When the marketing department entered the national Educational Advertising Awards competition for its Open House ad and social media use, the department hoped for a baseline comparison.

But the marketing professionals in Kelly Hall got more than that.

In each category, the organization awarded the department a Gold ranking.

Director of Marketing Mrs. Grace Trahan-Rodecap said the competition is “a good idea for people like me just to see how we stack up.” Rodecap said it provided a gauge with which the marketing department could evaluate their performance.

“We were so excited that we got Gold in each one of (the categories),” Rodecap said.

However, the work is not finished. Rodecap said that although the validation was reassuring, the department is consistently working to be better.

Rodecap said she sees the reason for the award from its effecitve story telling and ability to convey a message. “By looking at our ad, we have so much to offer,” Rodecap said. The Open House advertisement communicated the athletics, academics, tradition and more quality attributes of the school. “I think we did an excellent job in one ad of telling the story,” she said.

Rodecap also attributes story telling to the success of the department’s social media, as well as its the engagement. The department posts two to three times a day on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and responds immediately to those who reach out. “That’s a sign of a social media platform that’s dynamic, and I guess you could say (the) gold standard,” Rodecap said.

The department’s award resulted from the support and opportunities provided by the school. Rodecap said, “It’s just such as blessing to know that God has richly blessed this community.”