CAPSS Convention, you will need to pitch the idea to a reporter who covers the education beat.

Start by preparing the pitch while you’re still at the Convention. For example, if the dropout rate is high in your district and you attend a session on the subject, take notes at the session and gather all the handouts. Ask the speaker if he or she would be interested in talking to your local reporters about the program.

Discuss with fellow board members how a similar program might work in your community.

When you return from the Convention, send an email or fax a letter to your local reporters explaining the dropout program and describing its benefits.

Include the name of the speaker from the Convention session. Volunteer to discuss your thoughts on how the program would work in your community.

When reporters contact you for an interview, offer to give them copies of the handouts.

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Interview Tips When conducting an interview with a reporter.

• Tell the truth.

• Be concise. Stress only two or three key points.

• If you don’t have an answer, say so — or offer to find out and get back in touch with the reporter.

• Be sure to have all relevant support information available for reporters when asked. (reports, quotes, facts, contact numbers).

When you attend a school board conference, keep a record of all travel expenses and of your activities in general. Record which sessions you attended and be ready to explain why you attended them. If you stay an extra night or arrange purely personal activities, pay for these yourself and keep the receipts.

Also speak with board colleagues, PTA leaders, or other “third party” allies who believe professional development is valuable to local school districts. Keep the names of these supporters as allies. If a member of the local media questions you about your attendance at the school board conference, you will be prepared with answers.

The CABE/CAPSS Convention is a valuable source of information — and you can share the information with your hometown media at the appropriate times.

Don’t hesitate to call upon CABE or CAPSS if you need statewide or national information on a subject. In addition, feel free to encourage reporters to contact CABE or CAPSS if there is a statewide or national slant to the issue discussed.

Even if CABE or CAPSS doesn’t have all the answers, we may refer the reporter to the National School Boards Association (NSBA) or the American Association of School Administrators (AASA).

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Opinion Editorial (OpEd) Article Here’s an example of how board members could share with the community what they learned at the 2017 CABE/CAPSS Convention in Groton.

Learning from Each Other: Best Practices By [School Board Member]

Connecticut’s educational leaders recognize the power and potential to improve teaching and learning in our public schools through cooperative, purposeful and professional working relationships between superintendents and boards of education. At a time when public education is under tremendous pressure from tight budgets, and other community concerns it is critical that this relationship be as strong as possible.

We were able to get help on ways to address this overarching issue and many others by attending the Annual Convention hosted by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) at the Mystic Marriott Hotel in Groton. The meeting attracted more than 450 school board members and administrators. This Convention is the premier education event for local education leaders in the state.

A number of general session speakers, including Dan-el Padilla Peralta talked about the immigrant experience, David Pogue about Disruptive Technology: The Unrecognizable New World of Technology and Culture, and Bridget Cooper spoke about strategies to hanl.

More than 30 educational sessions were presented that covered issues we are involved in every day, such as Shared Services; Why Are We Still Failing African American and Latino Male Students?; Funding Innovation through a LEAN Mindset; and The Rx for the Painkiller Crisis.

We learned a great deal at the Convention that we could use in our district. We do not have to reinvent the wheel since we now know what other school districts are doing to address issues that many of us face. We understand what these school districts have done to establish policies and practices to face these challenges and now can consider adapting their strategies to our district.

If you would like more information about the CABE/CAPSS annual Convention, go to http://www.cabe.org/page.cfm?p=1145.

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SAMPLE NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release Contact: [contact person] [number/email address]

Board of Education Brings Lessons Learned at CABE/CAPSS Convention Back to [Name of Hometown] New Educational Tools Could Boost Student Achievement [Hometown, State] - [Date] - While attending the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) Annual Convention, [name 1] and [name 2] of the [hometown] Board of Education gained invaluable insights and resources for providing the public with the best education system available.

At the Convention, which was held at the Mystic Marriott Hotel in Groton last week, board members from around the State participated in seminars and discussions about:

• • • •

Shared Services Why Are We Still Failing African American and Latino Male Students?

Funding Innovation through a LEAN Mindset The Rx for the Painkiller Crisis

The [hometown] School Board represents the [number] public schools in the [hometown School District]. ###

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About CABE: The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education is a statewide nonprofit organization consisting of local and regional school boards whose mission is both distinct and privileged: to help school board members in the ever-expanding role they are asked to perform in their communities. From school board member training to policy maintenance, publications to advocacy, provides programs, services and activities to enable boards to provide high quality leadership in their communities and increase student achievement.

Connecticut Association of Boards of Education 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109 Phone: 860-571-7446 Fax: 860-571-7452 Web Address: www.cabe.org Email: admin@cabe.org

About CAPSS: The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents is a statewide nonprofit educational administration organization whose membership includes Connecticut public school superintendents, assistant superintendents, central office administrative personnel, and other administrators. CAPSS provides educational and administrative leadership on a state and national level and also monitors state and federal legislative activity. CAPSS provides personal support services for its members, holds statewide conferences of interest to the educational community and is a strong voice and staunch advocate of quality public school education.

Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents 26 Caya Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06110 Phone: 860-236-8640 Fax: 860-236-8628 Web Address: www.capss.org

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Compliments of Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents