Marketing-minded Perham-Dent school board members are seeing gold in the Blue Ribbon recently awarded.
A party, with the entire community invited, will be held from 7 to 7:30 p.m., after a Perham delegation returns from Washington D.C. with its "Blue Ribbon School" plaque from the federal Department of Education and President George Bush.
Perham's Heart of the Lakes Elementary School was awarded the honor based on its test scores, which ranked in the top 10 percent of Minnesota schools in its category.
But administrators and board members see this honor (Perham was one of less than 300 schools in the nation to earn the Blue Ribbon) as more than a half-hour celebration.
"We're one of only eight schools in the state--we ought to get some statewide attention from this," said board member Bridgit Pankonin.
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"Marketing opportunity" is how board member Jim Rieber described the Blue Ribbon. "We should make this a showcase of some of the things we do, how we do it and some of the projects students are involved in...We need more than the usual 'move 'em in and move 'em out celebration."
In the era of open enrollment, schools are getting more sophisticated in their promotional schemes to attract students.
The Blue Ribbon celebration discussion sparked a wider range discussion of marketing as a continuous process.
Rieber and other board members envision TV and other media coverage, but also billboards, signs and banners--including permanent messages in the Prairie Wind Middle School gym that serve as a constant reminder at athletic events.
"In the past, it seems when something big happens--it's big for four hours, then we forget about it," said board member Dave Schornack.
The board also discussed new technology available to have digital messages, for example, in the gym or on outdoor signs.
The school is in the process of re-designing its web page, which is also a marketing tool, noted Superintendent Tamara Uselman.
Marketing has been conducted on a somewhat hit and miss basis for a number of years, when an earmarked marketing budget was axed during a round of budget cutting, said school business manager Tom Wieczorek.
