In a Minute Industry facts, figures & fun

In a Minute

by Tracie Seed TSPRA Communications & Marketing Manager

Tidbits & Trivia

Less common than earthquakes, the moon actually has “moonquakes.”

Like humans, koalas actually have unique individual fingerprints. The heart of a shrimp is located in its head.

A group of porcupines is called a prickle.

Source: womansday.com

National Celebration Days

Oct 17 Nat’l Boss’s Day Oct 28 Nat’l First Responders Day Nov American Indian Heritage Month Nov 11 Veteran’s Day Nov 17 Education Support Professionals Day Nov 18 Substitute Professional Day Dec 2 Nat’l Special Education Day Dec 8 Nat’l Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day Jan School Board Appreciation Month

Crisis Talking Points Grammar Time

In school PR, crisis happens. This section takes a look at sample talking points for various crises scenarios.

FIRE

• A fire has taken place on the grounds of [school name].

We have evacuated the impacted area. The [agency name] Fire Department will provide more details. • At this time, fire officials and law enforcement are investigating the cause of the fire. • We cannot and will not speculate on the cause of the fire. • Our first concern is for the well-being of our students and staff who were impacted by this terrible event. • All [your] County schools have established a fire evacuation plan that contributes to maintaining a safe learning environment for our students. In the wake of this incident, school personnel will be reviewing those plans and continuing our ongoing relationship with law enforcement to ensure we do everything we can to maintain the safety and security of our schools. • Each year a comprehensive school safety plan is evaluated and amended, as needed, by a school safety planning committee. • To ensure a comprehensive safety plan is properly implemented, schools are required to perform regular safety drills monthly. If you are unsure if you should place a comma before so in the middle of your sentence, try replacing so with “therefore” or “so that.” If your sentence seems to work with a replacement of “therefore” without changing the meaning of the sentence, then so is a coordinating conjunction and should have a comma before it.

EXAMPLES:

Daniel had the highest score in math in the whole school, so he was made principal for the day.

Daniel had the highest score in math in the whole school, therefore he was made principal for the day.

The sentence still works, so we know that so is a coordinating conjunction here and is entitled to its comma.

So that can be used in a similar way to confirm that so is being used as a subordinating conjunction.

EXAMPLES:

I went to the store so I could buy tomatoes.

I went to the store so that I could buy tomatoes.

Go to TSPRA Document Vault, accessible through your member portal, for more talking points & inspiration. A Trick for Deciding if You Need a Comma Before “So”

WHAT’SAPP? : FiLMiC Pro app is an advanced 4K video recorder made for your smartphone (iOS & Android). It is packed with cutting-edge features to help you make world-class content. Because the substitution works, we know that there should be no comma in the sentence.

Source: quickanddirtytips.com

TIPS FOR MAKING SMARTPHONE VIDEOS

• Clean fingerprints and smudges off lens before shooting. • Shoot horizontally. • Use a tripod whenever possible. • Use a Bluetooth microphone, or at least keep the camera within 3 feet of the subject. • Set up your shot and be aware of your surroundings, removing anything that might cause a distraction. • Take a pause at the beginning and end of filming to allow for cleaner editing.