It’s that time of year again! As we celebrate the close of another academic year, it’s also time to shine a spotlight on the extraordinary social media moments from schools across the country and beyond. 

Prepare to be inspired and pick up valuable insights that you can weave into your own storytelling strategies as you plan for the 2024/2025 school year!

Welcome to the fourth annual Best of Social Media Awards! 

Each year, the selection process grows more intense, reflecting the rising creativity and expertise of school social media managers and teams. This year, we received a record-breaking 440 submissions, a significant leap from last year’s 273. Participants included 218 incredibly talented individuals from 39 states, spanning from the United States to the classrooms of Canada, India, and Nicaragua.

The growth of our awards is a testament to the expanding importance of social media in education. This year, I handed out 22 awards, up from 20 last year, recognizing the best and brightest in digital storytelling. These awards spotlight schools from 16 different states and two countries!

Without further ado, let’s unveil the 2024 MVPs of School Social Media and discover how you can apply these same ideas to your school.

🏆 A Short Video is Worth 1,000 Words Award – Howard-Suamico School District, WI – HSSD School & Community Relations Team

We’ve heard the phrase, “A picture is worth 1,000 words,” but what about a short video? It’s only twelve seconds, but the story and emotion it portrays could impact you like a long-form movie feature! The Howard-Suamico School District kept it simple with a short caption, and the reach was off the charts, with more than 28,000 views!

Take a look at some of the heartwarming comments left on this video, too.

 

💡 Lesson? Don’t overthink it. You only have so many hours in your day – focus your efforts on celebrating your students and staff, and you’ll never go wrong! Could HSSD have created a longer video and explained everything that went into the story? Sure. But posted is better than perfect and unpublished. Social media is all about authenticity, and when you watch this simple video, you’ll see that it really speaks for itself.

🏆 Awesome Awareness Campaign Award – Christ The Redeemer Catholic Schools, Alberta, Canada – Cindy Nickerson

Your community deserves to see what makes your school unique! Cindy Nickerson did just that with her “Did You Know?” campaign. The effort came after feedback from a survey that showed families lacked a good understanding of what the school offered.

With 34 different posts shared on Facebook and Instagram, this campaign made a huge impact in getting the story out. Open enrollment and school choice are popular, so it’s really important to make sure that current – and potential! – families know what makes your school such a special place.

💡 Lesson? You know there are so many great things about your school. Make a list and start highlighting each area!

• Do you have small class sizes?
• Do you offer specialized programs in the high school?
• Do you offer full-day kindergarten?
• Do you offer childcare?
• Are your test scores/report card scores high?
• Do your graduates succeed in college acceptance/securing jobs?
• Do your students receive a large amount of scholarships?
• Do your students log community service hours?
• Is there a certain club or sport that makes you unique?

🏆 Best Reels Star Award – Batesville School District, AR – Megan Renihan & Abigail Catacutan

Pioneer Joe wins as the best Reels star for 2024! Pioneer Joe already earned his own #SocialSchool4EDU blog that dives even deeper into how the school made this mascot a star, but now he is also a proud Golden Gribble winner! 

By using trends and student involvement, Pioneer Joe is the face of the district on Instagram!

Over the past several years, Megan Renihan and Abigail Catacutan have entertained and educated their followers with creative, unique, and well-branded short videos. Megan is usually the one in the mascot costume, working closely with a variety of student activities and groups. Student groups now request Pioneer Joe to help create videos!

💡 Lesson? If you have a mascot, put it to use! Draw inspiration from the Batesville School District Instagram account. No mascot? No problem. Identify a school administrator, teacher, or student who would like to regularly appear in videos! They can become the face of the district and offer fun and engaging ways to promote your schools!

   

🏆 Best Student Instagram Takeover Award – Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, MI – Jason Lewis

Not all student takeovers are created equal. This one stood out, and you need to check it out yourself! It was done via Instagram Stories and then saved as an Instagram Highlight.

Bella takes us into what a Friday during Homecoming Week looks like. She provided frequent updates throughout the day and used a combination of photos, boomerangs, and videos. She also made sure to include other students in her story.

Throughout the takeover, the school added 500 new followers and reached more than 500 non-followers. The content strategy was definitely noticed by the community, with several local businesses reaching out to see if they could implement something similar with their own marketing strategy!

💡 Lesson? Get students involved! If you want to grow your audience, this is how to do it. Grab this guide that shares several ways that you can include students in content creation.

🏆 Celebrating Diversity Award – Essex Westford School District, VT – Arielle Boutwell

This was a brand-new award category! Students in the Essex Westford School District Tech Center celebrated their heritage by dressing in traditional clothes that represent their cultures. The students worked with the high school’s A/V department to pose for photos and create this collage. 

When Arielle Boutwell shared the post, she used just a simple caption. It’s a beautiful message of culture and acceptance!

With more than 90 comments, this post inspired other students in one of the middle schools in the district to propose a “culture day” to their staff and admin team! 

💡 Lesson? Your efforts in building diversity awareness and a sense of belonging can be celebrated on social media. Seek out authentic opportunities like this one!

🏆 Creative Contest Award – Splendora ISD, TX – Courtney McMurray

Engagement is the key to getting your stories seen by more people! This creative contest worked wonders for Splendora ISD in Texas.

Courtney McMurray initiated the “Where Are We Wednesday” feature, drawing inspiration from the children’s book series, “Where’s Waldo.” In this campaign, the superintendent camouflaged himself in photographs in various local scenes, prompting longstanding and new residents to guess the locations. 

By Thursday, the answers were revealed, and winners received Wildcat-themed prizes. This initiative quickly became one of the most popular posts, ranking among the top ten most commented of the year. This engaging campaign effectively strengthened community ties, celebrating the history and new connections within the district.

💡 Lesson? What a great idea for summer content! You can schedule these ahead of time and could take the photos on the school’s campus and in the community.

🏆 Facebook Standout Award – Jenison Public Schools, MI – Jeremy Gonsior

It’s not easy to earn the award for Facebook Standout, as the district is being honored for its overall Facebook presence throughout the year. Jeremy Gonsior won because he is sharing frequent updates and awesome photos and is truly focusing on learning.

In the submission, it was shared, “In our district, digital storytelling has become a pivotal tool in bridging the gap between our schools and the community. By sharing the vibrant daily life of our classrooms and buildings through digital platforms, we offer parents and staff an intimate glimpse into the learning experiences happening within our buildings. This approach not only celebrates our students’ achievements and the innovative teaching our educators do but also fosters a deeper connection and understanding among our community. Through these digital narratives, we aim to highlight the importance of every lesson learned, every project undertaken, and every milestone achieved, reinforcing our commitment to transparency, engagement, and excellence in education.”

💡 Lesson? Go to the Jenison Public Schools Facebook page to admire and acquire some photo tips, story ideas, and more! Jason is also collecting some amazing content from throughout the district, which is a great goal for all schools. 

If you need help implementing a reliable system for collecting stories, check out my book, “Social Media for Schools.” We are hosting a Summer Book Club, too!

🏆 Fantastic Bond Campaign Award – Caledonia Community Schools, MI – Kelly Clark

When it’s time to ask for support from your voters, social media can be a powerful tool to reach them. Check out the variety of posts by searching for #CCSBond2023 on this district’s Facebook page.

Kelly Clark used consistent branding and messaging throughout the campaign. She mixed bond campaign posts with regular storytelling so that her page’s presence wasn’t one-note. This isn’t a requirement for winning this award, but the question passed by 64 votes. Whew!

💡 Lesson? Make sure you are using social media to share the stories from your schools long before the need to ask for voter support. Don’t just use social media when you need to ask for something. Instead, use social media to celebrate the activity happening every day among your students and staff. Here’s a handy checklist to prep.

    

🏆 Instagram Idol Award – Private Schools – Eastside Catholic School, WA – Brian Morse and the Eastside Catholic Marketing and Communications Department

One look at Eastside Catholic School’s clean grid, well-branded profile image, and high-resolution covers, and you know they are professional. The photo quality is off the charts!

By strategically focusing on this platform, Eastside Catholic School has improved its following by 22%. Brian Morse and the Eastside Catholic Marketing and Communications Department limit the use of graphics on the grid, and it pays off – check out all those hearts!

💡 Lesson? Not every post needs to be shared on both Facebook and Instagram. Some can surely be shared on both, but make sure you understand what your followers are looking for when they visit each specific platform.

🏆 Instagram Idol Award – Public Schools – Stillwater Area Public Schools, MN – Jenna Jorgensen

I got to meet Jenna Jorgensen in person at the MinnSPRA event this April, and she has a solid understanding of Instagram and her strategy! Stillwater Area Public Schools shares awesome images and is leaning into Reels for unique storytelling. You’ll notice consistent branding throughout the page. 

The Instagram Highlights Jenna created do a great job of representing each school in the district. Jenna has also been able to utilize the collaboration feature to increase views. Check out the below example of a musical promo! It is so much better than just sharing a flyer.

💡 Lesson? All of the content created for this Instagram is done on an iPhone. Fancy equipment might be nice to have, but it is not necessary!!

🏆 Outstanding Long-Form Video Award – Mesquite ISD, TX – Mesquite ISD Communications Department

The video is just shy of 2 minutes – but yes, it does still apply to the long-form video category of the awards. We had a LOT of submissions, but this one captured the award with an amazing start and great movement within the video. The district effectively highlighted all of the wonderful programs available in the district – without saying a word!

Brenda Gonzalez from Mesquite ISD’s Communications Department shared that this 2-minute video took three months to complete. The team considered using a voiceover but decided that the natural sounds really told the story. 

The caption is very simple: “How do we love Mesquite ISD? Let me count the ways. #ExcellenceHappensHere” 

💡 Lesson? You must grab the attention of your followers in the first 1-2 seconds of your video. Starting it with your school logo or a boring title box is not going to get you the views that you want. This video goes above and beyond – how can you create something similar at your school?

🏆 Outstanding Photography Award – Rogers Public Schools, AR – Jason Ivester

Talk about a tough category to judge. There are some truly breathtaking photos shared on school social media channels! Last year, we honored a single photo and a series of graduation photos. In 2024, we honor just one photo.

This Facebook post shared four great photos, but the first one captured the emotion of the victory – winning a state singles championship! The photo was perfectly timed and showcased brilliant lighting along with school colors.

💡 Lesson? Always post your best photo first! All four were great, and some might be tempted to put the team photo first, but people resonate with faces as they are scrolling through social media. Grab their attention with an emotional photo of one to four students rather than an image with a large group.

🏆 Power of Social Media Award – Stevens Point Area Public School District, WI – Sarah O’Donnell

This award winner is another sports highlight – but this time, it wasn’t the thrill of victory. The Power of Social Media Award goes to Stevens Point Area Public School District, which went viral after sharing this amazing moment of humanity and sportsmanship. 

I recorded an entire podcast episode on this post – listen here!

Sarah O’Donnell, the Director of Communications, did not actually attend the event. She received the image from someone else and shared the story on the district’s Facebook page. It ended up receiving national coverage. The initial post reached over 93,000 people, but there were 31 additional media pieces afterward.

💡 Lesson? Build your army of storytellers! You can’t be at every event, but once you make great connections, you will have people to share these stories with you, and you can share them with the world.

🏆 Program Highlight Award – Fox C-6 School District, MO – Andy Waterman

Do you have talented students that deserve to be shared with your community? Of course you do! Get inspired by what Fox C-6 School District from Missouri did during the month of December. The district highlighted various musical groups and reached over 150,000 people over the three-week campaign.

The posts were simple and consistent. They didn’t broadcast an entire concert, but instead, broke the musical groups apart to provide a variety of performances each day. The community loved it!

       

💡 Lesson? Don’t bunch up your content into a 1-hour (or longer) video. Breaking it into small chunks allows you to reach a lot more people!

🏆 Social Media All-Star Award – Queen Creek Unified School District, AZ – Soledad Carrillo

Arizona is the home to the reigning social media all-star award. Queen Creek Unified School District has five district channels where they focus on five key priorities: 

• Student success
• Safe & healthy environment
• Exceptional personnel
• Effective partnerships
• Effective operations & systems

Soledad Carrillo and the team at Queen Creek Unified School District use social media to share stories and foster belonging and unity! Check out the district pages:

• Facebook: @qcusd
• Instagram: @qcusd95
• Twitter/X: @qcusd
• LinkedIn: Queen Creek Unified School District
• YouTube: @QCUSD95

💡 Lesson? Identifying priorities will guide your storytelling efforts. There are moments happening every day in your district or school that likely tie to your priorities. Telling the story is easier when you have a themed message you want to share!

🏆 Social Media Impact Award – Sherburne-Earlville Central School District | DCMO BOCES, NY – Dean Russin

What a difference one student can make – and in turn, the district can help provide back to that student! This year’s social media impact award goes to Dean Russin and his work with Sherburne-Earlville Central School District in New York. 

At age 9, Marshall became the youngest person to write, direct, and star in a movie. The school district assembled a series of 13 social media posts to share the story. It resulted in more than $22,000 in donations to Marshall’s Wish Heroes page (the original goal was $10,000)! 

💡 Lesson? Social media can be used to make a positive impact! We often hear of bad things happening on social media, and it’s nice to have a story to show others that it truly can be used to make the world a better place.

🏆 Spreading Kindness Campaign Award – Seneca Valley School District, PA – The Seneca Valley Communications Team

In the spirit of making this world a better place, let’s talk about the Spreading Kindness Campaign award. The Seneca Valley Communications team shared:

“For the 2023-24 school year, we launched a campaign that we called “Building Community,” to focus on how we as a collective school community can stand up, lift up, and serve as an example to others with our words and actions. 

Our goal was to encourage staff, students, and community members to spread kindness, foster positivity, and serve our community with respect. Throughout the year, we have highlighted and celebrated these efforts using the hashtag #SVBuildingCommunity, which we invite you to review for consideration for the Spreading Kindness Award (around 30 posts under this hashtag). 

Posts included community service projects and initiatives, family events, recognition days, staff appreciation, and student-led displays of kindness.

They were able to gain community partners and support from local businesses. It also created a positive online environment. The ripple effect continues to make an impact through boosted engagement, encouraged collaboration, and raised awareness on topics like inclusion!”

💡 Lesson? Kindness matters! It’s happening throughout your schools, and the intentionality behind celebrating these stories on social media might make a big difference in your community!

🏆 Staff Highlight Award – Jefferson County Public Schools, KY – Juliann Morris & Dyuce Woodson

Teachers and other employees who work in your schools are positively impacting students on a daily basis. So, highlight them! Jefferson County Public Schools is this year’s staff highlight award winner for two reasons.

First, check out the Senior Letter Video series. It provided a brilliant use of students to highlight staff and the impact they make. The stories reached nearly 500,000 on Facebook and 21,000 on Instagram. 

This idea was born out of an effort to celebrate teachers other than posting flyers that said, “We appreciate you.” Juliann and Dyuce invited all JCPS seniors to write a letter to any teacher from their time at JCPS who made an impact on them. They received dozens of submissions and selected some letters to use in the videos. This campaign achieved the desired goal of highlighting the impact educators have on students’ lives through the authentic, heartfelt words of their students.

The second staff highlight involved a heartfelt story about a bus driver. Juliann heard about this story from a counselor’s post, and she and Dyuce chased down the story. She shared, “The driver noticed one of his students was feeling down and learned that the first grader didn’t have pajamas for pajama day at school. After the driver completed his morning bus run, he went to the store, bought a few pairs of pajamas, and brought them back to the student at school.

I saw the counselor’s post and knew this would make an excellent staff highlight at the district level. We called the school’s principal and had him take a picture of the student in his pajamas. The following week, I was able to interview the bus driver and put together a web story and social media post while another colleague went out and got beautiful pictures of the bus driver and student (we got parent permission to share photos of the student with this story). When the Facebook post had more than 100 likes less than one minute after going live, I knew this story was going to be huge.”

The story reached over 326,000 on Facebook and earned national media coverage.

💡 Lesson? Spend the time to chase down the story. Put in the effort to take a new angle and appreciate your staff. Adding variety to the source of your stories and the point of view that you tell them will impact your reach!

🏆 Staff Recruitment Award – Capital Region Educational Service District 113, WA – Seley Nemish & McKenna Bruner

It seems like every school is competing for staff. Instead of just posting jobs – tell stories! Bus driver shortages seem to be sweeping the country, so Seley Nemish and McKenna Bruner put their creativity to work on this video series that is similar to “Humans of New York.”

Tumwater School District is a one-person communications team, so she reached out to the Capital Region Educational Service District 113 to put together a month-long social media campaign to drive recruitment. The campaign was called #WhyIDrive. 

The final campaign consisted of short videos highlighting bus drivers and why they drive for the Tumwater School District. The campaign reached over 230,000 people on Facebook, helping build support and recognition for bus drivers – and added bus drivers to the team, too!

   

💡 Lesson? Reaching out to outside support for help on major initiatives is acceptable! You cannot do it all, and there are vendors, consultants, and others who would love to help you produce content that gets results.

🏆 Storytelling Award – Benjamin Logan Local Schools, OH – Sally Stolly

Sometimes, you just need to tell the story. This simple photo, combined with the heroic leadership displayed by Hannah, a student at Benjamin Logan Local Schools, led to media coverage in the community. The story didn’t happen at school, but that’s OK! You can still share those stories.

💡 Lesson? We know images are important, but it’s the story that will win. Don’t wait until you have the “perfect” photo before sharing a powerful story like this with your followers. Sally could have delayed and waited for a more formal photo of the student, but she went with what she had. And it was awesome – because she was in her Subway uniform!

🏆 Student Highlight Award – Cherry Creek School District, CO – Lauren Snell

Grab the tissues; this one is another tear-jerker. 

After a tip from one of its high schools, the communications team at Cherry Creek School District worked to garner positive media attention by highlighting a student overcoming adversity. 

Noble Haskell, a quadriplegic following a devastating car accident in June 2021, defied the odds by walking to receive his high school diploma in May 2023. Despite the immense challenges he faced, the former cross-country athlete refused to accept defeat, firmly believing that he would not only walk again but someday run again. He stands as a symbol of resilience and perseverance, inspiring his community at Smoky Hill High School and beyond. 

Cherry Creek Schools’ vision is “dedicated to excellence,” and one of the district’s five core values is “growth mindset.” Haskell embodied the district’s values and vision in his pursuit of his goal.

The 32-second video went viral, reaching 8,134,104 accounts with 9,768 comments and more than 4,000 shares on Instagram. This single post helped the school district gain 4,740 new followers on Instagram.

On Facebook, the video had 64,029 plays and 3,467 reactions. The intended target audience was the Cherry Creek School District community, but the inspirational story gained national and international attention with articles in India, United Kingdom, Inside Edition, USA Today, and World News Tonight with David Muir. 

Check out the positive comments on the post. “This is phenomenal! Truly inspirational and one of the reasons I chose the profession I practice!” Another comment said, “Congratulations to this strong, courageous, and brave young man!!” 

To let the power of the student’s story speak for itself, the district provided a simple caption and a very simple video. Overall, it’s a mic-drop!

💡 Lesson? You have stories similar to this in your school or district. Get the permission you need to share it – and do it!! It positively reflects everyone involved with your community.

🏆 Trending Vertical Video Award – Flagler Palm Coast High School, FL – Brandon Seminara

Oh, trends are fun on TikTok and Instagram Reels! Flagler Palm Coast High School was one of the first to jump on this “Rolls Royce” video and apply it to the school bus. 

Brandon Seminara shared that it actually reached more people as a video than as a Reel. This is something to think about as you share content on your pages!

The post helped share an uplifting moment despite the fact that the transportation department was being attacked with tons of complaints at the start of the school year.

💡 Lesson? Share content in a multitude of ways. If you have a vertical Reel, it can be shared as that, but you could also try it a week later as a video. You could also just post it in a carousel on Instagram. The algorithm is not always our friend, so by posting content in multiple ways, you could ensure more people see it!

Congratulations to All of Our Winners!

Congrats to all of our 2024 Golden Gribble winners! And a special shoutout to the nearly 200 people who submitted entries this year but were not selected. I am proud of your efforts and encourage you to keep telling those stories!

Go ahead and follow these social media accounts to draw more inspiration throughout the year. And if you’d love even more support, training, and inspiration – check out my membership program!