Skip To Main Content

Logo Image

Rockwood School District

Logo Title

Rockwood Communications Team Earns Golden Achievement Award, National Recognition from NSPRA

Nine staff members on the Rockwood Communications team smile in their office.
Rockwood Communications Team Earns Golden Achievement Award, National Recognition from NSPRA

The Rockwood School District has been recognized by the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) for its efforts to inform our community across multiple channels, including a Golden Achievement Award and two Excellence awards.

Each year, more than 100 experienced communication professionals from around the country volunteer to serve as judges in NSPRA's National School Communication Awards contest using a set of established criteria based on industry best practices.

In the 2024 National School Communication Awards, Rockwood earned one of 107 Golden Achievement Awards, recognizing exemplary work in all aspects of school public relations, communication, marketing and engagement, for its Proposition 3 Communications Campaign. Rockwood is one of only five school districts in Missouri to earn a Golden Achievement Award this year and the only one to earn it in the Bond/Finance Campaign category.

The Prop 3 campaign was the combined effort of the entire Rockwood Communications team, led by Chief Communications Officer Mary LaPak and also including communications coordinator David Morrison, coordinator of web services Karl Weinrich, digital communications specialist Curtis Brennecke, internal communications specialist Andrew Shin, senior webmaster Terra Miller, school and community relations specialist Kate Moore, communications secretary Regena Buehler and print services manager Brandy Heine.

Rockwood earned two Excellence awards for the photo submission “Celebrating the Past, Excited for the Future” --  depicting a moment during the 2023 Lafayette High Senior Walk at Babler Elementary – by Weinrich, and the writing submission “Playground Improvements at Fairway Make Recess More Accessible for all Students,” by Morrison. The photo was one of only 42 to earn an Excellence award – and the only one from Missouri – and the writing entry was one of only 107 to earn an award of Excellence, including only two from the state.

Rockwood also received six Merit awards for:

"Words cannot express how proud I am of our team for winning multiple national communications awards, culminating in the prestigious Golden Achievement Award,” LaPak said. “They do outstanding work celebrating and informing Rockwood patrons on a daily basis, and their dedication to informing patrons about Proposition 3 in the fall not only raised awareness but also set a standard for excellence in our field."

The Rockwood Communications team’s work is displayed on the NSPRA website and will be honored during the Annual Meeting and Celebration of Achievement at the NSPRA 2024 National Seminar on Sunday, July 14, at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue in Bellevue, Washington. Winners also will be recognized on a display in the NSPRA Member Center at the Seminar and, as a Golden Achievement winner, Rockwood also has the opportunity to present about its campaign at the conference.

Recent News Articles