TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District’s Communications Department has been recognized with three Gold Star Awards and one Best in Category Award presented by the Texas School Public Relations Association (TSPRA). The winners were announced at TSPRA’s 60th annual conference Wednesday night (February 23) in Round Rock.
This year’s Star Awards recognize work produced during the 2020-2021 school year. Temple ISD swept Gold honors in all three Star Awards categories it entered. The department, led by Chief of Communications and Community Relations Christine Parks, was honored with a Gold Star Award for its production of the district’s 2020 Annual Report. TISD also won a Gold Star Award for its Healthy Habits poster and the district’s Black History Month social media campaign celebrating African American leaders with a tie to the Temple community. The 2020 Annual Report also won Best in Category honors. TISD competed with all districts across the state of Texas with 15,000 or fewer students. That means Temple had to compete with schools and departments that were almost twice as big as TISD.
“Telling Temple ISD’s story in a way that engages and connects our students, families, staff and community has been and always will be at the heart of what we do,” Parks said. “Having these efforts recognized as distinguished amongst our peers state-wide, is truly an honor for the district and for my team.”
The TSPRA Star Awards provide recognition for the outstanding education communications and projects of submitting members each year. Submissions are judged by on set criteria and there are nearly 50 categories of competition covering various media such as newsletters, programs, posters, reports, writing, image/identity packages, photography, graphics, video, electronic presentations, campaigns, events and web sites. Judges award Gold, Silver or Bronze winners and schools are divided into three groups. There are separate competitions for districts with 15,000 students or less, 15,000-40,000 students and 40,000 or more students. The winners were selected from a record-setting 1,662 entries this year.
“Since 2018 our district has set forth the goal of being recognized for innovation, efficiency and as a statewide leader among public school systems,” said Dr. Bobby Ott, superintendent of Temple schools. “This is in line with our community’s expectations. Winning Triple Gold at the Texas State Public Relations Conference shines a bright light on Temple ISD’s Communications Department, led by Christine Parks, for its efforts in transparency, engaging our community and informing our public. We are committed to these values and grateful for these statewide honors.”
The Communications Department’s Gold Star Awards will also be recognized at the TISD school board meeting on March 7th.