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Category Archives: Professional Development

Lesley Bruinton leads a professional learning session on ethics for school communication professionals.

The Moral Compass: Ethics Gets Hard Before the Scenario Does

Professional DevelopmentBy Lesley BruintonAugust 10, 2026

School PR ethics can get complicated quickly. The Moral Compass helps communicators practice navigating the gray areas before the stakes are real.

Participants play The Crisis Zone game.

Learning Should Feel Like Something

Crisis Communication, Leadership, Professional Development, SuperintendentBy Lesley BruintonAugust 9, 2026

The Crisis Zone puts school leaders on the clock to practice crisis communication strategy, judgment and decision-making.

Image of a clock

Beyond the Gut

Leadership, Professional Development, School Engagement, School PR, SuperintendentBy Lori MaxeyMarch 3, 2026

Lesley Bruinton, APR, President and CEO of School Spirit PR, led practitioners through the “Ethics All-Star Challenge,” a four-hour intensive designed to transform “gut feelings” into defensible strategies.

Frazzled professional passed out on the floor with laptop, phone and tablet surrounding her.

Beyond the Hamster Wheel

Leadership, Professional Development, School Engagement, School PR, SuperintendentBy Lesley BruintonFebruary 24, 2026

Lesley Bruinton, CEO of School Spirit PR, shares the BOOST framework at TSPRA 2026, helping school PR professionals move from outputs to strategic outcomes.

Author's cracked tea cup

Cracked but Not Broken: Rebuilding Trust Through Communication

Leadership, Professional Development, School Engagement, School PRBy Lesley BruintonOctober 28, 2025

Trust, like fine china, is fragile. Careless communication can chip away at relationships with school stakeholders.

News camera in press conference

Media Response Prep Offered Before National Education Conference

Crisis Communication, Events, Leadership, Media Relations, Professional Development, School PRBy Lesley BruintonOctober 26, 2025

Join school communication experts to gain hands-on skills for managing high-profile personnel issues and crafting confident, aligned media responses.

Lesley Bruinton presents at the AASB Fall Conference in Montgomery, Ala.

Beyond the Like Button: Social Media Survival for School Districts

Events, Professional Development, School PRBy Lesley BruintonOctober 8, 2025

School leaders can learn to turn social media from a source of crisis into a powerful asset by following key steps like establishing clear policies, maintaining separation between personal and official accounts, and avoiding the legally risky mistake of blocking online critics.

The Three Bananas of Crisis Communication

Crisis Communication, Leadership, Professional Development, School PR, SuperintendentBy Lesley BruintonJanuary 15, 2025

While the specifics of each situation will differ, a helpful framework for understanding and addressing crises involves the metaphor of three bananas: green, yellow, and brown.

From Newsroom to Boardroom

Leadership, Media Relations, Professional Development, School Engagement, School PR, SuperintendentBy Lesley BruintonNovember 20, 2024

Given the right circumstances, the transition from journalist to school district communicator can be seamless. While journalists possess strong writing and storytelling skills, it’s important to recognize that the role of a school district communicator extends far beyond traditional journalism. Media relations, though important, are often just a small part of the job. (This advice…

Finding Your Communication Unicorn

Leadership, Professional Development, School Engagement, School PR, SuperintendentBy Lesley BruintonNovember 13, 2024

As superintendents and human resources professionals, you’re tasked with finding the right person to lead your district’s narrative. But how?

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