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Norfolk Public Schools spotlights student leadership day, local donation and refreshed communications plan
Summary
Board presentations highlighted a fourth-grade leadership day attended by students from multiple elementary schools, a $3,800 community donation from Allo Communications to Norfolk Public Schools, and progress on the district's communications strategic action plan including a website refresh and consolidated social media accounts.
NORFOLK, Neb. — The Norfolk Public Schools Board of Education heard a series of presentations focused on student leadership and district communications at its May meeting.
District staff and students described a leadership day attended by 52 fourth‑grade student leaders from across the district. The students met Mayor Clawson and Superintendent Dr. Jamie Jo Thompson and participated in breakout activities aimed at teamwork, public speaking and civic engagement. Staff said the leadership teams were built at each elementary school and were largely led by school counselors.
Allo Communications donation
Dave Miller, regional general manager for Allo Communications, presented a $3,800 donation to Norfolk Public Schools on behalf of Allo’s "Allo for Education" program. Miller said Allo donated $50 to the school of each new customer who signed up in November and December; across Allo communities the company donated $193,000 in total. Miller said Norfolk customers collectively designated Norfolk Public Schools as the recipient.
Communications strategic action plan and website refresh
Communications director Tiffany Settles and Mary Lure presented the communications strategic action plan progress. Highlights included:
- Establishing student leadership teams and advisory groups at each building and involving students in content creation; 52 students attended the leadership day showcased earlier in the meeting.
- Consolidating elementary and junior high social media pages under the district NPS business page to retain continuity if staff change and to standardize messaging.
- Partnering with IdeaBank (website vendor) to refresh the district website; staff said the refresh makes the site "lighter and brighter," adds district student photos instead of stock images and addresses navigation issues the district heard in parent surveys. The district said parents responded they did not want to download a separate mobile app; instead staff focused on improving the website experience and social‑media integrations (Class Intercom) to distribute content.
Quotes from participants
"We wanted teams in each of our buildings to represent the school and communicate wants and needs," said Angie Hausman, district elementary representative for counselors and member of the strategic action committee for communications.
"Norfolk has a special place in Allo’s heart," said Dave Miller. "The community chose Norfolk Public Schools; that shows the community wants to support education." Miller said the Norfolk share of the program equaled $3,800.
Why it matters
The leadership teams and communications work are part of a district effort to increase student voice and family engagement, the presenters said. Consolidating district social accounts and refreshing the website are intended to preserve institutional knowledge and make information easier for families to find.
What’s next
Staff said they will continue to expand student content creators to the senior high school in the fall and will publish new website photos and content over the summer. Allo and district staff took formal photographs at the meeting.
