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South Carolina

Public Relations Campaigns - McKeever

Prepared By:

Ashley Adams Elliott Brown Alex Nichols Nicole Smith Alex Sprenger Emily Thickens

 

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Table of Contents

I. Our Team: Mission and Values………………………………………3

II. Executive Summary…………………………………………………..4 III. Background Research & SWOT Analysis……………………………5 IV. Target Area/Audience(s)……………………………………………..7 V. Primary Research……………………………………………………..8

VI. Campaign Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics ……………….12

VII. Implementation Logistics……………………………………………14

VIII. Evaluation…………………………………………………………...16 IX. Appendices…………………………………………………………..17

a. Secondary Research References……………………………...17

b. Sample Survey………………………………………………..18

c. Interview Transcript…………………………………………..21

d. Survey Email…………………………………………………23

e. Interview Notes……………………………………………….24

f. Qualtrics Data/Graphs………………………………………..28

g. Press Releases………………………………………………...32

h. Social Media Posts……………………………………………35

i. Public Service Announcement………………………………..41

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I. Our Team: Mission and Core Values Meet our creative team!

Emily Thickens, President and CEO

Elliott Brown, Vice President of Communications

Nicole Smith, Director of Marketing

Alex Sprenger, Director of Public Relations

Ashley Adams, Director of Community Relations

Alex Nichols, Director of Visual Communications

Mission Prism is an integrated communications agency dedicated to creating effective marketing communication services for nonprofit organizations and corporate businesses across the United States. Prism develops the best practices in nonprofit communications to raise awareness and positive public perceptions of organizations. Values

• Creativity — We believe in innovative approaches, strategies and tactics. • Efficiency — We develop strategic plans and a set of goals to ensure our work

will be successful. • Diversity — We know different is better. We accept different points of view,

inspiration and experience to keep our agency moving forward. • Transparency — We have openness and communication. We offer constructive

feedback to others that is timely and specific. • Flexibility — We are always open to ideas and suggestions from clients. We

develop several strategies until we find the best one to accomplish our goals. • Integrity—We stick to our word and do what we say we will do. We develop

strategies and plans that create action.

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II. Executive Summary This campaign focuses on the education pillar of Special Olympics South Carolina. Prism Integrated Communications has created a campaign that will successfully reach schools in South Carolina to create an integrated community between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. This report contains information regarding our audience, research methods, preliminary ideas and materials for the campaign. There are already two major campaigns in effect with Special Olympics South Carolina. Project UNIFY and End The ‘R’ Word are campaigns that we would like to create more awareness for. Project UNIFY concentrates on integrating students with intellectual disabilities with their peers in order to create a more socially inclusive environment. With Project UNIFY youth with and without disabilities would learn, exercise, and play together in school and in sports programs. The other campaign, End The ‘R’ Word, focuses on banning the word “retarded” from people’s vocabulary. When the ‘r’ word is used, it is typically used as a derogatory and offensive word. The End The ‘R’ Word campaign asks people to make a pledge to stop saying the ‘r’ word in order to create more accepting attitudes and communities. Prism Integrated Communications would like to expand on these two campaigns and create more awareness for them in South Carolina. Preliminary ideas included getting more schools in South Carolina to participate in Project UNIFY, increasing awareness and knowledge of Project UNIFY in schools, reducing the use of the ‘r’ word in student’s conversations and have students with disabilities become more involved with their peers in everyday activities. The audience that we are targeting for this campaign is teachers, administrators, and students in South Carolina. Administrators and teachers were chosen because they have the ability to influence the students in their schools. These are also the easiest groups to reach when doing research. These two groups have knowledge regarding their school’s environment and how their school operates. Students were chosen because they are necessary and imperative to the success of Project UNIFY. Students interact with each other on a daily basis and the more aware and involved they are with Project UNIFY, the more successful this campaign will be. In order to reach teachers and administrators, we conducted two different forms of primary research. First Prism Integrated Communications sent out an online survey. A survey allowed us to reach a large amount of people in a timely manner. This also allowed information to be gathered quickly. Interviews were also conducted with teachers and administrators that are already involved with Project UNIFY. The interviews were all conducted by phone. The information collected from the primary research will allow the campaign to reach the goals set and become successful.

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III. Client Mission, Background Research & SWOT Analysis Client Mission

The sole objective is to reach more teachers, school administrators, and students to tell them about the Project UNIFY and how to get it started in their schools. Special Olympics South Carolina wants more exposure for their Project UNIFY campaign in schools throughout South Carolina.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Special Olympics South Carolina has a strong system of supporters to draw from statewide including Carolina Comfort, Publix, Walmart and Blue Cross-Blue Shield (“Special Olympics South Carolina,” 2015). Special Olympics South Carolina also has a good reputation. The charity has high ratings in the areas of both accountability and transparency. Overall, Special Olympics South Carolina has comparable ratings to Special Olympics chapters in other states. Other strengths include the use of Facebook with regular updates and mostly positive media coverage over the past few years. The coverage ranged from reporting an event put on to benefit Special Olympics South Carolina to stories on athletes from around the state (LexisNexis, 2015). Weaknesses

Beyond Facebook, social media seems to be an area of weaknesses for Special Olympics South Carolina. Though their Twitter is followed by a fair amount of people, the page is not updated on a regular basis such as is the case with the Facebook page. The organization has a low following on Instagram and low views on the YouTube channel. Most of the social media, besides the Facebook page, is not updated frequently enough to give pertinent information to followers. Additionally, the lack of manpower is a weakness. Because Special Olympics South Carolina relies heavily on volunteers, one person is often given more work than he or she can handle alone (Cheatham, 2015).

Opportunities Special Olympics South Carolina has the opportunity to expand their programs, specifically Project UNIFY, further into schools. Currently, 130 schools are involved in the newest initiative with there being room for a significant amount of growth into other schools and to gain new business partners through Project UNIFY. Within Project UNIFY, there has been a lot of emphasis on student and youth leaders, but not as much emphasis put on drawing teachers and administrators into the project leaving room for growth in this area also (“Special Olympics South Carolina,” 2015).

Threats Special Olympics South Carolina relies heavily on those outside of the organization for success. Whether implementing Project UNIFY in schools, trying to gain supporters or obtaining medical personnel to be involved in all aspects of Project UNIFY, there is the danger that people in powerful positions will not want to give their support. In the education sector, specifically, administrators must be reached more effectively for programs to be successful.

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Advantages and Rationale Using a survey allowed a large number of participants to be assessed on their awareness and attitudes concerning Project UNIFY. Additionally, the survey aided in determining what the current obstacles are in implementing Project UNIFY in more schools and how best to involve teachers and administrators. The survey was chosen and advantageous because it could be easily disseminated to a large audience and could be taken at the participant’s convenience. Additionally, the use of Qualtrics allowed a large amount of data to be analyzed easily. Personal interviews were chosen for publics who have already had experience with Project UNIFY with the intention of obtaining a variety of information about how to involve more administrators and teachers. Interviews allowed those already educated in the mission of Project UNIFY to share what is best about the program, what changes they would make and gave the opportunity for personal testimonies. Using one method for those who may or may not know about Project UNIFY and another for those already involved gave us the opportunity to ask more appropriate and effective questions of both groups.

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IV. Target Area/Audience(s) Our target public was school administrators, teachers and students throughout selected school districts in South Carolina. We specifically focused on schools in Orangeburg, Bamburg, Kershaw, and Calhoun counties. We wanted to reach out to those in the school systems who do not know about Project UNIFY as well as those who are actively involved via survey and interview. Our main goal is to generate awareness for Project UNIFY and get it started in schools as well as seek advice on how to make the campaign stronger from those who are already involved.

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V. Primary Research Research Goals:

1.) Administrators and teachers were assessed on their attitudes towards Project UNIFY. This helped determine whether this population was a.) aware of Project UNIFY, b.) willing to be involved with the project and c.) if they believed it is necessary to implement programs such as Project UNIFY in the schools in which they work. Ultimately, the goal was to determine what attitudes need to be changed or fostered for the successful implementation of Project UNIFY in more schools.

2.) Secondly, this assessment should determine what obstacles are faced in the proposed implementation of Project UNIFY. Responses indicated whether people, regulations, funds or some other factor might keep a school from adopting Project UNIFY. With this being known, the campaign can be honed to address the issues or concerns that are most prevalent.

3.) The last goal was to find out why those teachers and administrators currently

involved in Project UNIFY think it is a worthwhile program, what they think are the strengths and weaknesses of Project UNIFY and what they believe are the best ways to involve more people such as themselves. It can be determined what, if any, are the necessary changes needed in order for more schools to implement this initiative.

Research Methods and Procedures: In order to achieve the first two goals, a survey was distributed to teachers and administrators throughout Orangeburg, Bamburg, Kershaw, and Calhoun counties. Using Qualtrics, a 20 question survey was created including demographic, yes/no and Likert -type questions. As soon as the research methods were approved, the survey was distributed to school superintendents and administrators who then passed it down to other administrators and teachers. Superintendents were contacted prior to receiving the survey to obtain their approval. After the survey was completed by 70 respondents, the information gathered by Qualtrics was sorted and analyzed into useable data. The last goal was geared towards those teachers and administrators already involved with Project UNIFY. Personal interviews were set up with three of these individuals with 10 open-ended questions that were asked. The interviews were done by phone depending on schedules and availability of those being interviewed. Interviewees were obtained by collaborating with Ms. Cheatham to find administrators and teachers who are currently involved with Project UNIFY.

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Advantages and Rationale Using a survey allowed large number of participants to be assessed on their awareness and attitudes concerning Project UNIFY. Additionally, the survey would aid in determining what the current obstacles are in implementing Project UNIFY in more schools and how best to involve teachers and administrators. The survey was chosen and advantageous because it could be easily disseminated to a large audience and could be taken at the participant’s convenience. Additionally, the use of Qualtrics allowed a large amount of data to be analyzed fairly easily. Personal interviews were chosen for publics who have already had experience with Project UNIFY with the intention of obtaining a variety of information about how to involve more administrators and teachers. Interviews allowed those already educated in the mission of Project UNIFY to share what is best about the program, what changes they would make and gave the opportunity for personal testimonies. Using one method for those who may or may not know about Project UNIFY and another for those already involved gave us the opportunity to ask more appropriate and effective questions of both groups. Limitations As is often the case with a survey, the danger exists for misinterpretation of questions and the possibility of the creator’s bias being evident throughout the survey. Other potential issues included relying on school personnel to disseminate the survey and relying on administrators and teachers to participate in the survey once they received the email. The most prevalent limitations when conducting personal interviews involved finding current Project UNIFY participants and volunteers who had the time to participate in an in-person or phone interview. Also, unlike taking a survey, people are sometimes reluctant to be completely honest during interviews because their name and image can be associated with their responses. Main Findings From Online Survey:

• 92% of our survey participants were aware of Special Olympics. • 71% of respondents were not aware of Project UNIFY until we distributed our

survey. • 50% of our respondents have heard of the “End the R Word” campaign and 50%

did not. • 13% of respondents did not know if intellectually disabled students at their school

were taking classes of any sort The research showed that while 92 percent of our respondents were aware of Special Olympics, only 29 percent were aware of Project UNIFY before taking the survey. Therefore, though Special Olympics is well known among school staff, Project UNIFY

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needs much promotion among this demographic and it should be stressed that this is a Special Olympics program. Another finding that could have impacted our research was that 80 percent of our participants were teachers. We think that if more administrators and other people filling positions at the school had responded, we would have had more of a wide variety of data to draw findings and conclusions from. This finding relates to another finding from our survey data: 13 percent of our respondents were not aware if intellectually disabled students at their school were taking general classes, such as electives, with students without disabilities. This stood out to us because most faculty and staff at schools are aware of intellectually disabled students. In fact, administrators that we interviewed said that even before Project UNIFY began, their school had numerous implementations for intellectually disabled students. Their faculty, staff and mainly students are always trying to create different ways to interact the general educated students and the special educated students. *Graphs of the survey results can be found in the appendices on page 20. Personal Interviews- Administrative and Faculty Support Throughout the personal interview process, one theme which reoccurred was the importance of administrative and faculty support as a whole for Project UNIFY. Ms. Dayna Hohlfeldt, a teacher involved with Project UNIFY at Beaufort Middle School who helped establish Project UNIFY at her school, noted that, “the administration has to back you up” in order for this program to work. Mr. Jacob Edgar, a special education teacher at Seneca High School, also said that in order for Project UNIFY to be successful, the faculty has to be enthusiastic and willing to put in time and effort. Ms. Tuten from Swansea Middle School said that she wanted to support Project UNIFY because she thought unification within her school was important. When staff members have this sort of attitude, it makes implementation possible. The administration and staff must be reached first before the school can move forward with Project UNIFY. It seems that when the administration, faculty and staff are supportive, support from the student body usually follows. Though interviewees may have witnessed some backlash from students, the teachers we spoke with felt that the overwhelming majority of their students were in favor of Project UNIFY as long as the program was first backed by staff. Ms. Hohlfeldt also noted that her administrator suggested she find a staff member to partner with to start Project UNIFY at their school. This worked well at Beaufort Middle School and kept the responsibility for heading up the initiative from falling on one person. It was also mentioned that because administrative and staff support are so vital to the success of Project UNIFY in schools, there needs to be a way to calm nerves of those who may be hesitant to put the program into place. One teacher spoke about her school having a specific Project UNIFY team of teachers who are available to support those teachers who may be uncomfortable with the idea at first or feel as if they do not have the proper training to integrate students with intellectual and physical disabilities into their classes and programs.

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Personal Interviews-Student Enthusiasm and Program Success One of the most prevalent aspects revealed throughout personal interviews was the student support element once Project UNIFY is implemented at a school. Though support must first come from administration and staff, students play a just as important, if not more important, role in generating enthusiasm for the initiative. All interviewees commented on how many students in the regular, mainstream programs are willing to help out and be a Project UNIFY buddy for another student. Ms. Hohlfeldt said the most rewarding aspect of her job is seeing the relationships that are built and the interactions between students with and without disabilities. It appears that if a school intends to, or is considering, implementing Project UNIFY, the best place to find energy and excitement about the program is within the student body itself. Ms. Tuten commented that the students have more power than any others within the school when it comes to making Project UNIFY a success. She also spoke on how important it is that the students want their school to be unified. This desire must be exist in to some degree or be fostered among students in order for Project UNIFY to reach its’ full potential.

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VI. Campaign Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics Goal To implement Project UNIFY in more South Carolina school districts and to increase awareness and understanding of the program. Objective Implement Project UNIFY in an additional 25 schools during the 2015-2016 school year and engage 400 additional youth leaders. Strategies

Strategy 1: Engage middle and high school students, as well as parents, faculty and staff in Project UNIFY.

Tactic 1: During the six month campaign, focus on a different aspect of SOSC, specifically Project UNIFY, each month through a Facebook post and by tweeting. Topics will range from Q&A about Project UNIFY, facts concerning the funding and growth of the initiative and highlighting pioneers of the project. Tactic 2: Invite students to use #liveunified to post pictures of their interactions with Project UNIFY. Encourage selfies with the use of the hashtag. Tactic 3: Create a PSA to be aired in homerooms and during other announcement times concerning Project UNIFY. The PSA will be used by schools just starting Project UNIFY or considering the initiative to both gage and rally student interest in the project. It would also be a secondary way to reach teachers who will additionally view the video with their students. Tactic 4: Create posters to be placed in schools in order to start conversations about Project UNIFY.

Strategy 2: After schools adopt Project UNIFY, implement a plan to excite students and remind faculty and staff what a big difference one child can make.

Tactic 1: When a school commits to seriously considering or implementing Project UNIFY, send brochures to be included in student packets at the beginning of the year or to be passed out in conjunction with the PSA. Brochures would be geared more towards students who may actually read them, such as high school students. Tactic 2: The “Buddy of the Month” will be a student featured on the SOSC website, the school website, school news and on social media. This

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Buddy will answer a few questions about his or her involvement in Project UNIFY and tell why it is important. The Buddy will be selected in cooperation with Project UNIFY adult volunteers at each school.

Strategy 3: In both current and potential Project UNIFY schools, continue and expand the “End the R-Word” campaign.

Tactic 1: Travel to different schools throughout South Carolina during the month of October to gain faculty, staff and student perspectives on what it means to “end the r-word” and respect everyone. Have a personal size whiteboard where participants can write what respect means to them. Respect means _________ (ex. accepting others, saving a seat at the lunch table, lending a hand, speaking up, etc.). Take pictures of participants holding the whiteboard they wrote on and use the pictures on social media, the SOSC website, and encourage the school to create and “End the R-Word” bulletin board using the photographs which can be sent to the school. Prior contact would have to be made with administration coordinate schedules and discuss the possibility of the school participating in the campaign.

Strategy 4: Clarify and address common misconceptions about Project UNIFY, specifically in regards to the need for school/state funding in order to successfully implement Project UNFIY.

Tactic 1: Create an informational brochure for administration and teachers addressing some of the common potential issues with Project UNIFY. Stress within the brochure that the initiative requires very little additional school and state funding.

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VII. Implementation Logistics Budget

Timeline July

- Distribute teacher brochures - Post introductory social media posts

August

- Aug. 1 – Send press release, media alert -­‐ Put up posters -­‐ Distribute student brochures -­‐ Play PSA in schools -­‐ Post this month’s social media posts

September -­‐ Post this month’s social media posts -­‐ Follow up email -­‐ Announce “Buddy of the Month”

October

-­‐ Post this month’s social media posts

Tactic Expense Supplier Cost Explanation PSA

Production Coastline Video $1,500 Quote found online

(Consider using USC Visual Communicaions students to lower cost.)

Actors Project UNIFY Particpants Free Venue Volunteer Project UNIFY School Free

DVDs Walmart $100 $15 per pack x 7 packs

Brochures

Printing Fast Color Printer (Online) Bulk Prices $.09 each

Try to get printing donated

Posters

Printing Vivyx Printing (Online) Bulk Prices $1.74 each 5 posters per school

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-­‐ Announce “Buddy of the Month” -­‐ Implement “End the R Word” whiteboard -­‐ “End the R Word” Press Release

November

-­‐ Post this month’s social media posts -­‐ Announce “Buddy of the Month”

December

-­‐ Post this month’s social media posts -­‐ Announce “Buddy of the Month”

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VIII. Evaluation Evaluating this campaign should be done in several steps. We want to look at the overall results and outcomes of the campaign. It is necessary to determine if we gained awareness for the message behind Project UNIFY and if it was implemented in a meaningful amount of schools. First, in order to evaluate this campaign, we must determine how many schools implemented Project UNIFY. This should provide a simple number to see if we achieved our objectives. Also, it will be important to determine how schools that already have implemented Project UNIFY were affected by the campaign. This could be done by phone interviews to those involved. Another way to evaluate the success of our campaign is by engaging in media analysis by looking at press clippings. How many times did the local or national media mention aspects of our campaign? Also, we can look at the hash tag “#liveunified”  across various social media platforms to see how many tweets and posts there were in relation to our campaign. Next, we want to look at the reach of the campaign. How many people were affected or became aware of Project UNIFY because of our campaign? A simple survey sent back to the schools will give us an idea. We also want to look at the frequency of how many times people were exposed to the campaign. In order to make an impact on an individual, it is essential to expose him/her to the intended message multiple times. We can measure this by adding a question or two on the survey asking how many times the respondent heard about Project UNIFY in the last six months. Evaluating this campaign needs to be simple. If we stick to sending out another survey to the schools gauging the effectiveness of the campaign, looking at press coverage and seeing how many schools implemented Project UNIFY, then we will have a good idea of how successful our campaign was.

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IX. Appendices Secondary Research References (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://so-sc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Project-UNIFY-Programs-Overview.pdf LexisNexis. Special Olympics South Carolina. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/ South Carolina Special Olympics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2015, from http://so-sc.org

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Sample Survey

Thank you for your participation in their survey. We are seeking information about awareness and attitudes about SOSC and Project UNIFY. The following will give you a bit of information about the project. Project UNIFY is a program that seeks to utilize existing state Special Olympics programs and initiatives in combination with schools to promote socially inclusive communities. In South Carolina, there are currently 130 schools participating in the program involving more than 5,000 youth. The program initiatives include Respect campaigns, End the R-Word campaigns and creating clubs and organizations within schools that are inclusive of students with and without intellectual disabilities. Are you familiar with Special Olympics South Carolina?

Yes No

Have you ever volunteered with Special Olympics?

Yes No

Do you have any family members with special needs?

Yes No

Before receiving this survey, had you ever heard of Project UNIFY?

Yes No

Does your school participate in Project UNIFY?

Yes No I don’t know

Have you heard of the “End the R-Word” campaign?

Yes No

Do your students interact with students with intellectual disabilities on a regular basis?

Yes No

Do students with intellectual disabilities at your school take classes of any sort (such as

electives) or participate in organizations/clubs with the general population of students?

Yes No I don’t know

What do you think would be the biggest obstacle in implementing Project UNIFY at your

school?

Funding Not enough volunteers Not enough participants State regulations

Something Else

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If you answered “something else,” please explain your below or add additional comments

to any answer.

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being Strongly Disagree and 5 being Strongly Agree), how much

do you agree with the following statements?

My school currently serves students with intellectual disabilities well.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

My school extends equal opportunities to students with intellectual disabilities.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

My school needs to improve our offerings and services for students with intellectual

disabilities.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

Students with intellectual disabilities can interact with their peers the same as any other

student.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

I interact with students with intellectual disabilities on a regular basis.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

I am confident in my ability to interact with students with intellectual disabilities.

1-----2-----3-----4-----5

I have a desire to help integrate students with intellectual disabilities into more

mainstream activities at my school?

1----2-----3----4-----5

Are there any programs already in place at your school for students with intellectual disabilities? If so, what are these programs?

 

 

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Do you think Project UNIFY should be implemented at your school? Why or why not?

Please select one:

Gender:

Male Female

Age:

20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 40-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 60+

What role do you fulfill at your school?

Administrator Teacher Teacher’s Aid Other

How many years have you been employed at your current school?

>5 5-10 10-15 15+

 

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Interview Transcript

Hello my name is _________. I am a student at the University of South Carolina. My

Public Relations Campaigns class is working with Special Olympics South Carolina to

strengthen on of their initiatives, Project UNIFY. We appreciate your participation in this

interview. It is completely voluntary and may be ended at any time.

The purpose of this research is to assess the awareness and attitudes surrounding Project

UNIFY. We are also hoping to learn more about how current Project UNIFY volunteers

got involved and their perceptions of the program. The only people who have access to

the interview data and the transcript are the PR Campaigns class, our professor, and

Special Olympics South Carolina personnel.

1. First, I would like to ask you about your current involvement with Project UNIFY:

1.1. How long have you been involved with Project UNIFY?

1.2. Why did you decide to support this program?

2. Now, I have a couple of questions specific to your school:

2.1. How long has Project UNIFY been at your school?

2.2. How has the implementation of this program impacted your school?

2.3. How has Project UNIFY benefitted students with intellectual disabilities

where you work?

3. Now, I have some questions concerning attitudes and potential issues:

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3.1. What attitudes need to change in order for there to be enough support for

Project UNIFY in other schools?

3.2. Did you encounter obstacles with implementing Project UNIFY? If so, what

were they?

3.3. Do you think students, faculty and staff are hesitant to include students with

intellectual disabilities in daily activities.

PROBE 3.3.1.: If the interviewee responds with a short answer such as ,

"yes," follow up with, "why do you think this is the case?"

4. These last two questions pertain more to you personally when it comes to Project

UNIFY:

4.1. Do you have any suggestions for the program?

4.2. Why has being involved with Project UNIFY been rewarding for you?

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Survey Email

Dear [insert administrator’s name], I am contacting you on behalf of Special Olympics South Carolina. As students in a Public Relations Campaigns course at the University of South Carolina, we have been assigned to create a public relations campaign in order to help expand the “Project UNIFY” initiative of Special Olympics South Carolina.

In an attempt to gain insight and perspective on "Project UNIFY" from administrators, teachers and staff in several South Carolina school districts, we ask you to complete the survey linked below and forward it to your teachers and staff. The success of our project and the benefits it will have on Special Olympics South Carolina rests on the response rates of this survey.

We thank you for your time and cooperation.

Survey Link: ******************************* (Group member name) (Position) Prism Communications

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Interview notes and transcripts Ms. Dayna Hohlfeldt, Beaufort Middle School (Some questions omitted from original transcript for the purposes of not being repetitive) 1. First, I would like to ask you about your current involvement with Project UNIFY:

1.1. How long have you been involved with Project UNIFY? The school started project UNIFY last year, it's in its second year at Beaufort Middle School. The program began as "purely athletic" at the school to get people excited and the athletes were handpicked for the first year. -Regular ed. students go two times a week and other students usually around four times

1.2. Why did you decide to support this program? School administration was "very supportive." "The administration has to back you up." Ms. Hohlfeldt said that this program would be very hard to support through just teachers and that for the startup, she went to her administrator to gain approval for the program and was given the go ahead and advised to find a teacher to partner with her. The athletic director ended up wanting to be involved also and the school began with two basketball teams and expanding from there. 2. Now, I have a couple of questions specific to your school:

2.2. How has the implementation of this program impacted your school? Ms. Hohlfeldt said this was "the best thing that ever happened to me and my class" when asked how it has impacted herself and the school. Friendships among all types of students have been built and 45 kids are now involved in the program and 150 applied to be involved with Project UNIFY this coming year. 3. Now, I have some questions concerning attitudes and potential issues:

3.1. What attitudes need to change in order for there to be enough support for Project UNIFY in other schools? Project UNIFY students have to be excited about the program in order for it to be successful. If the kids don't want to be there but it just ends up fitting into their schedules, it may not be the best fit. Sometimes buddy's will take advantage of the program and use their freedom (Ms. Hohlfeldt gave the example of taking their buddy to get water and roaming the school with the buddy) to take liberties that they wouldn't be allowed to otherwise. -One bullying incident where two 8th graders almost got into a fight was mentioned. One was supporting the "End the R-Word" campaign and the other was making fun of the student, saying the "r-word", etc.

3.3. Do you think students, faculty and staff are hesitant to include students with intellectual disabilities in daily activities? The majority of Beaufort Middle School’s staff are not hesitant to involve all students. Ms. Hohlfeldt spoke about one first year drama teacher who was very nervous about integrating the students with intellectual disabilities into her classes but got a lot of support. Having a team to support teachers helped a lot. Ms. Hohlfeldt said she gets email invitations "all the time" from the high school and other programs inviting Project UNIFY students to be involved in what other classes and schools are doing. She did acknowledge though that this might not be the norm.

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4. These last two questions pertain more to you personally when it comes to Project UNIFY:

4.1. Do you have any suggestions for the program? Start with athletics and then expand. She seemed to think that most schools stick closely to athletics.

4.2. Why has being involved with Project UNIFY been rewarding for you? "The most rewarding thing for me is to see the relationships that are built." Ms. Hohlfeldt said that it's like all the students are the same, they interact in classes, the lunch room, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beth Tuten, Swansea Middle School 1. First, I would like to ask you about your current involvement with Project UNIFY: 1.1. How long have you been involved with Project UNIFY? She has been involved with Project UNIFY since the program started six or seven years ago. Prior to this, there were numerous tactics supporting students with intellectual disabilities implemented at Swansea Middle School. 1.2. Why did you decide to support this program? Ms. Tuten decided to support this program because she wanted her school to have a unified atmosphere where no student would be treated differently because of his or her intellectual disability. It is important to support Project UNIFY because everyone is equal no matter what intellectual disability they may have. 2. Now, I have a couple of questions specific to your school: 2.1. How long has Project UNIFY been at your school? It has been at Beth’s school since the program began six or seven years ago. Prior to this, the school had implementations and plans to unite intellectually disabled students with un-disabled students starting in the 90s. 2.2. How has the implementation of this program impacted your school? It has raised awareness among students without intellectual disabilities. Students without intellectual disabilities want to interact and be united with intellectually disabled students. It’s the students who have impacted the program over any form of faculty or staff in the school district. 2.3. How has Project UNIFY benefitted students with intellectual disabilities where you work? Project UNIFY has benefitted students with intellectual disabilities because students who are not disabled want to interact and be involved with the intellectually disabled students. They want their school environment to be unified and want all of their class mates to be treated equally, disabled or not. 3. Now, I have some questions concerning attitudes and potential issues: 3.1. What attitudes need to change in order for there to be enough support for Project UNIFY in other schools? People have to be more aware about Project UNIFY and the fact that students with intellectual disabilities are just like us. 3.2. Did you encounter obstacles with implementing Project UNIFY? If so, what were they? No obstacles because the student body embraced Project UNIFY and wanted to keep adding and maintaining new implementations. 3.3. Do you think students, faculty and staff are hesitant to include students with intellectual disabilities in daily activities? No. Faculty and staff support students with intellectual disabilities and so do students who are fortunate enough to not have a

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disability. From an observer’s point of view, students are the ones who make it a priority to include students with intellectual disabilities. The students have more power than the faculty and staff. 4. These last two questions pertain more to you personally when it comes to Project UNIFY: 4.1. Do you have any suggestions for the program? No, just to keep adding new implementations and tactics to support the program. 4.2. Why has being involved with Project UNIFY been rewarding for you? It’s been rewarding to see how students have changed from when I grew up. These students are always prioritizing about involving intellectually disabled students. It has been rewarding to see that students want a unified school where everyone is treated equally, no matter if one has an intellectual disability or not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Interview Notes, Jacob Edgar, Seneca High School

• Special Education teacher at Seneca High School, currently involved with SOSC o Project Unify program has been at Seneca for 3 years o Project Unify is a great way to build relationships. General education

students appreciate things more, they are paired with a special needs student.

o Special needs students are excited to have friends that are on the football team etc.

o Project Unify pays for major expenses such as equipment, school only pays for minor expenses such as meals

• At Seneca o Steps taken to grow program: o There are conferences in Columbia o Have days with other schools such as Walhalla, Witmont, Eatside and

create games so students can interact o There is currently a basketball tournament which has attracted other

schools o Students are supportive of the program and love the special needs students.

There is a lot of support from the faculty and staff for this program. • Obstacles

o In order for the program to be successful, faculty has to be enthusiastic and be willing to put in the time and effort. One person can affect the implementation of the program. Faculty has be able to put in time for paperwork, spreading the word, etc.

o Obstacles include covering expenses that the program doesn’t cover. Finding schools that are farther away to participate can be difficult

o People may be hesitant to participate because they aren’t properly trained or prepared to handle certain situations when it comes to special needs students. It is a new situation for them which may cause wariness when implementing the program.

• Suggestions

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o He would like to see more rallies that are district based so there is not as much commuting and it would reach smaller areas. District based rallies would be able to make more intimate connections

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Qualtrics Data

Q1: Are you familiar with Special Olympics South Carolina? Q2: Have you ever volunteered with Special Olympics? Q3: Do you have family members with intellectual disabilities? Q4: Before receiving this survey, had you heard of Project UNIFY? Q5: Have you heard of the “End the R Word” Campaign? Q6: Do your students regularly interact with students that have intellectual disabilities? Q7: Do students at your school with intellectual disabilities take classes of any sort (such as electives) or participate in organizations/clubs with the general population of students?

0%   20%   40%   60%   80%   100%  

Q1  

Q2  

Q3  

Q4  

Q5  

Q6  

Q7  

I  don't  know  

No  

Yes  

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In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle implementing Project UNIFY at your school?

Funding: 45% Not enough volunteers: 17% Not enough participants: 15% State regulations: 2% Something else: 22% Please answer the following questions ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. 10.1: My school currently serves students with intellectual disabilities well. 10.2: My school extends equal opportunities to students with intellectual disabilities. 10:3: My school needs to improve our offerings and services for students with intellectual disabilities. 10.4: Students with intellectual disabilities can interact with their peers the same as any other students. 10.5: I interact with students with intellectual disabilities on a regular basis. 10.6: I am confident in my ability to interact with students with disabilities. 10.7: I have a desire to help integrate students with intellectual disabilities into more mainstream activities at my school.

     

Funding  

Not  enough  volunteers  

Not  enough  participants  

0   10   20   30   40  

10.1  10.2  10.3  10.4  10.5  10.6  10.7  

Strongly  Agree  

Agree  

Neither  Agree  nor  Disagree  Disagree  

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Male: 19% Female: 81%

20-25: 13% 26-30: 1% 31-35: 9% 36-40: 13% 41-45: 16% 46-50: 7% 51-55: 17% 56-60: 13% 60+: 11%

Gender  of  Respondents  

Male  

Female  

Age  of  Respondents   20-­‐25  

26-­‐30  

31-­‐35  

36-­‐40  

41-­‐45  

46-­‐50  

51-­‐55  

56-­‐60  

60+  

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Job Roles of Respondents

Years Worked at the Respondent’s School

0%   20%   40%   60%   80%   100%  

Administrator  Other  

Teacher's  Aid  

Teacher  

Administrator  

0%   5%   10%   15%   20%   25%   30%   35%   40%  

15+  

10  to  15  

5  to  10  

>5  

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Special Olympics South Carolina to Continue the “End the R-Word” Campaign

The Campaign to “End the R-Word" is Still Going Strong

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Oct.1, 2015)- Special Olympics South Carolina (SOSC) has announced that a special focus will be put on the “End the R-Word” campaign during the month of October. SOSC is targeting schools around South Carolina to gain insight on the use and influence of the r-word in schools.

In the next few weeks, SOSC staff will travel around the state to gather opinions from administrators, teachers and students on what respect means to them. Staff will ask these individuals what being a fan of respect looks like for them. The plan is to gather ideas from people all over the state as well those in different stages of life.

Participants will answer, “what does respect mean to you,” by writing their responses on a whiteboard with the hash tag # liveunified . A picture of the board and participant will be taken and used throughout different SOSC mediums. Additionally, SOSC hopes the schools will use the photographs in their own, unique ways to promote ending the r-word.

This initiative in South Carolina schools is part of a larger SOSC campaign to integrate Project UNIFY into more schools in the state. Project UNIFY provides integrated sports teams, clubs and classes for students with intellectual disabilities and without. The plan is to unify schools and the programs within them so all students can participate and gain more appreciation for each other.

Currently in South Carolina, there are 130 schools participating in Project UNIFY and over 550 youth leaders. During this school year, SOSC aims to increase school participation by 25 schools and add another 50 youth leaders.

Though SOSC would like to see this increase throughout the state of South Carolina, Orangeburg, Calhoun, Kershaw and Bamburg counties are four specific areas where the organization sees significant room for growth regarding the implementation for Project UNIFY. They are excited about the possibilities among these and other school districts in the state.

###

About Special Olympics SC and Project UNIFY “The Special Olympics South Carolina Project UNIFY® program is designed to change perspectives, improve attitudes, enhance relationships and boost acceptance among all students through education initiatives, youth activation, inclusive sports and social inclusion opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities.”

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Special Olympics South Carolina to Continue Expanding Project UNIFY

Leaders of Project UNIFY hope to see it reach more schools and students than ever before

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Columbia, S.C. (July 13, 2015)- Special Olympics South Carolina (SOSC) announced today a plan to continue the increase in school and youth leader participation in Project UNIFY. Project UNIFY was begun in 2008 as an initiative to integrate students with intellectual disabilities and those students in regular school programs. This has since been accomplished throughout schools in a variety of ways including unified sports teams, integrated clubs and integrated classes. In S.C., Project UNIFY is currently implemented in 130 schools with over 550 youth leaders. SOSC hopes to continue increasing the number of unified schools in S.C. during the 2015-2016 school year by an additional 25 schools and 50 youth leaders. During a six month campaign, SOSC will reach out to administrators, faculty, staff and students, specifically middle and high school students, to engage more participants in the program. Additionally, current Project UNIFY schools will be encouraged to expand their participation in the program. Informational materials addressing common misconceptions or questions about Project UNIFY will be distributed to schools this month along with social media posts addressing these questions and concerns. All social media posts related to Project UNIFY will use #liveunified. Schools will also receive materials for students’ welcome packets for the new year and posters for recruitment and informational purposes. During the beginning of the school year, an informational public service announcement (PSA) will be released to schools. The PSA features administrators, teachers and students currently involved in Project UNIFY. SOSC anticipates that seeing this video will both encourage the growth of and morale surrounding existing Project UNIFY programs in schools and foster interest in schools where the initiative has not yet been implemented. In conjunction with the ongoing “End the R-Word” campaign, SOSC has visits to a number of S.C. schools planned. These visits have the purpose of gathering opinions from those in schools on what respect means to them. Administrators, faculty, staff and students alike will be given the opportunity to write what respect means to them on a whiteboard and have their pictures taken holding their own definition. These photographs will be used throughout social media, the SOSC website and, optimally, by the individual schools to promote ending the r-word.

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By partnering with school administrators and teachers, SOSC will feature a “Buddy of the Month” from current Project UNIFY schools. Buddies, students who volunteer with Project UNIFY, will be featured on the SOSC website, their school website and other school news sources and through social media using the “live unified” hashtag. The first step of the campaign is to reach administrators and teachers and then branch out to students. The reception of Project UNIFY has been quite successful so far and SOSC is confident that more schools will enthusiastically start the program this coming year.

### About Special Olympics SC and Project UNIFY “The Special Olympics South Carolina Project UNIFY® program is designed to change perspectives, improve attitudes, enhance relationships and boost acceptance among all students through education initiatives, youth activation, inclusive sports and social inclusion opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities.”

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Social Media Posts  Facebook post for July

Visuals Copy

Get ready students, teachers, and administrators for Special Olympics South Carolina new campaign that will feature various activities in our hopes to increase the awareness in those school districts that are unfamiliar with what SOSC consist of! For more information on SOSC please visit, http://so-sc.org/

Do you know what Special Olympics South Carolina is? Learn what the organization does and also learn how to be a fan of their athletes by visiting, http://so-sc.org/

This month SOSC will be distributing brochures to those teachers and administrators in selected areas were we would like to increase the awareness and get more schools involved in our campaign to promote #liveunified

 Facebook post for August

Visuals   Copy  Insert picture of the poster. Special Olympics South Carolina is ready to

gear up for the campaign and we want all student participants to take a selfie and use #liveunified and by doing so you are helping us increase the awareness in South Carolina!

PSA clip. This month we are featuring a PSA that feature testimonials and the success of Project UNIFY #liveunified in surrounding areas. The PSA will feature questions about Project UNIFY and the PSA will overall inform viewers about the pertinent program and the importance of #liveunified. Please view the clip below.

Insert brochure cover. Hey students! Look out for these awesome brochures to be handed out to you guys in school and don’t forget about those selfies! #liveunified so-sc.org

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 Facebook post for September

Visuals   Copy  Enter sample picture of the poster in the background with a principal and a student.

It is competition time! Students, parents, faculty and staff, can your school post the most selfies with our poster in the background? SOSC are enjoying those selfies but we want to see if you all are really involved by seeing those posters hung around the hallways of your school! #liveunified

This month SOSC will begin to select the #BuddyoftheMonth and you can find out more information by visiting our website! In the meantime be in search for your buddy and we will give away prizes plus more! so-sc.org

Insert picture of the winner. Our #BuddyoftheMonth is (winner)! Thank you everyone for your involvement! Look out for more post on next month’s #BuddyoftheMonth and it is not too late to participate!

 Facebook post for October

Visuals   Copy  Insert last month’s winner article that is featured on the website and or the link to the article.

The time has come again for #BuddyoftheMonth and you can find out more information by visiting our website and to view last month’s winner!

It is SOSC mission to implement "End the R Word," movement. This word should no longer be used to describe any human being! Visit the website to find out information to why pledge, take action, and view pictures and videos of the achievement of ending the word in the media. #liveunified

Insert picture of the winner. Our #BuddyoftheMonth is (winner)! Thank you everyone for your involvement! Look out for more post on next month’s #BuddyoftheMonth and it is not too late to participate!

             

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 Facebook post for November

Visuals   Copy  

 

Look out students it’s competition time! This competition only applies to the students but don’t worry parents, faculty and staff we still want to see your selfies as well! This month students, include your Buddy in your selfies while using #liveunified #BuddyoftheMonth to win! For more information, visit our website, so-sc.org

  Visit www.r-word.org to find out more information on the mission of the “End the R-Word,” movement. Have you ended it? #liveunified

  The #BuddyoftheMonth winners are ….! These two buddies will be featured in SOSC next PSA discussing their involvement in #liveunified and presented with an award at the next field games! SOSC will offer more prizes to students so do not stop taking those selfies!

 Facebook post for December

Visuals   Copy    

 

SOSC would love to hear your experience with #liveunified at your school and the impact the project has created for you! Email us at lcheatham@so-sc.org to share your experiences with us! We are eager to fulfil the growth of the movement and we cannot do that without your help and your responses!

  How well do you know your Buddy? Do you and your Buddy go shopping? Or have sleepovers? SOSC love to see those selfies and we haven’t forgot about #BuddyoftheMonth so for this month show us what you and your Buddy do outside of school!

Insert winner’s selfie collage. The #BuddyoftheMonth winners are ….! A special thanks to all of the participants as SOSC enjoyed to see all those selfies! Visit so-sc.org for information on upcoming events and how to be involved with our organization!

     

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Twitter post for July Visuals Copy

Students, parents, faculty, & staff, get ready for SOSC campaign of increasing the awareness of #  liveunified in more middle & high schools!

Do you know what SOSC is? Learn more about the organization and also learn how to be a fan of their athletes by visiting so-sc.org

This month SOSC will be distributing brochures to faculty & staff in selected areas to increase the awareness and to initiate #liveunified

 Twitter post for August

Visuals   Copy  Insert picture of the poster. SOSC begins to gear up for the campaign &

we want all students to take a selfie & use #liveunified to help us increase the awareness in SC!

PSA clip. This month we are featuring a PSA that feature testimonials & the success of #liveunified in surrounding areas. See the clip below.

Insert brochure cover. Hey students! Look out for these awesome brochures to be handed out to you guys & don’t forget about those selfies! #liveunified so-sc.org

           

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Twitter post for September Visuals   Copy  Enter sample picture of the poster in the background with a principal and a student.

Competition time! Students, parents, faculty & staff, can your school post the most selfies with our poster in the background? #liveunified

This month SOSC will begin to select the #BuddyoftheMonth and you can find out more information by visiting our website! so-sc.org

Insert picture of the winner. Our #BuddyoftheMonth is (winner)! Thank you everyone for your involvement! Look out for more post on next month’s #BuddyoftheMonth

 Twitter post for October

Visuals   Copy  Insert last month’s winner article that is featured on the website and or the link to the article.

The time has come again for #BuddyoftheMonth and you can find out more information by visiting our website and to view last month’s winner!

It is SOSC mission to implement "End the R Word," movement. This word should no longer be used to describe any human being! #liveunified

Insert picture of the winner. Our #BuddyoftheMonth is (winner)! Thank you everyone for your involvement! Look out for more post on next month’s #BuddyoftheMonth

                       

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Twitter post for November Visuals   Copy  

 

It’s competition time students! This month include your Buddy in your selfies while using #liveunified #BuddyoftheMonth to win! so-sc.org

  Visit www.r-word.org to find out more information on the mission of the “End the R-Word,” movement. Have you ended it? #liveunified

  The #BuddyoftheMonth winners are ….! These two buddies will be featured in SOSC next PSA discussing their involvement in #liveunified

 Twitter post for December

Visuals   Copy  

SOSC would love to hear your experience with #liveunified at your school and the impact the project has created for you! Email us at lcheatham@so-sc.org

SOSC love to see those selfies & we haven’t forgot about #BuddyoftheMonth so this month show us what you & your Buddy do outside of school!

Insert winner’s selfie collage. The #BuddyoftheMonth winners are ….! A special thanks to all of the participants as SOSC enjoyed to see all those selfies! Visit so-sc.org

     

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PSA Script

We propose a PSA in which students, teachers and administrators who are involved in Project UNIFY are filmed giving responses to specified questions. These responses will serve as testimonials to piece together a “Who, What, When, Where, Why, How” type of video that makes viewers feel as if they relate to those who have made Project UNIFY successful in their schools. The goal is to combat the obstacles and false perceptions of Project UNIFY we discovered in our research. This PSA should be played at the beginning of the school year within classes. The ultimate goal is to have it broadcasted over the school television system. Since students will receive informational brochures about Project UNIFY in their first day packets, the PSA will act as a reminder as well as an educator to inspire conversation and enhance understanding of the program. Here is a list of sample questions to ask those who are filmed. The most effective film clips will be featured in this PSA, which will inform viewers about pertinent program information as well as evoke an emotional response. “When did you get involved in Project UNIFY at your school?” “How did Project UNIFY get started at your school?” “What was the process like to get Project UNIFY started at your school?” “What was the response like to Project UNIFY by people at your school?” “How does being involved in Project UNIFY make you feel?” “What were the changes that occurred in your school after implementing Project UNIFY?” “How is Project UNIFY funded at your school?” “What has been the most rewarding part of being involved in Project UNIFY?” “Do you think implementing Project UNIFY in schools is worth it?” “Do you think Project UNIFY is beneficial to everyone involved?” “Who can get involved in Project UNIFY?”