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By Elizabeth Millard
TSPRA President Profile
Hays CISD's Julie Jerome keeps communication lines open for all
As a child growing up in Arlington, Julie Jerome witnessed firsthand the kinds of everyday struggles and triumphs that come with working in public education and public relations. Her mother, Nancy Dugan, was a schoolteacher and part-time public information officer at Mansfield ISD.
Like many kids, Jerome made a solid declaration: I will never follow in my mother’s footsteps.
Today, sitting in her office at Hays CISD as the assistant superintendent of information, communications and student services for Hays CISD, Jerome has to laugh.
“The last thing I wanted to do was be a public information officer,” says Jerome, who, in February, stepped up as the new president of the Texas School Public Relations Association. “But for me, being raised by a schoolteacher who also did public information turned out to make my eventual career transition pretty easy.”
Jerome started her professional life as a journalist, after majoring in journalism and economics at the University of North Texas. For about 15 years after graduation, she worked for daily newspapers throughout North Texas, mainly covering business topics. She then ended up working at the Texas Comptroller’s Office, editing a quarterly publication called Texas Fast Forward.
Although she liked the work, she grew tired of the commute, which translated into time away from her two children, Addie and Teddy. So, she began searching for a job closer to home. When a position in the communications office opened up at Hays CISD, she applied, although it meant shifting her professional track. Jerome, who had just turned 40, felt it was a good time for a fresh start. And the transition wasn’t nearly as hard as she’d imagined.
“Writing is what you fall back on, so that was seamless,” she says. “I could apply my writing skills in this new way, and I could also use my love for research. I was also surprised at how strong my understanding was about the education business, and I think that came from my mother.”
In her first year in education, Jerome joined TSPRA, an organization to which her mother had belonged. From there, Jerome moved up the ranks by serving on committees and then the board of officers. As president-elect in 2008, she took a closer look into the organization, and she was surprised to find such a diverse group. Members worked as graphic artists, public information officers — even television producers.
“There are so many professions that come into TSPRA; it’s wonderful, but it’s also a great challenge,” she says, noting that diversity also comes into play with school district size. “All members should feel valued, whether it’s a public information officer in a tiny, rural school district or a communications director in Dallas ISD with a staff of 25 people. Texas is a huge state, so the association is reflective of that.”
Brad Domitrovich, 2008 TSPRA president, established a diversity committee to address how to better serve such a wide array of members, and Jerome says she looks forward to continuing that work. Jerome also wants to use her time as president to bring a focus on incorporating Web 2.0 tools in school communications plans.
“A challenge for us, and for districts, is how to make social media work for our kids and our schools,” she says. “Should districts have a blog? Should students be texting all day long from their cell phones? These are issues on which we should be informed and coming up with new ideas.”
In general, Jerome simply looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for the public relations field, which she now finds more personally satisfying than journalism.
“As a journalist, all the communication is one way,” she says. “But in this profession, you can start a dialogue with the whole community and really open the schools to parental involvement. The kids do better when everyone is involved, and you can create communication and interaction among fellow TSPRA members, parents, teachers and community members. It’s glorious.”
On the home front
Two years ago, Jerome married professional photographer Tommy Hultgren. He also has two children and a job a half hour away, so the pair has decided to live separately for now.
“With the kids and the jobs, it just didn’t work to live together,” says Jerome. “Some people live together and then get married; we’re doing it the other way around.”
Because Hultgren photographs TSPRA conferences — a service he does for free — Jerome jokes that she should schedule more conferences to see her husband more often.
“There have been a lot of changes in the last couple years, with the new marriage and my children going through high school,” she says. “In this business, there’s already not much free time, so any that I have is taken up with my family.”
Jerome has found some time to study, though. She is in the process of earning an Accredited in Public Relations (APR) designation, which she says will enhance her knowledge, skills and abilities in practicing public relations — a career she has grown to love.
“It’s amazing to come in every day to a place that’s affecting children so positively,” she says. “It sounds as mushy as can be, but that’s why all of us do this: it’s for the kids. Whether you’re a writer or Web designer or teacher, you’re able to do something for the greater good, and that’s so inspiring.”
ELIZABETH MILLARD is a Minneapolis, Minn.-based writer who frequently contributes to Texas School Business and District Administration magazine, which reaches 75,000 school administrators nationwide.
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