Help Us Spread the Word About Digital Resources!

Heartland AEA’s mission is to provide services and leadership to improve the learning outcomes of all children in central Iowa. An audience we sometimes have trouble connecting with as an Agency is parents. Parents are a child’s first teacher and should be actively involved in their child’s education. We’d like to partner with our schools to help inform parents of tools, such as our online databases, that are available for their children and can be used for homework help.

Throughout the year, we will create a series of releases about digital resources provided through the school and made possible by Heartland AEA. To make it more meaningful for parents, the releases can be personalized by including photos of students using the resources and testimonials of how students and educators have used them. The first of these releases is about ebooks and can be found here.

The following are two things we would like you to do to promote these resources. If your school/district has other ideas, please contact the Heartland AEA Communications Dept at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Put in School Newsletters
Include the release, with the above-mentioned photos and testimonials, in school newsletters that are sent to your communities.

Send to Local Newspapers
Please send the release as is or with your added photos and testimonials to your local newspaper(s) following your school’s/district’s media relations procedures. We assume you already have an established relationship with your local paper(s), but if not, a listing of area newspapers can be found on the Iowa Newspaper Association website. If you do not have a public relations/communications department, consider using the following message when sending the release.

Dear [Editor’s name],

Students in [school/district] have 24/7 access to hundreds of ebooks with thanks to Heartland Area Education Agency (AEA). Please print the attached release in the paper and let us know if you would be interested in doing a story on how our school district is working with the local AEA to improve the learning climate for students in school and at home.

Best regards,
[Your name, title]

Please refrain from publishing your school’s username/password. This information should be protected and can be obtained by contacting the school librarian. We appreciate your assistance in helping spread awareness of our digital resources. If you have any questions, contact the Heartland AEA Communications Dept. at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.