Next week, Oxford Community Schools will enter the high-priced world of primetime television when it’s featured in a 30-minute infomercial showcasing it and two other Michigan school districts.
‘Oxford’s portion of the ad is $25,000,? according to Pat Bono, administrative assistant to the superintendent of schools.
Dubbed ‘The Best Schools in Michigan,? the half-hour, commercial-free program will air at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2 on WXYZ-TV Channel 7.
‘The program was strategically positioned to air just before ABC television’s highly-rated ‘Grey’s Anatomy? which usually draws more than 400,000 viewers in the Detroit area,? according to a March 24 press release issued by the Southfield-based Sussman Sikes Marketing & Advertising, which is partnering with Channel 7 on the project.
Those who miss it on TV will be able to view it beginning April 3 by visiting www.bestschoolsinmichigan.com.
‘It’s all part of our marketing plan to attract more families to the community as well as schools of choice (students),? said Superintendent Dr. William Skilling. ‘Our goal is to grow our student enrollment significantly . . . If we bring (in) four (new) students we’ve more than covered our marketing (costs).?
Each new student who enrolls in Oxford means about $7,500 in additional annual funding from the state.
Skilling’s expecting the infomercial to give the district a good return on its investment.
‘We think it will obviously draw a lot of students and interest in our district,? he said, noting the district’s also taken out ads in local newspapers. ‘We’re going to be monitoring what gives us the best return on our investment. When people choose Oxford, we’re asking them how they heard about Oxford, why did they choose Oxford??
Oxford will be prominently featured in the April 2 infomercial along with Southgate Community Schools in Wayne County and Fraser Public Schools in Macomb County.
‘This is our first time venturing into TV and we’ll see how this goes,? Skilling said. ‘It gives us an opportunity to share what we’re doing differently. That’s one of the things that we’re trying to do is distinguish ourselves in terms of what we offer versus maybe what some of the other schools are doing.?
‘It’s unfortunate that schools have to be in this business of marketing today. We never had to before, but with the economy and declining student enrollments and Proposal A, it’s all contributed to that.?
The approximately $7,500 per pupil per year the district currently receives from the state will be frozen for the next two years and automatically cut in the third year while employee costs such as health care and retirement are projected to grow $1 million annually, according to Skilling.
‘The only way you can really close the gap between increasing expenditures and the revenue you have is to grow your student population, which Proposal A was designed to do, create competition,? he explained. ‘You grow your revenue only through student growth.?
Next week’s infomercial will feature interviews with Oxford teachers, students and school administrators, all discussing new techniques and approaches to education.
Segments were filmed at Lakeville Elementary, Oxford Middle School and Oxford High School on March 20 and 23.
During and after the April 2 broadcast, TV viewers are invited to participate in a webchat at www.wxyz.com with some Oxford’s educators and administrators beginning at 8:30 p.m.
According to Diana Sikes, vice president of Sussman Sikes, the idea for ‘The Best Schools in Michigan? was ‘hatched? over breakfast with some folks from Channel 7.
‘We were all talking about how everything on the news, everything out there was bad. It was all negative news and bad news,? she said.
When the conversation turned to highlighting the positives in communities, Sikes said they realized ‘one of the best stories about Michigan is its schools and yet nobody was telling the story.?
Sikes said they decided ‘if the news media itself isn’t going to devote the six o’clock news to it because, of course, they can’t because bad news drives ratings,? then they had to create ‘a whole separate set of programming that really does let the good news of what’s going on in schools out into the community.?
They did some homework, talked to different people and realized ‘there are some amazing stories out there.?
‘We really wanted to feature sort of the small districts that are really gems in our community,? Sikes said.
Apparently, one of these ‘gems? they heard about was the Oxford school district.
‘Nobody would guess that Oxford is pioneering 6-year-olds learning Mandarin Chinese. That they’re teaching violin to kids before they can read,? Sikes said. ‘Those are surprising and uplifting stories of real victories coming out of the smaller school districts.?
‘Bill Skilling is known throughout the community as a really innovative educator,? Sikes noted. ‘You can’t spend three minutes with the man and not know that he is really a superstar in education. It didn’t take us long to kind of jump on his bandwagon.?
The inaugural episode of ‘The Best Schools in Michigan? will be commercial-free. But Sikes is hoping that will change with future shows.
‘We, of course, are hoping that it really catches on and captures the imagination of some major advertisers out there who want to support this kind of programming,? she said.
The April 2 episode will air commercial-free because Oxford Schools and the other public and private entities involved footed the bill.
‘It’s kind of a cooperative effort between all of us, so we kicked in some, the schools kicked in a little and the (TV) station kicked in a little,? Sikes said. ‘But it’s not a pay-for-play kind of a thing. We did talk to a lot of different school districts and really kind of cherry-picked three stories that we thought were representative of real excellence coming out of small districts.?
‘We’re already kind of working on our second program, which we hope does get some corporate sponsorship or state sponsorship.?
According to Skilling, there are plans to syndicate the program and eventually go nationwide.
Besides airing the infomercial on TV, the Best Schools in Michigan website will provide visitors with video profiles, individual district information and host webchats about schools and education-related issues.
‘We’re going to be listed on the Best Schools in Michigan website,? Skilling said. ‘A longer version of the program that involves Oxford will be on that website. Plus, we will have a link to that website (on www.oxfordschools.org) and rights to use the (Best Schools in Michigan) logo. And we have rights to use all the video.?