What’s Our Story?
Posted by ejallen on April 11, 2009
I recently was fortunate enough to attend a presentation by Daniel Pink. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office of Catholic Education hosted the presentation for administrators from our elementary and secondary schools. It was a great event and an indication of the vision shown by the office.
Having read A Whole New Mind, I was really looking forward to the day, and I was not disappointed. Pink’s talk was outstanding and got me thinking about many things, one of which is the subject of this post. I am sure that I have been driving family, friends, and teachers crazy with my energetic response to this book. So I thought it was time to share an idea that came to me through it.
One of the ideas that is deemed important in the book is that of story. Pink asks the reader to recall two facts from earlier in the book. I will not spoil this for those who have not yet read the book, but I can elaborate a little. There were 2 questions. I could not remember the answer to the first one, but could the other. This was what the author expected. How did I recall the answer to the second? Because the answer sought was part of a story told. That cemented the “story” idea for me.
So here I am a Catholic High School administrator. Increasing enrollment is always a goal. It is always a challenge, and the current state of our economy does not make it any easier.
But our mission is clear. We have a long tradition of outstanding education embedded with Gospel values. We have a storied history. We are starting to embrace the great shifts in teaching and learning. So what’s our story?
Recruitment has become a major part of our efforts. Would story help? Facts, stats, and statements are no longer enough. Think of all of the grads we have who have tremendous stories that began in our schools. How can we gather them and use them to tell our story? If Daniel Pink is right, and I truly believe he is, this could really help to get the word out on our schools and help us to continue to grow so that these great stories will continue.
I welcome comments, suggestions and ideas,
April 11th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I believe that telling our “story” must be an integral part of our recruitment plan. Our students are some our most important assets and could be our greatest spokespersons. But in what format should this as yet untapped source be? Obviously, the technological era that we exist in suggests the solution…but again what format within technology? We have all seen the power of negative comments on Facebook or even by word of mouth. Let’s shift that power to the absolutely phenomenally positive aspects of O’Hara. That is the story we must telll!!!!
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April 11th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
True Steph. I think we can use the web and print material as well. It would be a matter of first asking some grads to write their story. I think this combined with an increased web presence, and the shifts in teaching and learning would help us considerably.
Thanks for the comment!
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April 24th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
@ Ed
Great idea. Stories are very compelling. I’m excited that our marketing committee has began to employ a videographer to help tell our story. It should be pretty powerful to see the work unfold.
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ejallen Reply:
May 5th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Charlie, I am going to use animoto to tell some stories as soon as I figure out how to get them posted on our school site.
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