| Success Stories
Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth Academy
Crisis Communications
Background:
Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth Academy is a charter school for at-risk students. The school was founded in 1995 by the late Chief Justice Alma Wilson of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Her mission was to
provide students with the skills, knowledge and values to become competent, productive citizens. SeeWorth Academy recently moved from their current facility to the old School of the Plains facility.
20 Hats was hired to provide media relations for SeeWorth Academy’s building dedication celebration. Five days before the celebration, a former sub-contracted employee of SeeWorth was formally charged with raping a SeeWorth student in May 2005. The vice-principal was also charged with trying to cover up the alleged rape. Stories were aired locally on Channels 4, 5, 9 and 25 and printed in The Oklahoman.
20 Hats quickly switched to crisis mode while still trying to preserve the building dedication celebration.
Objectives:
To correct misinformation originally reported by the local media while also providing new information
To develop key messages and talking points to be used by pertinent SeeWorth Academy staff and students
To develop a statement to be released to the media and used on the school’s Web site
To respond to all media inquiries quickly, honestly and accurately
To provide an exclusive interview with the principal of SeeWorth Academy to one of the TV stations that covered the rape allegations
To secure at least one positive TV story and one positive newspaper story about SeeWorth Academy in the media that covered the rape allegations
To continue to promote the building dedication celebration and use that event to leverage positive news coverage of SeeWorth Academy
To reassure parents and students that their school is a safe and healthy place
To reduce rumors and speculation among staff, students and parents
Tactics:
Prepped SeeWorth executive director for her meeting with staff and a second with students, both to address the allegations
Drafted and provided statement to media representatives inquiring about the incident and the school’s response to it
Drafted and provided statement to SeeWorth for use on its Web site
Prepared key messages for SeeWorth Academy in reaction to the rape allegations
Prepared talking points and prepped SeeWorth principal for an exclusive interview with News 9
Prepared talking points and prepped SeeWorth executive director, selected students, and all faculty and staff members for media interviews on the day of celebration
Prepared and distributed reminder e-mails to pertinent media representatives about the building dedication celebration
Evaluation:
Channel 9 news aired a 10-second quote by SeeWorth's principal on the 10 o’clock news.
Channel 5 news, which first broke the story about the rape allegations, aired three-minute stories about the day of celebration on its 5 and 6 o’clock news.
The lead-in to the stories was about the arrest of the two men involved in the alleged rape, but the rape allegations were not mentioned in the stories.
The Oklahoman, which had covered the rape allegations, printed a story on the front page of the Local and State section about the day of celebration. The article included three color photographs of SeeWorth students participating in the day’s festivities. The rape allegations were not mentioned in the article.
Channel 25 news, which had covered the rape allegations, took footage at the day of celebration.
No students were removed from the school by parents as a result of the rape allegations
Community and parent questions and concerns were minimized through timely, open communication through the media and through the positive media coverage of the building dedication celebration
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