Tell us about your job - what does a typical day look like? 

As the Sweetwater District Communications Director, I develop and execute strategic communications that advance district goals and priorities. In my role, I support the superintendent, cabinet, departments, and school sites with messaging, manage media relations and crisis communications for internal and external audiences, and oversee the district website and all digital and social channels. I plan and support district‑wide events, initiatives, and communications campaigns—promoting programs such as Community Schools, CTE, and middle‑college partnerships. I also manage district outreach advertising and marketing efforts to students, families, and community partners. A typical day begins by scanning media, social channels, and email for emerging issues and urgent requests, then prioritizing the day’s work. I coordinate messaging with school sites and district departments, draft and edit press releases, website updates, newsletters, and social posts, and ensure consistency and accessibility across channels. Much of my time is spent in meetings or attending events across the district, followed by outreach and follow-up calls with stakeholders, partners, and staff. I also set aside time for creative brainstorming and campaign planning to keep our communications proactive, strategic, and responsive to community needs.

What do you like most about what you do? 

What I love most about my role is that I have the opportunity to interact with the human side of education. I feel incredibly blessed when a parent or staff member finds information our office has provided helpful, or when a teacher tells me a story that lifted a student’s spirits, or when I stand at a school event and watch families connect because they know what to expect. I especially love supporting our incredibly intelligent and talented students and our outstanding teachers and staff, helping amplify their achievements and ensuring their voices are heard.

What do you find most challenging about what you do? 

The most challenging part of my work is delivering tough updates or navigating unforeseen obstacles in a way that keeps staff and stakeholders informed and supported. The silver lining is that for every challenge, there are countless uplifting moments—programs succeeding, students benefiting, and teachers innovating—where we play a small but meaningful role in students’ and families’ lives. Focusing on those positive impacts makes the hard parts of the job truly worthwhile.

Tell us about a project you are working on or completed that you are particularly proud of. How did it come about? What impact has it had so far? 

We’re in the midst of an exciting project: redesigning the district and all department/school websites. We recognize how complex these sites are and how many different audiences they must serve, so our goal is to create homepages and site structures that are clear, easy to navigate, and accessible to everyone in our community.
To do that, we’re engaging district departments and school-site website editors throughout the process. Their input has been invaluable — feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and has helped shape priorities.
We’re also building training and documentation for editors, and planning a phased rollout with pilot sites before full launch. We’ll collect feedback and monitor analytics to measure success and guide ongoing improvements. The goal is that our sites will provide easier access to essential information, better user experiences for families and staff, and a more maintainable system for our teams. More to come! 

How long have you been in the profession and what was your path to school PR? 

I’ve worked in school PR since 2004. I originally planned to pursue TV news but didn’t love the schedule, so I began as a communications specialist at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, later moved to the San Diego County Office of Education, and now serve as Communications Director for the Sweetwater Union High School District. Though I didn’t end up in broadcast news, it’s been rewarding (and sometimes challenging) to work on the other side and collaborate with local media on a weekly basis highlighting our phenomenal students, staff, and programs.

What advice do you have for new PR professionals? 

If you’re new to the field, join CalSPRA — it’s how I met some of the most generous, committed colleagues in our work. Use the Listserv and ask questions; there are no dumb questions.

Be ready to pivot at a moment’s notice. One minute you might be drafting a news advisory for a 50th band centennial; the next you could be responding to a police pursuit that forces a school lockdown. Your role is to turn rapidly changing state and federal policies, funding updates, health guidance, and community concerns into clear, timely, and trustworthy messages for parents, staff, the school board, and the public. Stay on top of developments with a daily brief of Department of Education updates, federal guidance, local health orders, and legal changes, and coordinate early with policy and legal teams to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Finally, protect your work–life balance. If things aren’t healthy at home, you can’t be effective at work. Make time for loved ones, and remember to breathe.

What else would you like to share?

Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate to work with exceptional leaders whose guidance, encouragement, and support have been essential to my growth. Serving at both the county office, and district levels has deepened my understanding of how education operates in our state and revealed the extraordinary commitment so many bring to supporting students, families, and programs. I’m grateful to be part of this community.

What are you doing to promote IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access)? 

Promoting IDEA — inclusion, diversity, equity, and access is central to my work supporting our Unified Sports program. Unified Sports is an exclusive sports program led by our dedicated district administrator Valerie Ruiz and her team, that unites Special Olympics (students with intellectual disabilities) and athletes (students in the general education population) as teammates for training and competition events. Currently, the Sweetwater District has seven active Unified Sports teams that include Flag Football, Soccer, Basketball, Track and Field, Crossfit, Cheerleading and Fitness Training.

Unified Sports is a way for students to feel a sense of belonging, develop friendships with other students of all intellectual abilities, and just about making connections. It has been an honor to play a small part in supporting our Unified Sports Program to strengthen its visibility. I have proactively pitched human-interest pieces and press releases to local media, arrange feature stories and interviews that highlight the benefits of Unified Sports. These stories showcase progress, share participant voices, and attract community partners and volunteers. My office has also developed promotional videos with accessibility built in athlete spotlights, season recaps, recruitment, and training highlights that showcase how Unified Sports creates inclusive opportunities. In the Sweetwater District, we believe every student deserves to be involved in extracurricular activities. 

The Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) is a large, binational secondary school district serving the South Bay region of San Diego County. SUHSD enrolls more than 34,000 students in grades 7–12 and over 10,000 adult learners across 32 campuses. The district includes comprehensive and specialty high schools, continuation schools, adult and alternative education programs, and Community Schools that integrate academic, health, and family supports. SUHSD provides a wide array of academic and career pathways, including Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) at select campuses, career technical education (CTE), and AVID. It also offers dual‑language and English‑learner supports, college- and career-readiness initiatives, and middle‑college courses in partnership with Southwestern College.