Originally presented at the Cecil County Teacher Leadership Network Teaching & Learning Conference, March 2016

1. Telling Our Story

2. Telling Our Story

3. Telling Our Story
Public Education in Cecil County

4. Perryvilleparent.com
www.facebook.com/perryvilleparent

6. “We need to tell the story of CCPS in order to
own the conversation

7. Perryville High School Track, March 2014

8. Perryville High School Track, March 2014
Loose Gravel Lower Layer
Top Layer

9. Perryville High School Track, July 2014

10. How it all started...

12. Enough Information...but not too much
Mrs. Bowman, I am sorry I do not know the exact date of the last track resurfacing at Perryville High,
but ALL schools have had a refurbished track recently, but Perryville. Our track is so bad we may not
be able to run in the first lane and it is in jeopardy of being unplayable. Another important issue is the
field house as addressed by Mr. Helm, but of equal importance is the resurfacing of the tennis courts
which are in very bad shape. Finally a major concern of mine is the degenerating game fields each
sport's team is subject to play upon. Every field at Perryville has a double use throughout the school
year; the field hockey field is also the practice field for boys' lax, the soccer field is a practice field for
girl's lax, the baseball out field is a practice field for girls soccer, and the softball outfield is a practice
field for football. ALL fields are used in the spring and the fall with no time to rebound and regenerate
new growth.
The only time the stadium field is groomed, seeded, aerated and fertilized is in the fall after football
and soccer playoffs. Moreover, for the past three years that has not been done till December when our
fall post season is completed, which is after the frost. As a result, little plant growth is generated
leaving the field just as bad as it was at the end of each fall season.
Please let me know if I can be of any further help!!
A Good Example:

13. Attending the
meeting...

14. I realized our county council hadn’t been to
Perryville High School recently.
I decided to bring the school to them...digitally.

15. My first blog post about Perryville High School, 3/24/14

16. My first blog post about Perryville High School, 3/24/14
Click here to view It

17. My first Facebook post on school facilities resulted in 2 shares and 4 likes--woohoo!

18. You are speaking a different language
● Provide enough detail to be useful
without overwhelming
● Be mindful of education-related
vocabulary & jargon

19. You are speaking a different language
Examples
● Transient
● Debt service
● STEP increases (COLA)
● ESL
● FARM
● Comprehensive high school
● Unfunded mandate
● Feeder pattern
● Maintenance of effort
● Fund balance
● Provide enough detail to be useful
without overwhelming
● Be mindful of education-related
vocabulary & jargon

20. You are speaking a different language
Examples
● Transient
● Debt service
● STEP increases (COLA)
● ESL
● FARM
● Comprehensive high school
● Unfunded mandate
● Feeder pattern
● Maintenance of effort
● Fund balance
● Provide enough detail to be useful
without overwhelming
● Be mindful of education-related
vocabulary & jargon
My favorite

21. Help Us Understand
● Transient->Homeless
○ Ah, now we know what you’re talking about.
● STEP increase
○ Are we marching or doing aerobics?
● Comprehensive high school
○ I understand comprehensive or, at least, I think I do. What’s so
comprehensive about a high school?

22. “Message Points? We don’t need no
message points!”
Actually, if you want us to advocate, you do need them.

23. Spreading the Word is as easy as
sharing a facebook post
You don’t even need to include your own commentary!

24. “Content is fire.
Social media is gasoline.”
--Jay Baer

25. 18,947+
Pages viewed on my website

26. A post from February 20, 2016

27. 20shares
381clicks
3,583people reached
In less than 30 days
I shared it on Facebook...

28. Compare those results...

29. A post from March 12, 2016

30. 34shares
455clicks
4,935people reached
In Just 5 Days

31. Remove obstacles to advocacy!
● Keep it simple
● Cite a source if you can
● Provide options for advocating
○ Share on social media
○ Email county and town officials
○ Write a letter to the editor...People still read newspapers!
○ Talk with your neighbors, family, and friends
○ Speak at public meetings
● Include a call-to-action that answers this question: ”How can I help?”

32. ● Band, drama, sports parents
● Positive special education experiences or needs
● Facility renovations and improvements
● Specific programs: Drug education, technical education, fine arts
advocate for a passion

33. ● They are experts in THEIR experiences with CCPS.
○ Teachers are living it in the classroom every day.
○ Parents, grandparents, and other family members and
caregivers are living it with their students.
● Every experience is unique and worth being heard.
Remind those who want to advocate...

34. ● Their voices carry more weight than those of CCPS employees
because they are less likely to be seen as “self-serving” and they
represent a larger part of the community.
And...

35. Be Mindful
● Pitfalls of hashtags
● Policies:
○ Photos of students
○ Connecting with students on social media
○ Political endorsements

36. Sources
● CCPS Website
○ www.ccps.org
● CCCPS Boarddocs
○ Policies, Meeting Agendas & Minutes
○ http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/cecil/Board.nsf/Public
● Maryland Report Card
○ State-wide test scores & demographics
○ http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/

37. Resources
● Cecil Whig, www.cecildaily.com
○ Published 3x weekly, both print & online
○ Circulation 17,500 (doesn’t include online)
● Cecil Guardian, www.cecilguardian.com,
○ Weekly (Thurs), both print & online
● Rising Sun Herald, www.heraldandchronicle.com
○ Weekly (Tues), both print & online
● Cecil Times, www.ceciltimes.com
○ Intermittent, online only

38. One Last Resource
● Canva, www.canva.com
○ Free online tool for creating great looking graphics
○ So much easier than Photoshop!

39. thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at
fkbowman@gmail.com
Twitter @fbowman
Perryvilleparent.com
Facebook PerryvilleParent

40. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made and released
these awesome resources for free:
● Presentation template by SlidesCarnival