The School District of Pickens County (SDPC) is proud to announce that eight schools/programs within the district, along with the district communications office, have been honored with a remarkable total of 27 prestigious awards from the South Carolina chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (SC/NSPRA) for their exceptional communication efforts. SC/NSPRA recognized School District of Pickens County schools D.W. Daniel High, Easley High, Liberty Elementary, Liberty Primary, Pickens Elementary, R.C. Edwards Middle, West End Elementary, and the SDPC Work-based Learning program at its annual Rewards for Excellence ceremony held on April 26, 2024, in Columbia.
SC/NSPRA celebrated the effectiveness of programs and projects from across the state as part of its annual program to evaluate and strengthen public relations programs. This program recognizes outstanding communications and public relations efforts by South Carolina schools, school districts, and education agencies and associations. Public relations veterans with extensive experience in educational and business communications evaluated over 300 entries.
“We are thrilled to once again be recognized by the SC/NSPRA for our dedication to excellence in communication,” said SDPC Chief Communication Officer Darian Byrd. “These awards are a testament to the hard work and creativity of our team across the School District of Pickens County. Our commitment to transparent, timely, and engaging communication continues to strengthen our schools' connections with our community, ensuring that every family in our district is connected and informed. These achievements reinforce our ongoing effort to support an educational community where trust and collaboration thrive."
The Rewards for Excellence Program features three award programs:
Publications and Digital Media Excellence Awards: For individual products designed to improve communication. This program recognizes outstanding work in print and digital publications, video, audio, websites, social media, and more. These are focused on stand-alone projects and documents.
Golden Achievement Awards: For a single project or an aspect of a comprehensive program. This program recognizes outstanding, strategic work in all aspects of school public relations, communications, marketing, and engagement.
Gold Medallion Awards: For comprehensive public relations programs. This program recognizes superior educational public relations programs and campaigns grounded in strategic communication best practices.
This year, eight schools/programs within the district earned a combined 27 awards:
SDPC Communications Department: School District of Pickens County Chief Communications Officer Darian Byrd and Marketing and Communications Specialist Caroline Morris collected 6 awards in various categories including 2 Golden Achievement recognitions.
“SDPC 2023-28 Strategic Plan” and the “First Year Teacher Social Media Showcase” entries received Golden Achievement awards. Caroline Morris collected a Best in Show for her “Throwback Thursday” social media program. Fowler also received seven awards for photography and video production, including a Best in Show for the photography entry “Overcoming Adversity – Success!”.
D.W. Daniel High: Lucius Culpepper, Assistant Principal of D.W. Daniel High School, received a Golden Achievement Award for their "Positive Marketing" initiative, which has effectively elevated the visibility of student and school achievements.
Easley High School: Mallory Wade, assistant principal of EHS, and Ashley Manley accepted a Golden Achievement Award for the "Find Your E" campaign.
Liberty Elementary: Dawn Miller and Ashleigh Cobey accepted awards for four award-winning projects. They received a Golden Achievement Award for "Take a Peek at Our Week," which offers weekly updates to keep parents engaged and informed. They also received three awards in the Publications & Electronic Media category for the "We Are LABS!" infographic, the “Liberty LABS News" newsletter, and “Soak the Principal” in the photography category.
Liberty Primary: Liberty Primary assistant principal Joy Ellison accepted seven total awards including a variety of Publications & Electronic Media awards with one each in the marketing, photography, social media, special purpose publication, and video categories. They earned two Golden Achievement awards, including a Best in Show for the entry “We'll Take It From Here | Liberty Area Career Alignment Campaign” video.
Pickens Elementary: Kelley Nelms won an award in the Publications & Electronic Media - Photography category for her “Reading Buddies” submission.
R.C. Edwards Middle: Mary Cate Garrett, assistant principal of R.C. Edwards Middle School, and Dr. Rachel Gregory, Instructional Coach, accepted four Publications & Electronic Media awards - one for the social media project #180RCEexperience, two in the photography category and one in the newsletter category.
West End Elementary: Principal Dr. Angie Garrison and Kela Simpson collected a Publications & Electronic Media award for the online newsletter project “West End News”.
SDPC Work-Based Learning Program: Anna Esuary, Work-Based Learning Facilitator for the SDPC Work-Based Learning program, earned two Golden Achievement awards for her work on the “SDPC Work-Based Learning Program” and the “Pickens County Career & Technology Center AOP Showcase Display.”
SC/NSPRA is an affiliate of the National School Public Relations Association. The state chapter is composed of over 140 school public relations practitioners, superintendents, and other educational professionals from across the state. The organization strives to foster development in the field of school public relations and to encourage meaningful community involvement in and understanding of the public school system. Visit www.scnspra.org for more information.
