MILFORD—Social media is everywhere.
Students in high school have grown up with it, and students at Okoboji High School are learning how to utilize it as a potential career pathway.
The new social media marketing elective course has evolved from digital media classes the school has offered for in previous semesters.
“We’ve had for a number of years what we called digital media production,” said principal Brian Downing. “They learned a lot about shooting video and would create videos that would run in the school, things like that, and the popularity really spiked then kind of waned, so last year we discussed what could replace it. So much of the video we consume now is in a phone format, short form, TikTok, Instagram reels, that kind of stuff, and we don’t have a marketing team for our school district, so we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had some kids that were interested in helping with something like that?’”
Social Media Marketing I has 12 students signed up for its inaugural semester.
Social Media Marketing II will be offered in the future.
“We’ve very much been creating it as we go,” Downing said.
One of the first items on the agenda was creating a calendar that included all of the numerous appreciation days and celebrations throughout the school year.
“I met with them earlier in the year and went over some templates, and we’ve given them access to things like our teacher pictures and student pictures, so they can use maybe the pictures of our custodians when it’s Custodian Appreciation Day,” Downing said. “So, we’ve created an account for their class where they can post things in a moderated way. I have to approve it before it actually goes out.”
During the football season, fans may have noticed a few new additions to the video board that came courtesy of the new class.
“We have our video board, and we’ve had graphics on there and things like that, but you go to a Cyclone game and when it’s third or fourth down you see one of the Cyclone players up there saying, ‘Let’s get loud!’ and so, I gave the class that idea, and they ran with it,” Downing said. “And so we’ve got some of our senior football players on the board during those moments and the reaction from the crowd is noticeable. And I think the students realize then they’re creating things that lots of people are seeing.”
The class also has conversations about differentiating between the various audiences that gravitate to different social media apps and how to best direct their posts in an intentional way.
While there is certainly some overlap, Facebook has a different audience than Instagram, which is in turn a different audience than TikTok.
“I’ve really enjoyed the discussions I get to have with the students, and I think they’ve learned a lot,” Downing said. “I’d like to see the class expand in the future to actually work with other companies or businesses and learn how to do some marketing for different types of entities.”
To that end, class members have continuing discussions about the purpose of their posts, the goals they are trying to reach with them, and how that might look different for a corporation versus a school district.
“What is the goal of what I’m communicating?” Downing said. “Is it to inform? Entertain? Engage? Because those are all going to be different types of posts and different mediums and maybe in some applications you’re wrapping those all into one, so I think as this class grows and we get into a second level of social media marketing, there’s some interesting learning to do there about what companies, organizations and schools are doing this, and doing this well, and what does that look like.”
It certainly looks like Okoboji’s newest elective course is off to a fast, fun and informative start.
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