The New York School Public Relations Association (NYSPRA) is pleased to announce that Rebekah Mott, Manager of Communications and Print Shop at St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, has been named the 2019 Communicator of the Year.
The Communicator of the Year award, which is being awarded for the fourth year, is meant to recognize school communications professionals who demonstrate a commitment to strengthening relationships between public schools and the students, families and communities they serve. The award honors those who recognize that communication and public relations are a critical component of school leadership.
Mott leads St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES’ Communications Office and has been involved in school communications for the past five years. Prior to joining St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES, Mott was an account executive for a public relations firm in Burlington, Vermont, where she represented several national and international brands and businesses, as well as local nonprofits.
“I believe education is the most powerful tool we can give future generations, and when we enhance the stream of communication between the school, parents, and community, everyone wins,” said Mott. “I am honored by this recognition and grateful for the strong partnerships between BOCES and our school districts that make my work possible, and for the support of my stellar communications team.”
This past year, Mott spearheaded the communications and public relations for the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES $43.5 million capital project—the largest capital project in the history of the BOCES, which includes a total renovation of all three CTE centers across the region. Rebekah presented at the American Association of School Administrators conference in Los Angeles on crisis management, the NYSPRA conference on the BOCES capital project campaign, as well as the NYSSBA conference on the Agriculture Academy. She was recently named one of the 20 Under 40 of the North Country.
"We are thrilled to announce that Rebekah Mott is our 2019 Communicator of the Year,” said NYSPRA President Adrienne Leon, APR, Director of Communications at Capital Region BOCES. “Rebekah is well known throughout the state for her work and we’re so proud to honor her.”
Mott was nominated by St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES District Superintendent Thomas R. Burns.
“While there are talented communications professionals at BOCES and school districts all across the state, I can honestly say that I’ve seen none that have had the impact in such a short period of time that Rebekah Mott has had,” Burns wrote. “Although there are larger communications departments at some of the marquis BOCES near urban centers, Rebekah has taken a department of one person, herself, and grown it into a department of 3 professionals who have now merged with our print shop to form a group of nearly a dozen people who serve all of our districts as well as schools in the FEH BOCES. She has earned the trust and faith of school administrators and board of education members who now habitually see her as the solution and the first phone call to help them with a wide variety of projects, PR campaigns, news media interviews, press releases and publications.”
Mott was chosen by a panel of judges who work in school communications outside of New York state.
