Photo by me, it's of ND Governor Doug Burgum addressing the WHS Wind Ensemble, the 2016-17 Governor's Band of North Dakota.
Background
Williston, ND has been the site of three major oil booms, with the most recent being in 2010, turning a town with an aging population of around 12,000 into a destination for anyone and everyone looking to make a quick buck by living hard on the oilfields, with the population growing to over 30,000 in a few years.
Things have settled down a bit since the boom first happened, but the population growth has continued. Williston Public School District #1 found themselves going from 2,185 K-12 students in 20019-10 to 3,500 in 2015-16.
That's where I came in. After the huge influx of new people from all around the world, District #1 decided to add their first Communications Specialist, someone to handle the overall "communications" to the public and within the district itself.
Though my initial job description was nearly blank, I've found myself doing a whole lot of everything since arriving in Williston.
Essential duties
- Managed the Communications Department for a 4,200 student public school district in Williston, ND
- Worked as public relations liaison to the local media, increasing the number of positive feature stories regarding District #1 from one a month to around ten every month
- Established a Social Media Guide and Event Promoting Guide for the district
- Standardized the website, creating templates for different categories of web pages
- Ran district-level and high school-level social media accounts, including Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and an Instagram account
- Planned and executed both short- and long-term social media strategies, growing the following and public engagement on all accounts
- Wrote and edited all press releases for the district, both to promote our successes and get in front of any negative news
My favorite part
What I've loved about working for Williston Public School District #1 is celebrating the successes of our students, staff members, and teachers. It's hard to be recognized for doing a great job in education or as a student.
Working with students has been my favorite part of this job. Getting to know just a few students who are passionate about learning, art, music, engineering, and all other interests has been better than I would've imagined.