The Mehlville School District formed the Communications Advisory Team (CAT) in September of 2008 to help support the district’s tiny Communications department. The three-person department includes two communications professionals and a secretary. While they needed help, there wasn’t room in the budget for new department staff.

The district asked for applications from parents and community members who had marketing and communications backgrounds.

“The Mehlville School District's communications department is less than one third the size of other districts in the St. Louis County that are much smaller,” said Jack Brickey, one of the team’s original members. “It's pretty simple really.  They asked us to come to a meeting two years ago and we showed up.  We're happy to help.”  

Brickey remembers the exact moment he was invited to get involved. He was at the Richmond, VA airport when his cell phone rang.

“It was Terry Noble.  He knew that I had been active as a volunteer in the district as a band parent and on other committees,” Brickey said. “He (asked me to help and) explained what it was that the communications department was trying to do and I said ‘Of course I will.’”

Another original CAT member, Debbie Parker, got involved because, as a mother of three kids in the district, she saw the outstanding dedication of Mehlville’s teachers firsthand.

“This is a great opportunity to support these teachers' efforts and to be actively involved in shaping the district's image,” Parker said. “To me, it's a lot bigger than my kids, or even the school district, it goes directly to the strength and stability of our community.”

The group’s first project was working with the Communications department to conduct a major survey to gauge opinions about the district, along with researching other districts around the country. Emily McFarland, Mehlville’s Director of Communications, said the goal was to find out how the community felt about the district, as well as what others in surrounding areas thought about it.

“From there we constructed three guiding principles and we use these to speak about the district: we provide institutional excellence, community benefit and fiscal responsibility,” McFarland said. “And from there, the team has created a new logo and tagline—all on a volunteer basis—for the district and our schools, to be launched over the summer months and next school year.”

McFarland said that this level of research, planning, logo and tagline creation would cost a normal organization around $350,000. But thanks to the CAT, all of it was done on a volunteer basis.

“These parents and community members volunteered their time because they care about the direction the Mehlville School District is headed and want to help provide the very best education for our students,” she said.

Parker said the team is a well-rounded group of professionals that boasts experience working for news organizations, marketing agencies, non-profits and corporations.

“Together, we have strengths in marketing research, strategic counsel, public relations, writing and editing and creative direction,” she said. “Also on our team, we have had representation from students, teachers, board members and employees from other school districts.”

The CAT’s most recent project was the Prop C survey, and as part of its efforts to develop the new district logo, the team has conducted opinion polls to better understand how the community views the district. The team continues to move forward with the district’s brand relaunch, which will include the new logo and tagline, for next school year.

If you’re a communications professional and would like to get involved with the Communications Advisory Team, can contact Communications Director Emily McFarland for details.