Schools sign on to social media

The Internet and social media play large roles in today's society, with millions of users active on such sites as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.

With nearly 1.4 billion Facebook users and 284 million Twitter users worldwide, more educators are utilizing the benefits of social media within school systems.

Local schools including Sidney High School and Peetz Plateau School have taken to Facebook and Twitter to share what goes on in and out of school.

The technology director and teacher at Peetz Plateau School, Leslie Raffelson, said its social media sites are about getting information out to the public instead of having to send a newsletter home with the students.

"The way people communicate now is through different social networks such as Tumblr or Vine, we chose Facebook and Twitter to give more insight of what goes on at school. Uploading pictures or posts is a great way for parents to see what their kids are doing inside the walls of the school," Raffelson said.

"I'm a parent too, and sometimes when I ask my daughter what she did at school she says 'nothing.' With the Facebook page, we can go around to classes and upload pictures from the classrooms of what students are actually doing throughout the day."

Peetz can be found on Facebook and Twitter by searching "Peetz School."

At Sidney High School, several groups are active on Twitter including the Red Zone, SRTV and the official Sidney Raiders account.

Sidney Senior Austin Jacobson helped create the Red Zone Twitter page as a freshman with fellow Red Zone member Nick Castner to help promote school spirit. The Red Zone is a student-organized group that lends support at school-related activities, events and athletic contests.

"It's a good way to share student life," Jacobson said. "Our followers can get notifications straight to their phones without having to even check Twitter. It helps get the word out about Red Zone theme ideas, like if we want to do a 'black out' for a basketball game we just put that on Twitter so everyone knows to show up wearing black."

Jacobson added that it's a great way for other activities to get notoriety.

"Sometimes on other forms of media like radio or TV, if they're covering a basketball game it's all about that specific sport or activity," he said. "With our account, we spread the word about all groups like band, choir or One Acts. Sometimes only the people in those groups know when they're having a performance, so we use this as a way to make sure everyone knows about it."

The Sidney Red Zone Twitter account has also created the hashtag "#WAAR." By tweeting the hashtag, it makes it easier to find posts regarding Sidney Raiders.

According to Sidney Public School District Superintendent Jay Ehler social media has helped the communication between the school and community by being able to post changes in athletic schedules, reminders, school closings and transportation changes to name a few.

"The network has a positive effect on school spirit," Ehler said. "When the boys' basketball team made it to the finals of the state tournament, the networks helped get the information to more people, and by the final day there was a ton of people supporting the team."

Another way Sidney High students have been able to network with the community is through SRTV.

SRTV live streams Sidney events to through its website, sidneyraiders.tv.

"SRTV began last year, the previous year we did some streaming on a club level and now it's a part of an actual class," said Technology Facilitator and SRTV sponsor Roger Gallaway. "The community has been incredibly responsive to the streaming. It provides a way for the community to stay in contact.

"It's actually strengthened ties with alumni. Initially there was a concern about low attendance, but we've seen the opposite," he added. "Also, the kids learn a lot of different skills through SRTV. A lot of the terminology we use is the exact same as they would hear at TV and radio studios."

Ehler added that there has been a continuous flow of support and compliments about SRTV.

Each of the area schools also maintain updated web pages for their respective districts. They can be found at:

• Sidney: sidneyraiders.org

• Peetz: peetzschool.schoolwires.net

• Leyton: leytonwarriors.org

• Creek Valley: creekvalleystorm.com

• Potter-Dix: pdcoyotes.org