Nova Scotia Education Partners has launched a public relations, advertising and interactive campaign to promote the province’s public school system.
Central to the campaign is the Tales Out Of School website featuring upbeat stories about Nova Scotia’s public education system submitted by residents of the province. Visitors also can upload their own tales about the benefits of the programs and services offered through public schools.
The stories on the site focus not only on academics, but on services such as breakfast groups, athletics, co-op initiatives and support programs for students with special needs.
Vic Fleury, president of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, said the goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about the role of public schools in the province’s social and economic development.
“One of the challenges for us is that 70% of the general public in Nova Scotia don’t have kids in school,” said Fleury. “In trying to firm up support for policies that affect public education, it’s important that we get the public to recognize that Nova Scotia’s only real resource is its young people, and that our social and economic prosperity depends on how well-educated and employable our students are at the end of (their time in) the public school system.”
Dartmouth, N.S. agency M5PR handled media outreach for the campaign, which launched earlier this month. The firm also helped Nova Scotia Education Partners design the website, posters and other collateral for use in community presentations across the province.
Nova Scotia Education Partners is a collective comprised of five member organizations, including the Nova Scotia School Boards Association, Nova Scotia Teachers Union, Nova Scotia Federation of Home and School Associations, Association of Nova Scotia Educational Administrators and La Fédération des parents acadiens de la Nouvelle-Écosse.
