The Interview: Andrea Gribble giving one high-five at a time
Editor’s Note: The high-five thing is for real! The energy, enthusiasm, and passion Andrea Gribble brings to the table is contagious. I met her last summer in Chicago at the National School Public Relations Association National Seminar where she proudly sported her bedazzled #SocialSchool4Edu t-shirt. She wanted to get the word out about how she was building a company that helps leverage social media to share the stories of their school districts. Not every school district has a full-time PR person. Sometimes, that full-time PR person doesn’t have the time to do social media justice. So, in comes Andrea and her team serving schools nationwide. In fact, she recently told me she will be starting with a school district right here in my state of Ohio.
Andrea is an entrepreneur and business leader, with years of experience in the corporate world, but she is also a mom of six (this makes me exhausted) kids in public schools, and she loves sharing the story of education. She’s building a unique business that is helping expand the voice of students, teachers, and administrators. Check out her company and all of the great resources (webinars, blog posts, videos and more) on her website. This interview originally appeared in the June issue of the 1635 e-newsletter. SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE IT MONTHLY.
1. My experience in my public school was…
Awesome! I attended a small school in New Auburn, Wisconsin, and I felt like I had the best opportunities there. I graduated with just 32 people in my class (which was a big class for our town of 485 people). I was competitive in and out of the classroom, so I thrived in being involved in everything possible, forensics, basketball, musicals, volleyball, National Honor Society, track, student council, cheerleading, quiz bowl and more.
2. When I think of public education, I…
I think of the amazing things that students and staff are doing every day. I’m sad to think of the “beating” schools take from society because I see so many incredible things happening!
3. If I were telling the story of public education…
Well, I kind of feel like I am telling the story of public education. My growing company is helping more than 30 school districts across the country use social media to celebrate their students. I see so much inspiration and innovation on a daily basis. When you can leverage platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get those stories out to thousands and often tens of thousands of people — that is remarkable. The storytelling through videos and photos is powerful, and it is making a difference.
4. This July you are launching a virtual Social Media Summer Camp. Tell us all about it and why it will benefit those in education…
As I implied above, social media has the power to help change the narrative of public education. We just need some help to use it in the right ways for our schools. The 1st Annual Social Media Summer Camp was put together to help schools maximize their efforts and break through the challenges they are facing.
The virtual event happening on Wednesday, July 26th from 11 am — 5 pm EST, will highlight five different speakers. Each one is doing an amazing job with social media for their school, and they will share their expertise. You’ll see one important familiar face too… The benefit of an event like this is that it was created just for schools.
This event is for anyone interested in having social media make a bigger impact for their school. Superintendents, communications personnel, teachers, principals, assistants and more will be joining us. There will be live presentations and time for Q&A. Each participant will receive a workbook to go along with the topics, and the recorded presentations will be sent out after the event. That means you can share them with others at your school!
If you want to learn more, visit http://camp.socialschool4edu.com/.
5. A word of inspiration for those working in public education…
What you do, day in and day out, it matters. Every person involved with public education is making a difference. You are changing the world, one high-five at a time. As a mom of six kids who attend public schools, thank you!
1635 is a newsletter and a monthly moment to propel us forward in public education. Each month it features long-form content from those working both inside public education and from those on the outside looking in. We can learn so much from both viewpoints. The newsletter delivers the last Tuesday of every month. Subscribe.
