[September 09, 2011] Horry County Schools to expand outreach through social media sites Tweet Sep 09, 2011 (The Sun News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Horry County Schools is opening more communication avenues to keep families and residents up to date on what's happening in their attendance areas. The school district is the third-largest in the state and has about 50 schools throughout nine attendance areas -- Aynor, Carolina Forest, Conway, Green Sea Floyds, Loris, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, St. James and Socastee. Each area soon will have its own community Facebook page, and the district is in the process of designing and populating those pages, said Ashley Gasperson, HCS coordinator for digital communications. "Ideally, it is to provide additional means of communication for the community and to provide a window into what's happening in the school," said Gasperson, who aims to have them up and running by Oct. 1. Gasperson said each page will be a one-stop shop where residents in those attendance zones can follow what is happening at all the schools in their area. She said the pages should appeal not only to parents, but to anyone in a community who wants to be informed and support their area schools. While the district's social networking is in its infancy, Gasperson said, many of the district's schools already have their own Facebook pages, which reach out to parents and children with ties to their school. Gasperson is in the process of working with principals and staff members who are posting to their school pages and now are learning what information should cross over for the general community. In addition to Facebook, each school also has a page on the school district's website, www.horrycountyschools.net. Gasperson said ideally, the information found there will be static, such as staff directories and boilerplate items, while Facebook will log instant information, whether it's school field-trip photos or an emergency announcement. Facebook users can program their settings to receive school alerts, and Gasperson expects opportunities for subgroups to develop down the line. Pages will be outfitted with appropriate links to ease navigation, and those who don't use Facebook will be able to monitor feeds right from the school pages on the district website. Teal Britton, HCS spokeswoman, said these new web pages are one way the district is expanding its social media efforts, and they are designed to serve as a community hub for school information that each school will be encouraged to use as an expansion of their communication efforts. Myrtle Beach High School football fans are encouraged to come out Friday night, not only to enjoy fabulous football, but to help those community members who are in need. The school's athletics department and sports medicine program are sponsoring "Kickoff for Cans" at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium before the Seahawks' game against South Florence High School. Fans are asked to bring cans or boxes of nonperishable foods to drop off as they enter the stadium for the game. All food collected will be donated to the food pantry at Helping Hand of Myrtle Beach. Items such as soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes also will be accepted. Students will compete that morning, bringing donations before school starts in hopes of winning breakfast for their first-period class, said Jim Berry, head athletic trainer. It's all part of a plan by the school's new athletic director, John Cahill, who has asked all of the athletics teams to take on a community service project throughout the year, Berry said. "We decided to go ahead and do this because I had heard through the grapevine that Helping Hand was in real bad straits," Berry said. "I know they're in bad need of food right now." For more information, call Berry at 445-2051. Contact VICKI GROOMS at 443-2401 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_VickiGrooms. ___ (c)2011 The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Visit The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) at www.thesunnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]