Scholastic Corporation

Company: Scholastic Corporation, New York, NY
Company Description: Scholastic Corporation is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys.
Nomination Category: Team Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Communications Team

Nomination Title: Scholastic Election 2004 Communications Team

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved in 2004 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

How does a children’s book publishing and education company find a way to make
news when nine Democrats and a sitting President are competing for coverage in
an election year?  The Scholastic Communications Team managed to secure
election year coverage that resulted in 221 print articles, 201 television and
radio segments, and 32 online stories.  Here’s how they did it and why.

Every four years, the Presidential Election marks an exciting time for
schoolchildren to learn how the United States elects its leader. It is also an
extremely competitive time for companies that supply news to classrooms around
the country.  Through a carefully orchestrated strategic PR campaign, the
Scholastic Communications Team was able to capitalize on media interest in the
election while positioning Scholastic Classroom Magazines and Scholastic News
Online as the leader in presenting age-appropriate news for children.
 
At the crux of Scholastic’s election year strategy was the creation of a Scholastic
Kids Press Corps, 75 student reporters ages 10-14 from around the country.
Under the guidance of Scholastic’s editors and the Communications Team, the
student reporters covered every aspect of the race to the White House, beginning
with the primaries and caucuses and ending with the inauguration. Wherever the
candidates were, Scholastic Kid Reporters were there, notebook in hand, to report
on the campaign news of the day.  But unlike adult reporters and more like the
candidates themselves, the kid reporters often found the traveling press corps
covering their every move! Highlights of coverage on the Scholastic Kids Press
Corps included articles in USA Today, Associated Press, Christian Science
Monitor, Detroit Free Press, Houston Chronicle and Newsday, multiple segments
on The Today Show and five minutes on Hardball with Chris Matthews the night
before the election. 

Scholastic also created an election year partnership with NBC News that resulted
in over 100 segments on the student reporters and other Scholastic election
activities airing on The Today Show, Weekend Today, MSNBC, Telemundo, and
the NBC affiliated stations. Capping the successful partnership with NBC News,
Scholastic became the exclusive education partner of Democracy Plaza, a 17-day
celebration of democracy and citizenship in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza. 
From October 20 to November 5, 2004, Democracy Plaza drew tens of thousands
of visitors and media to its many attractions including Scholastic Democracy for
Kids, an interactive, educational exhibit on citizen’s rights and
responsibilities. 

The Communications Team secured media coverage for the event in The New York Times, New York Post and Newsday and multiple television segments on The
Today Show, Weekend Today Show, MSNBC, WNBC-TV, Telemundo and NBC affiliate stations.

As the campaign wound to a close, the Communications Team released the
results of the Scholastic Election Poll, which, since 1940, has enabled students
to “vote” for their choice for President. Media outlets were keenly interested
in the results of the poll because the student vote has mirrored the outcome of the
general election in every election but two.  Scholastic reported the results of the
poll – Bush 52% and Kerry 47% – live on The Today Show, and MSNBC followed with a feature segment on the history of the Scholastic Election Poll.  Coverage also appeared in USA Today, Washington Post, Seattle Times and on Fox News Channel, among other outlets. 

The successful planning and execution of these initiatives contributed to an
extremely profitable election year for the Classroom Magazines group, which saw
an increase in circulation for each of its current events magazines, as well as a
record number of page visits each month for Scholastic News Online.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

Supporting materials for this nomination were submitted offline.

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated team:

Kyle Good, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Media Relations, led the Scholastic Kids Press Corps Communications Team in conjunction with
Scholastic Classroom Magazines and Scholastic News Online Editorial Teams. 
Reporting to Dick Robinson, Chairman, President and CEO, Ms. Good is
responsible for planning and executing corporate communications strategies for all
divisions of the company.   Prior to joining Scholastic, Ms. Good was the Director
of State and Regional Communications for the Children’s Defense Fund. 
Previously, Ms. Good was a director and producer at NBC News and CBS News.