Tell us about your job. What does a typical day look like?  

Every day is a unique adventure! From writing press releases and event coordination to website updates and social media campaigns, each day has a diverse set of tasks. The one consistent thing every day has, is that each day is revolves around putting students first. 

What do you like most about what you do?

This is going to sound so cliché but I love everything about my job. I love the diversity of it. I love the strategic planning. I love coming up with solutions on how to let the community know what we do as a County Office of Education. I love telling new exciting stories of the positive changes in the community. I love being a cheerleader for our agency and community and seeing the continuous positive changes. 

Is there something special you are working on or recently completed that you want to share with us?

A goal of ours as a county office of education, is to bring initiatives to the table that impact ALL students in the community. One that I am proud of right now is our county wide Attendance Challenge that every school in our community is participating in-scratch that, every PERSON is participating in. We are engaging businesses, families, schools, whether you have a student in school or not we are working to spread the message of the impacts of good school attendance.

At the end of each month, we put together which schools had the highest attendance rate for that month and that school will get to hang a banner in front of their school to show their achievement.

The categories are:

     *Preschool

     *Elementary School

     *Middle School

     *High School

     *Alternative education

If the school does not have the highest attendance rate for that month, they lose that banner and it goes to the school that did. 

What do you find most challenging about what you do?

As for most of us I’m sure, one thing that is challenging about what we do is juggling the various projects and initiatives while also making sure nothing is falling through the cracks. One way I have tried to make sure nothing is overlooked is by creating a customized planner that is tailored to my needs. It is the first thing I open and the last thing I close for the day (and if you want a custom planner template I’m your guy!) 

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

I have been in school PR now for 4 years. I started my path as a journalist for our local newspaper her in Lake County after graduating college. Journalism has been part of my life for almost 10 years as a full time reporter, freelancer, and a few internships along the way. I have always found myself wanting to report on the positive stories. Along my journey, I remembered while I was attending college, I interned at the Sacramento State (Stingers Up!) Public Affairs and Advocacy Office during my last semester. And I loved it. I loved showing what the college was doing, the positive impacts on the students the school was trying to make on the students and putting together a quarterly report to show the impacts of the work. Sadly, when I graduated they did not have an open position, but I am glad to have found myself back in school PR. 

What advice do you have for new PR professionals?

Something I want to share with new PR professionals is to not be afraid of reaching out and to build relationships with people who are also in a similar role. If I didn’t make the connections I did, I would probably be under a pile of papers and not have streamlined some of the processes I implement today in my work. (CalSPRA is a great place to find these people!)

Is there anything else you want to share with CalSPRA members?

I think one thing I would like to share with everyone at CalSPRA, is to keep focusing on the positive. Not just in our work but in ourselves. Every day we work to show the positive and impactful stories of our schools and what we do. It is so important to also do that within ourselves, and not let the day to day grind get us bogged down. There is so much negativity in the world, and yes the juggling is hard, yes the deadlines come quick… But how wonderful is it to get to share the success of our community and to be that positive light? 

The Lake County Office of Education is a small but mighty community! Lake County has 6 school districts, (7 if you count LCOE as a district). There are about 10,000 students around the Lake. Although our student population is predominately white, we also have a large Native American and Latino/Hispanic population.