Teacher recruitment videos receive top award
Videos featuring South Dakota teachers – part of the Department of Education’s (DOE) teacher recruitment/retention advertising campaign – have received recognition for excellence from the American Advertising Federation – South Dakota (AAF-SD). The campaign is part of a larger effort by the DOE to address the teacher shortage in the state.
AAF-SD awarded the videos a Gold ADDY in the category Public Service – Film, Video, and Sound. A Gold ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence.
The videos feature South Dakota teachers who explain why they teach; they tell of the rewards of working with children, the benefits of teaching in South Dakota communities, and the paths they took to get there. “I’m giving the kids something no one can take from them,” Amanda Christensen, a special education teacher at New Underwood School District, said in one of the videos. “When you teach a kid how to read, you’ve just opened up the whole world… It’s the coolest job.”
The videos can be seen at SDTeach.org.
Teachers speak from the heart
The teachers who are highlighted in the video come from school districts throughout the state, said Mary Stadick Smith, deputy secretary at the DOE. “We wanted a variety of voices – teachers new to their careers as well as those on the opposite side of the spectrum,” Stadick Smith said. “We wanted teachers from all grade levels, those who served special populations, and those who became teachers through an alternative route – we wanted to cover all the bases.”
Since the videos have been released, the response has been positive, said Stadick Smith. “The videos show teachers speaking from the heart about why they love to teach, and specifically why they like to teach in South Dakota.”
Ads direct viewers to websites showcasing lifestyle, jobs
Ads have been placed on billboards, television, programmatic displays, and social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Epicosity, the marketing firm that produced the ads, targeted not just South Dakota residents, but also those in neighboring states – North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Ads were also accessed in Texas, Arizona, and California.
Campaign ads direct viewers to two websites that work in tandem with each other. SDTeach.org is the website featuring the award-winning South Dakota educators. The website also showcases the state’s quality of life. It points users to a second website, TeachinSD.com, where schools can place job openings, and job seekers can see what jobs are available in schools throughout the state.
Traffic to the websites indicate that the ads are having the intended effect. Since the campaign launched in August, more than 44,000 users have visited SDTeach.org. The top five states generating traffic to the website are South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Colorado.
“While the primary purpose of the campaign is to recruit teachers, another goal is to elevate the teaching profession as a whole,” said Stadick Smith. “We want members of the community to understand and appreciate the teachers in their local schools. We want them to see their professionalism and their care for their students, the heart that teachers have for the kids in their communities.”
Stadick Smith attributes the success of the campaign to the teachers who are featured in the videos. “They all have a passion for helping young people, and that came through very clearly in the videos,” she said.
Many thanks to the teachers who contributed to the videos:
- Kelli Penfield, Lemon
- Jen Allen, Pierre
- Valerie Nelson, Chamberlain
- Alex Toupal, Bridgewater-Emery
- Amy Weiers, Rapid City
- Paul Kuhlman, Avon
- Connie Gretschmann, Avon
- Abbey Strait, Elkton
- Amanda Christensen, New Underwood
- George Hawkins, Sioux Falls
- Justice Morrison, White River
- Jakways Mendoza, Timber Lake
- Spencer Cody, Edmunds Central
- Alyssa Cassels, Deuel
- Jonni Hertel, Rapid City
- Tamara Carns, Yankton