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Charles City’s DeVore recognized for excellence in community engagement

  • Justin DeVore, Charles City’s communications and community engagement specialist, won a ISPRA award of excellence for this photo, entitled “Mom, I’m King,” taken last fall. The caption read: “Moments after being named homecoming king, senior Theo Arndt reconnects with his mother, Kim Arndt following the Homecoming coronation ceremony.” (Photo submitted.)

  • Justin DeVore, Charles City’s communications and community engagement specialist, won a ISPRA award of excellence for this photo, entitled “The Buzz,” taken in May of 2017. The caption read: “Charles City High School agriculture students in complete bee-keeping suits set up their first beehive as part of a new food-grid class.” (Photo submitted.)

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

When something positive happens within the Charles City Community School District, it’s Justin DeVore’s job to document it and alert the public and local media.

So who alerts the public and local media when something positive happens to DeVore himself?

DeVore is Charles City’s communications and community engagement specialist, a position he’s held for the last four years. In April, he and Charles City were recognized with some major awards at the Iowa School Public Relations Association (ISPRA) awards ceremony he attended in Johnston.

For Devore, it was all in a day’s work. Through his job in communications and community engagement, he said, he tells the stories of the Charles City school district. He has a direct impact on students, parents and the community.

“We demystify, and offer a window into what’s happening behind the walls of the school,” he said.

DeVore is essentially a one person-show.

“One person, if you count me,” he said. “One-half if you include the fact that I am shared between the city, the county and the school” as director of the city’s Public Access Network and as Floyd County’s emergency public information officer.

At the ISPRA ceremony in Newton, the Charles City School District had three projects earn merit awards, five receive awards of excellence, and two “Blue/Gold” awards were received for “Best in Show.”

“That’s a lot of bling,” DeVore said.

A department can submit 25 categories for judging, and Charles City was judged among larger schools with bigger budgets, such as West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Ames, Dubuque and Cedar Falls.

“We did well,” DeVore said. “We play with the big boys very well.”

In DeVore’s four years at Charles City, he’s won five Blue/Gold awards. Only one other school district earned as many awards as Charles City did this year.

“You really do a good job of telling the story of the school. Good job.” Charles City School Board Vice President Scott Dight said to DeVore last Monday, when he told the Charles City Community School District Board of Education about the acknowledgements.

“This was a necessity, you’ve proven the value of what you do over the last few years.” said director Robin Macomber.

School Board President Jason Walker told DeVore that the improvement in public relations over the last few years has been remarkable.

“All the work that is done in our community now, in so many media outlets, has had a large impact in our community,” he said. “When I got on the board four years ago, there was an overwhelming amount of negative things out there, in social media, in the newspaper, yard signs — everywhere you looked.

“Now, if you look around, we’ve turned the tide and are highlighting the positive things about our school. That’s a result of your work and the campaign that you’ve created,” Walker said.

He encouraged DeVore to keep up the good work.

“We really appreciate that and look forward to continuing it,” Walker said. “I look forward to seeing the next thing you create.”

The three levels of achievement at the ISPRA are Merit, Excellence and the Blue and Gold Award, for “Best in Show.” DeVore won ISPRA Awards of Merit for three videos he produced, entitled “Iowa BIG North — Year One,” “Make It Happen” and “Build Our Future.”

DeVore won ISPRA Awards of Excellence for three photographs, entitled  “Mom, I’m King,” “The Orangest Band,” and “The Buzz.”

DeVore won an ISPRA Award of Excellence for the video he produced entitled “#NewestComets,” a video short entitled “Iowa BIG North Instructors,” and two different video series — “American Education Week Stakeholder Perspectives” and “Comet Closeups.” DeVore also won two ISPRA Awards of Excellence in the area of public engagement, and one Award of Excellence in the category of social media.

DeVore won the highest honor — the ISPRA Blue and Gold “Best in Show” award, for both the Iowa BIG North Instructors video and for Communications and Public Engagement.

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