cps sac social media toolkit

Spread School News! Social Media Toolkit

1

CPS Student Advisory Council Members and Report Contributors:

Marcel Bivins

Urban Prep – Bronzeville Campus

Linda Brown

Chicago Tech Academy

Cecil Corbin

Corliss Academy

Angel Diaz

Curie Metropolitan High School

Debbin Flores

Wells Academy

Jordan Henderson

Lincoln Park High School

Winnie Lui

Whitney Young

Antoine Martin

Corliss Academy

Martin Roman

Pritzker College Prep

Bronson Roseboro

Morgan Park High School

Aysha Thomas

Wells Academy

Angelique White

Julian Academy

Student Advisory Council Summer Staff

AJ Garrett, Senior Program Director

Miriam Martinez, Senior Program Director

Burrell Poe, Mikva Fellow


2 Table of Contents

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

II. Why use social media? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

III. Before Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Getting started

IV. Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

V. Twitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

VI. Instagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

VII. YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

VIII. Posting 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

IX. Counter-Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

X. Earned Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

XI. List of Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18


3 Introduction

We are a group of high school students eager to make change in our community, putting hard

work into to challenges that we take on and pride with the results.

This tool was created to shine lights onto schools, to prove to the media source that our schools are

not areas of violence, but a space of learning for youths, teaching the next great generation of

tomorrow. Shining lights on students for their hard work, whether it’s winning an award in

academics or in sports or even when a graduation rate of a school has risen.

We expect news outlets to see and promote the accomplishments and the hard work of students in

our schools. So at the end of the day, when it comes to our schools reputation, we see the cup as

half full, rather than half empty.


4 Why Use Social Media?

1. Generate a

positive image of

your school: Social media has become one of the

biggest ways to improve networking

between communities, neighborhoods and

people in general. It’s very important to

shine a positive light on schools and show

their success along the way, and social

media provides the perfect medium in

which to showcase a school’s successes to

the world. Schools can prove that students

do more than negative news stories may

imply. Schools can shape a better

reputation by promoting all the good

things they have to offer and all the

great things they have done.

2. “Flip” negative

stories: Schools can portray the positive outcomes

and the steps taken to prevent fights or

infractions that may affect the school’s

reputation. Although Chicago Public

Schools have become known for negative

events occurring, they also have a lot of

positive and wonderful events that

happen inside schools across the city.

Positive stories are the types of stories

that schools can use social media to

highlight and compete with the

negative stories.

3. Promote school

activities, clubs and

events: Schools should use social media to

showcase sport teams’ wins, after school

clubs, pep rallies, spirit days, dances and

fundraisers. This increases school pride

and creates positive school culture.

4. Connect with

students, parents and

communities outside

of school time: Schools can connect with their

communities through social media. Social

media can help schools to communicate

with parents and students about what is

going on. It’s a way of branding their

school as a great place for students.

Students do a lot of great things to help

the community such as community service


5 hours and fundraisers that are held for

the school’s community.

Before

Getting

Started


6 According to CPS’ Communication

Department:

1:

2:

3:

A school’s principal is the only person with

the authority to authorize an official social

media presence.

Principals who authorize a school presence

on social media are ultimately responsible for

its content and maintenance.

Principals who delegate all or part of

maintaining their school’s social media presence

should think through their decisions carefully

utilizing the resources that Chicago Public

Schools has provided at:

http://www.cps.edu/pages/socialmediatoolkit.aspx

http://www.cps.edu/pages/socialmediatoolkit.aspx


7

Getting

Started


8

What is a Facebook?

Facebook has become the largest social network in the world with over 1 billion users. Facebook

users come from every demographic, using the popular network to share content with their

family, friends and coworkers.

Creating a Facebook Account

1. To set up a Facebook account you will

first need to go to: www.facebook.com

2. As soon as the page loads, it will ask if

you would like to sign up.

3. Fill out the information asked and when

you put an email, put a professional

email.** YOU MUST CREATE A

PERSONAL ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO

CREATE THE PAGE.** This is why we

say put a professional or the school’s email

and not a personal one.

4. Once you have created the account, scroll

down until you see the ‘Pages’ section and

click on ‘Create a Page’.

5. A list of groups will show up

6. Click on the ‘Company, Organization or

Institution’ which should have a drop

down menu

7. Scroll down to school then type in the

name of your school

8. Click “Get Started”

9. Then it will say “Set Up (School Name)”

10. Tell about it and what type of programs

the school has.

11. Then post a “profile picture” of the school.

12. Congratulations!!! Now your page is

created!!!

Success Stories:

Wells High School has a Facebook page where it posted things about their school talent shows and

local events happening near the school. Pritzker College Prep also has a Facebook account where

they post information about times and dates of orientations, fundraisers and sporting events.

http://www.facebook.com/


9

What is a Tweet? A Tweet is an expression of a moment or idea. It can contain text, photos, or videos. Millions of

Tweets are shared in real time, every day. Twitter is the best way to connect with people, express

yourself and discover what's happening. The best Tweets share meaningful moments — big and

small. Quote your grandma, share a photo of your pet sloth, or make a Vine video of your

youngest doing a tricycle wheelie. If you think it's interesting, chances are your followers will, too.

Twitter is a social media platform many see as a way to boost any other social media or projects

you have. There is a 140 character limit on your "tweets," or posts, so you won't be able to send

longer messages. You can send links to more information, however. This section will outline easy

ways to use Twitter.

Creating a Twitter Account 1. Creating an account is quick and

easy to do, just begin by going on

www.twitter.com.

2. Next, enter the name for your

Twitter handle, or username. This

will be the name others use to refer

to you when sending tweets

mentioning you or to you. This can

be the name of your school, or the

name decided to be your "School

Trademark". The formal name of

your school can go where the form

will ask for your name. You can also

set an account picture, which can be

anything from a picture of your

school to one picture of a school

Activity that characterizes your

school's spirit.

3. The form will also ask for an email

account. This is for slight

advertisement purposes, but also for

security. For this reason, you may

want to create a specific email for

the management of social media

accounts.

4. Twitter can be accessed and

managed from a desktop computer

or a smartphone, and it can be used

on multiple devices at the same time.

Create and Share Content If you already have an online version or your school newspaper - or even just posts from

Facebook - that you would like to share, make a tweet with the link included.

http://www.twitter.com/


10 1. Copy the URL of the webpage you

want people to see (an article, a new

school webpage, a homework help site,

etc.).

2. Compose a new tweet. Try and word

your message in as few words as

possible. Omit unnecessary words, and

try to keep focus on one

message per tweet. (Maybe

consult one of your English teachers!).

3. Once you've written a witty or

informational tagline to draw attention

to your tweet, paste the link URL at

the end of your tweet.

Note: You don't have to send your tweet immediately. If you want to wait for a later time,

just save your tweet as a draft by clicking "save" while on a desktop, or clicking "back" and

then "save" on most smartphones.

Language You Need to Know!

Favorite

Favorite a Tweet to let the person know you

like it.

Retweet

Share a Tweet with your followers. You can

even add your own thoughts before you

share it.

Hashtags

Hashtags assign a topic to a Tweet. So, for

example, Tweets that contain #WorldCup are

about just that. Click on a hashtag to see

Tweets related to a topic.

Reply

Comment on a Tweet and join the

conversation.

Messages

Have private conversations with your

follower

Notifications

See when someone ‘retweets’ or ‘favorites’

one of your Tweets, replies to you, or

mentions you.

Success Stories:

https://twitter.com/mjboraz https://twitter.com/LaneTech1440

Source: http://twitter.com

https://twitter.com/hashtag/worldcup?utm_source=gazebo&utm_medium=textlink&utm_term=hashtags&utm_content=worldcup&utm_campaign=story-of-a-tweet&ref_src=twsrc%3Agazebo%7Ctwcamp%3Astory-of-a-tweet%7Ctwgr%3Atextlink%7Ctwterm%3Ahashtags%7Ctwcon%3Aworldcup

https://twitter.com/hashtag/worldcup?utm_source=gazebo&utm_medium=textlink&utm_term=hashtags&utm_content=worldcup&utm_campaign=story-of-a-tweet&ref_src=twsrc%3Agazebo%7Ctwcamp%3Astory-of-a-tweet%7Ctwgr%3Atextlink%7Ctwterm%3Ahashtags%7Ctwcon%3Aworldcup

https://twitter.com/mjboraz

http://twitter.com/


11

How to Create an Account: 1. To create an Instagram account you must

first have a mobile electronic device that

can take pictures and download apps.

2. Download the Instagram app and fill out

the required information needed to make

an account.

3. After you create your account you are

then able to post pictures on your profile.

4. By clicking this icon you can open

a camera setup or you then have the

option to upload a picture previously taken

and stored on your mobile device or take

a picture using the app’s camera.

5. After taking the picture or choosing to

upload an already stored picture, you can

crop the image and add a photo color

filter to your liking.

6. After cropping the image you are then

sent to the ‘share to’ page.

7. You can then choose to caption the image,

add hashtags, and tag others in it.

8. To publish you image, click the check

button located at the top right of the

screen to post the picture to your profile.

Tag- to tag someone in a picture is to post that the user of the other account tag in the image is also in the

image posted.


12

What is YouTube? YouTube is a website that allows users to post and watch videos made by people from all over the

world. People can connect with others online and share information about music, games, sports,

education, and more. Users may comment, like, and subscribe to channels that capture their

interest. By subscribing to a channel, users can be updated on new videos and see the activity of

the channel owner.

How to Open an Account: If you own a Google account (Gmail, google+), then you can just use that to connect to YouTube.

For instance, you can type in your username and password for Gmail to sign-in to YouTube. If you

don’t have a Google account, you will have to create a Google+ account. Google+ is like Facebook,

but what you do on YouTube will not be shown on Google+.

Go to https://accounts.google.com/SignUp and fill out the required information to set up your

account.

How to Upload a Video: 1. Log into YouTube using your Gmail or

Google account.

2. Look at the top of the page for the

Upload button.

3. Choose the video you want to upload

from your computer. Before you upload,

you can adjust the privacy settings so

only specific people or the public can

view it.

4. You can add a title and description as

the video is uploading to YouTube.

5. Click “Publish” and you’re done!

Success Story:

https://accounts.google.com/SignUp


13 Posting 101

Now that you’ve made your accounts, how will you send your message? This section will outline

just what and how to post updates on your social media accounts.

What to Promote In a very general sense, as a principal, you should be promoting anything and everything positive

in your school. Posts should be focused toward work students and staff are putting in during the

school year. You should highlight student events, dances/formals, clubs, and recognitions. The

following gives principals some examples of what they should be promoting on their social media

webpage.

● Student clubs/activities

○ Music Projects

○ Art Projects

○ Sports Teams

● Student events

○ Fundraisers

○ Dances/Formals

● Student Recognition

○ Graduation

○ Scholarships

○ Awards

Using school pride slogan/name. Mascots or Acronyms. Think of any school signatures. Your mascot name, your acronym, anything that when anyone in

your school sees or hears they know it’s you. Use this to make a “School Trademark” as a way for

your school to be recognizable. (i.e., Steinmenauts, EMPEHI, Mustangs.)

Making Good Posts ● Post updates about school events, sports, clubs, activities, and more! Anything that would

warrant a yearbook or school newspaper photo warrants a post too!


14 ○ As your school’s yearbook/newspaper committee is taking pictures, work

together with them to have a bank of pictures to use for a variety of posts.

Pictures are more interactive, and graphics or pictures with text draw the eye more.

Work together with any resident graphic designers in your school.

○ Students receiving scholarships or awards, short stories about seniors preparing for

college, short school news articles, etc. are cool things to post.

● Make sure the goals/mission of your school are evident. A common theme that shows in all

of your posts (i.e., college readiness, a good high school experience, responsibility, etc.)

● Posting Tips:

○ Schools should make a twitter page and follow radio and news stations, so that when

something good happens at their school, they can tweet about it and at their twitter

handles. Some examples include public events that are happening inside or outside

the building (student receives scholarship or award, everyone graduates in the class

with a high GPA, everyone is accepted to college, etc.).

○ Build support for raffles and events on social media. Make sure you update and

check your Facebook and twitter pages frequently.

○ You don’t have to reply to every message directed at you. Respond to those that

better your relationship with your community and audience. Respond to those that

you believe need to be addressed, like if you receive a large amount of posts about

the same issue.

○ There is an amazing thing now in social media...DRAFTS! Use them well because

you can have multiple post options when there isn’t much going on. If there is a

spirit week or a busy week in your school, take pictures and write articles and then

save them for a later time. Make sure to not post too many things on one site in a

day/week.


15 Counter-Messaging

What is counter-messaging? Counter Messaging would be turning around a bad story into a story that is informative; one

having a message or lesson that shows what all parties are learning from that event or tragedy.

How to Counter-message: Many times, a school’s foremost news exposure is that of violent or extreme behavior. There are

plenty of other stories to be told about a school culture. Regardless of where the school is located,

who goes there, test scores, or anything, there are positive things that occur in all schools. There

are ways to “flip” the connotations of these more negative news stories to show the positive work

of schools. This is called “Counter-Messaging”.

After Action Review: Before announcing anything or posting anything on your social media page, it is highly

recommended that your school calls for an A.A.R (After Action Review) meeting. This meeting

would consist of school administration and community members coming together to learn about

what happened, what lead to the event, how can this be prevented from repeating itself, and how

the community and general public should hear about this story.

How do you want to show that you are handling the situation? Any processes or programs in

place to counsel, sympathize with, or help students after or during a violent or traumatic event can

be shared.

Example:

Posting about restorative talks between students and security guards after a fight broke out.

Posting quotes from students about how they see the school bettering itself after an incident. Show

the work done by teachers and staff to help students with studying or problems.


16 How the same story would look with and without Counter-

Messaging: Without Counter-messaging: There was a shooting at a City-field High School, leaving three

teenagers in critical condition. Police officials claim that the shooting was gang related, making it

the third shooting in the neighborhood this month.

After Counter-messaging: There was a shooting at City-field High School, three students were

injured, but no one was killed. The City-field administration is working closely with the Police

department to learn what lead up to this event, and how it can be prevented from happening

again. School security and community members are placed outside between school’s arriving times

and dismissal time to ensure that students are directed home safely after school.


17 Earned Media

What is earned media? “Earned media (or free media) refers to publicity gained through promotional efforts other than

advertising, as opposed to paid media, which refers to publicity gained through advertising.”

Using social media, you can give your school positive coverage in the mainstream press. One way

to do this is to tweet at local media. Some twitter handles are:

News Stations (Chicago):

● CNN - @CNN

● WGN - @WGNNews

● ABC 7 - @ABC7Chicago

● FOX 32 - @fox32news

● NBC 5 - @NBCChicago

● WTTW 11 - @WTTW

● CBS 2 - @cbsChicago

Radio Stations:

❖ WBEZ - @WBEZNews

Local newspapers:

Defender - @ChiDefender

Hoy - @vivelohoy

DNAInfo - @DNAInfoChi

Major Newspapers:

➢ Sun Times - @Suntimes

➢ Chicago Tribune - @ChicagoTribune

➢ Redeye - @redeyechicago

Social Media:

★ Twitter

★ Facebook


18 List of Media Contacts Media Outlet

Organization First Last Title

Contact

Number Email Twitter

Catalyst

Chicago Lorraine Forte Editor-in-Chief

312-673-

3881

forte@catalyst-

chicago.org @CatalystChicago

Catalyst

Chicago Sarah Karp Deputy Editor

312-673-

3882

karp@catalyst-

chicago.org

@SarahAshmomK

arp

Catalyst

Chicago Rebecca Harris

Associate

Editor

312-673-

3874 [email protected]

Chicago South

Shore Scene Valencia Reyes

Managing

Editor

773-363-


Chicago Sun-

Times Kate N. Grossman

Deputy

Editorial Page

Editor

312-321-


Chicago

Tribune Jodi S. Cohen

Higher

Education

Reporter

312-222-


Chicago

Tribune Noreen S.

Ahmed-

Ullah

Chicago Public

Schools

Reporter

312-222-

5054 [email protected] @nahmedullah

Substance Rosagitta Podrovsky Deputy Editor

773-725-


Substance Lotty Blumenthal

Board of

Education

Reporter

773-725-

7502

Substance Grady Jordan

Contributing

Editor

773-725-


Substance Joseph Guzman

Local School

Councils

Reporter

773-725-

7502

[email protected]

m

The Hyde

Park Herald Dashell Phillips Reporter

773-643-

8533 135 [email protected]

WBEZ Becky Vevea

Midday

Producer

312-948-

4731 [email protected] @beckyvevea

WBEZ-FM Ray Salazar

Regular

Contributor

312-948-

4600 [email protected] @WhiteRhinoRay

WBEZ-FM Linda Lutton

Education

Reporter

312-948-

4608 [email protected] @WBEZeducation

Source: Community Media Workshop

https://twitter.com/CatalystChicago

https://twitter.com/SarahAshmomKarp

https://twitter.com/SarahAshmomKarp

https://twitter.com/WhiteRhinoRay


19

www.mikvachallenge.org

www.cps.edu

http://www.mikvachallenge.org/

http://www.cps.edu/

cps sac social media toolkit

Documents

school clubs

schools reputation

social media toolkit

school time

school activities

schools successes

positive school culture

increases school pride