We blinked and July was over. Here's what we were up to!
July kept us moving, but we wouldn't have it any other way!
We kicked things off with a Team Day at Target Field, where we celebrated our accomplishments, planned out the objectives for the next 6 months, and ate plenty of hotdogs! It was a well-earned afternoon in the sun with some of our favorite people before a busy stretch of the month ahead.
Later on, Jake and Sam headed down to New Orleans for the 2026 NSPRA National Conference, where we spent several days connecting with school communications professionals from across the country and Jake led a Gold Mine session on the success of the St. Cloud Area School District Referendum. We came back energized, full of ideas, and already looking forward to Indianapolis next year.
To close out the month, we had the privilege of partnering with Circus Juventas and attending their Partner Preview Show. It was a truly one-of-a-kind experience that reminded us why we love working with mission-driven organizations that pour everything into what they do. More on that project coming soon!
July was a good one. On to August.
Jake and Sam had the privilege of attending the 2026 NSPRA National Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was one of the highlights of our year so far.
The week opened with the School Communicator of the Year award and we want to give a special shoutout to Celi Haga for being one of the finalists. We’re incredibly proud of everything Celi has accomplished at Eastern Carver County Schools and we even got to create a video where Celi talks about what this work means to her.
The professional development sessions were equally strong — covering everything from high-stakes decision making and successful bond campaigns to using data and competitive comparisons to build a stronger, more narrative-driven social media strategy. We walked away with a wealth of resources and ideas that are already finding their way into our own work here at Captivate.
To close out the conference, Jake led a Gold Mine session on the success of the St. Cloud Area School District Referendum, walking attendees through the research, the strategy, and the results that drove passing both ballot questions. It was a proud moment for our team and a great conversation starter with some incredibly talented communicators from around the country.
The thing about NSPRA is that you come for the sessions, but you stay for the people. School communicators are some of the hardest working, most under appreciated professionals in education, and being in a room full of them is a reminder of why this work matters so much. We can’t wait for Indianapolis in 2027.
Some projects stay with you long after the cameras are packed up. This was one of them.
We had the privilege of producing a video for Black Men Teach’s annual Gold Star Gala. A video centered around resilience, community, and what it looks like when educators show up for their students in the most difficult of circumstances. The video follows teachers Devon and Keon at Columbia Heights schools through a year that tested everyone. What emerged wasn’t a story about hardship. It was a story about what happens when a community refuses to let hardship define them.
School may be out, but that doesn’t mean our production team takes the summer off.
Captivate was all over the place in July, with visits from Brent out of North Carolina, and Justin out of Illinois. The heat didn’t slow us down, we stayed outside and got the job done. Take a look!
