What Students Want

Our guest today is Ryan Schaaf, instructional designer, professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, and author of 5 books. Ryan thinks and writes about using digital tools and game-like learning experience in the classroom to engage today's learners in new ways. His new book explores learning in the age of disruption. How is this related to school growth you might ask? Well, listen and you will find out. Watch out for when a young student in the future runs a digital project with a scientist in Antartica. The short answer is that parents know and feel the age of disruption is upon us. If you can create a learning experience that will excite young students, word of mouth will spread.

In our discussion, we cover:

How the Dune Book Series and the Lord of the Rings are like instructional video games.

How to Ryan uses video games to create exciting and multifaceted learning experiences with his sons.

Why learning by making mistakes is easier with game-based learning.

The explosion of energy that you can tap into if you utilize digital tools that students are used to in the classroom, provided you use them in the right way.

The similarities between game-based learning and project-based or inquiry-based learning.

Why games are a great tool to break through the industrial-age forces that are keeping your school back.

How to use game-like learning experiences to grow your school.

Quotes:

3:50 “Gone are the days where you just memorize content and facts; now education is about story lines and seeing relationships.”

4:50 “They (video games) are probably the best medium for learning-growth mindset - where you learn from your mistakes and by trying new strategies.”

6:10 “Students want to demonstrate what they’ve learned, and they become ‘prosumers’ - they consume information from the video games, and then they produce their own content and share with their gaming community.”

7:30 “Game-based learning is the incubator of the next generation skills that we want our workforce to have.”

12:10 “Learning must be relevant, fun, and useful for the learners or you won’t have engagement.”

15:15 “We have to question systems because they have a way of becoming rigid over time.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P42WP7K

The Oregon Trail Game - http://www.gameloft.com/en/game/the-oregon-trail-american-settler

Where to learn more about Ryan Shaaf:

Web - infosavvy21.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/RyanLSchaaf

A Brief History of the Future of Education: Learning in the Age of Disruption - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MW8DZJ2

Game On: Using Digital Games to Transform Teaching, Learning, and Assessment - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M28RHLT

Making School a Game Worth Playing - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6MV6LG

Using Digital Games as Assessment and Instruction Tools - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XDN5EIO

Reinventing Learning for the Always On Generation - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0113KZGH2

Our guest today is Jennie Winton. She is the co-founder of Mission Minded - a branding firm established in 2002 to work exclusively with nonprofit organizations. Mission Minded helps nonprofit organizations to discover the “big, bold idea” that distinguishes them from everything else that is out there, in order to attract more people to their work. Jennie shares her branding and marketing expertise in lectures and with clients throughout the nation. 

Today in our podcast, Jennie turns her branding genius towards the topic of school growth and takes us through the steps that any school can use to establish their own unique brand.

Listen and take note of how “brand” is different from “benefits and features”, and think about how to apply the 6 Steps to Branding Your School.

In our discussion, we cover:

5:30 Jennie responds to Andrew’s observation that most schools have the exact same working on their homepage about what they offer.

6:12 Jennie defines “brand” as “your reputation” and distinguishes between a school’s “mission” and their “brand”.

7:30 Jennie responds to Andrew’s question about how a school can change its reputation.

10:00 Andrew asks Jennie to expand on the idea of “right fit families”.

14:00 Andrew asks Jennie to give examples of schools that stand out as having an exceptionally strong, unique message.

19:50 Jennie shares the 6 Steps to Branding Your School.

24:50 Andrew asks what a school should do when they find competitive schools popping up with the same message that they are offering.

30:48 Jennie expands on the notion of signaling the community through the message that is going out from inside the school: staff, teachers, and families.

32:00 Jennie shares a lovely story of a client who wondered when or if he would know that the branding exercise had been effective.

38:15 Jennie gives closing advice on not becoming so overwhelmed with the idea of ‘branding’ that you fail to take action.

Quotes:

6:12 “Your brand is your reputation; the question is - is this the reputation that our school will need in the future to achieve all of our goals?”

11:20 “Focusing on the families who fit with your culture is strengthening to your school over time; they will choose you for the right reasons.”

26:20 “You do not build your brand on features (Montessori, project-based learning, Christian, etc.) because anybody can copy a feature; your brand is a bigger, higher-order ideal.”

30:48 “When you have a strong brand, your parents and students will be so proud to affiliate with it; they will become evangelists for you.”

37:00 “A school will not succeed in rebranding if the promise is not authentically something that the school is delivering.” 

Where to learn more about Jennie Winton:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JennieWinton

Mission Minded: https://mission-minded.com

Jennie on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennie-winton-08b4444/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

In this episode, Andrew shares a delightful summary of the recent road trip across Texas, where he and Alexis visited 20 schools in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin to get a closer look at what schools are doing “on the ground.” He provides a richly detailed analysis of the trends they observed in the marketplace and connects them directly to marketing for school growth. Andrew offers specific strategies that schools are using to enrich their value proposition in an increasingly competitive and crowded education market. 

Listen and take note of the many ways that schools are re-thinking their identity, their product, and their outcomes. 

Quotes:

3:33 “Someone (among the teaching staff) needs to understand things like artificial intelligence because these are skills that kids are going to need in the world that they are going to be living in.”

4:48 “‘Selling’ and ‘marketing’ are not ‘bad’ words - if it’s done right.”

10:00 “Selling is not shouting; you don’t need to shout to get the word out.”

16:50 “Schools have to come to stakeholders with a plan that creates their own value proposition.”

20:00 “What is certain is that you need to design your value proposition through competition; you can’t just sit on your laurels”

25:20 “You have to find ways to be embedded in the community - to be a pillar that goes beyond being considered an education factory.”

28:50 “If the community is safer, the school is safer.”

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Scott Allenby. He is the Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives at Proctor Academy. Scott is passionate about developing and implementing strategies to help build the school because he cares deeply about the community that his work serves. He launched an inbound marketing initiative that boosted applications to Proctor Academy by more than 40% during the first year. Scott helped to lead a web redesign and strategic planning process for admissions, communications, and advancement teams. He has written hundreds of blog posts for Proctor Academy as a part of his effort to get the word out about the great things that are happening there. 

In this episode, Scott shares an imaginary marketing start-up plan for a school that is beginning from ground zero and wants to increase enrollment. He shares simple, specific, “doable” steps to take when considering how to start building an effective marketing strategy that can be expanded as the school accomplishes goals and grows toward success. 

Listen and take note of how a school can identify their value proposition, engage their internal and external audiences, and decide which tools and data will best help them to begin the adventure of sharing the “product” of which they are so proud - the school itself! 

Quotes:

5:00 “Schools can’t just wait for the phone to ring.”

24:00 “Families want to get past the admin office and see what teachers are doing and who students are talking to.”

27:19 “From day 1, focus on building a network of parent ambassadors.”

35:20 “Parent-to-parent conversations are so good; you couldn’t script it any better.”

37:10 “If tuition continues to climb faster than household income climbs, we’re sabotaging our own industry.” 

44:40 “I try to remember that the most important piece of my day is building relationships with families.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/

Where to learn more about Scott Allenby:

Proctor Academy - https://www.proctoracademy.org/page

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ScottEAllenby

Scott on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-allenby-89261b13/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Summary

Our guest today is Shelli Kurth. She is the School Director at Thrive Public Schools in San Diego, California - award-winning K-12 charter schools. Thrive Schools are reimagining education with a hands-on, project-based curriculum bound together by an emphasis on social-emotional learning. And it’s working! 

In this episode, Shelli shares the path of Thrive from vision to inception, and now onward to successful school expansion. She gives strategies for honoring the voice of every person in the education community - from students to parents, and from teachers to supporters.

Listen and take note of how the school is founded on building deep, trusting relationships with everyone in the education family, but also places a strong importance on the value of scientifically grounded data to connect all the parts of the education method.

Quotes:

17:06 “First, and foremost, kids need to be learning, and it’s our job to collect data to see if we are hitting our targets.”

19:40 “The heart of storytelling is building bridges to each other.”

19:56 “(With storytelling) ...when something hard happens, you’re not just seeing the hard part; you’re seeing the whole person.”

25:50 “Once you have established a close relationship (with parents or students) you can solve some of the heavier problems because you’ve gained a new perspective.”

28:52 “Compiling and understanding your data is important work because otherwise, all those other parts aren’t going to be connected.” 

31:27 “We must all help each other and really shout from the mountain tops. There are lots of things we are measuring that are giving us important information about education. Being innovative looks different from schools that are made to measure well on state standardized tests.” 

33:07 “Part of our mission is not just moving the needle for each student, but moving the needle on education across the country and even in the world.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Tom Vander Ark @tvanderark

Where to learn more about Shelli Kurth:

Email: [email protected]

Thrive Public Schools on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThriveSchools/

Thrive Public Schools on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Thriveps

Thrive Public Schools on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ThrivePublicSchools

Shelli on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelli-kurth-57b53948/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Chantelle Zakariasen. She is a conversion copywriter who specializes in using quizzes to gather information from prospects. 

In this episode, Chanti walks us through the buyer’s journey and explains how a school can go deeper than just telling prospects about the advantageous features of the school. She explains that people are overwhelmed with the “noise” of information they get in a day. Effective school marketing must find a way to identify and target the emotional needs of parents that would be a good fit for their product. Chanti fully reveals the process that a parent might go through - going from “unaware” through the steps that eventually lead to action. 

Listen and take note of how to create a cohesive message for your school by using descriptive language.


Quotes: 

7:53 “A client must typically have 7 contacts with your brand before they take action.”

13:01 “The more specific - the more visceral you can get - the more likely you are to hook someone’s attention.”

29:00 “The reason ‘segmentation’ is so powerful is that it allows you to get specific with your message and to sell to specific people.”

39:01 “The more niche, the better. Don’t be afraid to be different.”


Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Email and marketing automation - Active Campaign https://www.activecampaign.com/

ConvertKit - https://convertkit.com

Constant Contact - https://www.constantcontact.com

Design and market custom merchandise

Makeship - https://makeship.com/

Where to learn more about Chanti:

Web Site - chantizak.com


Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Our website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Bill Diskin. He is Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Cannon School. Bill specializes in serving students through helping independent schools with enrollment management, admissions, and financial aid for families. 

In this episode, Bill shares the path of increasing enrollment through defining the school’s mission, refining their focus, and how they put relationships and trust ahead of statistical considerations, but they also use data to target their search for prospects. He gives specific strategies for dynamically broadening the reach of a marketing plan by engaging parents as ambassadors for the school. 

Listen and take note of how the school uses available data to focus on and reach families who are already a good fit with their values by engaging the word-of-mouth resource of “ambassador parents”. 

Quotes: 

5:00 “Schools can’t just wait for the phone to ring.”

24:00 “Families want to get past the admin office and see what teachers are doing and who students are talking to.”27:19 “From day 1, focus on building a network of parent ambassadors.”

35:20 “Parent-to-parent conversations are so good; you couldn’t script it any better.”

37:10 “If tuition continues to climb faster than household income climbs, we’re sabotaging our own industry.” 

44:40 “I try to remember that the most important piece of my day is building relationships with families.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Peter Drucker’s “5 Most Important Questions” - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Important-Questions-Institute-Drucker-Foundation/dp/0470227567

Seth Godin, This Is Marketing - https://seths.blog/tim/

Where to learn more about Bill Diskin:

Email - [email protected]

Twitter - @billdiskin

Blog - wilddayssite.wordpress.com

Bill on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/billdiskin/

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Our website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/

Our guest today is Laura Elizabeth. She is the creator of designacademy.io - which helps developers conquer their fear of design through a practical, hands-on, step-by-step process. Laura also developed client-portal.io - a WordPress plugin for organizing projects. 

In this episode, Laura takes the listener through very specific ways to approach website design. Whether starting from a blank page or considering how to improve a website, Laura explores the basics of producing an attractive product that tells your story and prompts the prospect to take action. 

Listen and take note on how to identify your target market so that everything in the design flows from that central focus.

Quotes: 

8:55 “Who is your target audience? Pinpoint that. You won’t alienate everyone else by going for the niche that fits your product.”

30:11 “Homepage content should focus on the most important job of your website. Is that new students? Current students? Navigation can deal with the other audiences.”

32:20 “In design, less is definitely more - even though it sounds cliche.”

40:12 “Good design doesn't have to be original. It just has to be appropriate for your prospect.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion: 

Fiverr - https://www.fiverr.com/

Dropmark - https://www.dropmark.com/

ColorPick Eyedropper https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/colorpick-eyedropper/ohcpnigalekghcmgcdcenkpelffpdolg

Museo sans rounded font - https://www.fonts.com/font/exljbris/museo-sans-rounded/family

Open sans font - https://www.opensans.com/ 

Chaparral pro font - https://www.wfonts.com/font/chaparral-pro

Squarespace website builder - https://www.wfonts.com/font/chaparral-pro

Wix website builder - https://www.wix.com/ 

Reliable PSD - https://www.reliablepsd.com/

Where to learn more about Laura Elizabet:

Laura’s Design Course - https://designacademy.io

Laura’s Cient Portal Project Organizer - https://client-portal.io/

Dribbble - https://dri

Our guest today is Joshua Wittman. He is the Director of Ninos del Sol - an Eco-School in Costa Rica.

In this episode, Joshua talks about the roles of serendipity and diversity in his position as a teacher, an administrator, and a founder of the school. He relates the story of how he came to focus on bringing the classroom outside into nature in order to teach sustainability and ecology in a natural environment. Joshua has a strong marketing mindset and shares his ideas on growing the school through connecting with the community.

Listen and take notes on how to use technology in the daily life of the school - including social media - to engage existing and potential supporters.

In our discussion, we cover:  

1:00 Joshua shares the path that led him to start a school - Ninos del Sol in Costa Rica.

9:32 He tells about connecting learning to project-based experiences rather than getting stuck on meeting curriculum standards in a linear way.

17:48 Andrew asks, “You are in Costa Rica with the ocean in view. How can schools in the US accomplish project-based learning wherever they are located?”

21:47 Joshua tells that schools must use community engagement as a marketing strategy to communicate about what is happening at the school and to invite the community to participate actively in the life of the school.

27:52 Bringing all of his life experiences and passions together in a coherent whole, Joshua talks about how to create a value proposition for a school.

37:14 Joshua develops the idea of serendipity and diversity in school growth.

40:35 He shares advice for schools on how to bring diversity to their local community.

46:50 Expanding on the idea of serendipity, Joshua relates that it becomes a way of viewing even seemingly negative experiences.

50:40 Joshua walks-through the many positive uses of technology to engage the internal audience (parents) and the external audience (the community at large) and to remind them of what you are doing so that they become a part of the school story. 

58:10 He shares marketing goals for the next year, including goals to engage businesses and entities with money available to be shared with causes they might support - like the interface of technology in the classroom.

Quotes: 

10:38 “We have to move at nature’s pace.”

27:10 “Everything is connected. Being able to reinforce those connections has time and time again created the synergy that makes us grow.”

36:00 “If you are not sure that you are on the right track, reassess your community and expand it to include people who are going to inspire you.”

40:52 “Create diversity in your community.”

49:14 “If you don’t have time for marketing, you have to hire somebody who does.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion: 

• “Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era” by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Likely-Succeed-Preparing-Innovation/dp/1501104314
• “Dance Equations” by Miranda Abbott https://danceequations.com/
  Miranda Abbott email - [email protected]
• Farmbot - https://farm.bot/
  “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Tail-Endless-Creating-Unlimited/dp/1844138518

Where to learn more about Joshua Wittman:

Ninos del Sol Eco-School https://www.ninosdelsolcr.com/
Ninos del Sol Eco-School [email protected]
Linkedin - linkedin.com/in/jpwteaching

Our guest today is Steve Dekany. He is an education marketing expert for close to 15 years, both as a 7-12th-grade administrator and primarily the Chief Marketing Officer for one of the largest site-based charter school operations in California. He is in charge with enrolling over 800 new students each year. Also, his skills represent close to 30 years in marketing execution for international and domestic companies--from school boards to parents. Steve has a unique 360 degree tactical perspective on school growth and long-term stability. 

In this episode, Steve and Al (Enrollhand’s Enrollment Growth Manager) deep dive into the basics of site-level marketing, presentation, and events and analyze how those activities can help your prospective parents and their children perceive your school as their best choice and enroll in your school.

Listen and take note of the insightful and actionable information you need to jumpstart marketing at your school. 

Quotes:

“When the parents or the students get to the school, is it consistent with those initial messages that they receive from the outward marketing that was going on? You have to look at all the messaging and all the things that were said and make sure that it's consistent when the parents arrive with their students, what is being said and portrayed is consistent with that initial response that they received when they are viewing and ingesting all the marketing materials.”

“I had meetings at my school year around 50 weeks out of the year. So that gave me the opportunity to touch base with as many people as possible as often as possible, in those initial meetings. While the interest is high. And while you know, for example, your marketing campaign is at full swing, that's when you could actually measure how things are working with your marketing strategies.”

Connect with Steve

• Inquiry form

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com
Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com
Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/
Like here: https://blog.enrollhand.com/what-800-enrollments-per-year-will-teach-you/