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Camden County Educational Services Commission Wins Communication Awards for Employee Wellness Campaign

The awards were received in the marketing/branding and electronic newsletter categories.

Clementon, NJ – The Camden County Educational Services Commission (CCESC) earned two first-place awards in a statewide communications contest sponsored by the New Jersey School Public Relations Association (NJSPRA).

The awards were received in the marketing/branding and electronic newsletter categories. Both contest submissions were related to the #BeWellCCESC employee wellness campaign launched in September 2019.


This postcard was included in the wellness kits given to employees.

The NJSPRA communication contest recognizes school districts that go above and beyond to tell their school district’s stories. The CCESC is one of 19 school districts recognized for their outstanding work in school communications in 2020. Contest submissions were judged by a panel of school communicators, marketing professionals and communications professors throughout the county. Winners were announced during a virtual awards ceremony on Friday, October 16, 2020.

Last fall, the Camden County Educational Services Commission reinforced a commitment to their 150-plus employees with a wellness campaign. The campaign was kicked off at the start of the school year with every employee receiving a wellness kit. The kit included a variety of convenience items like a hand sanitizer pen, stress ball and water bottle that staff can keep at their desks or in their cars to stay healthy throughout the school year.

Wellness kits included a hand-sanitizer pen, stress ball, first-aid items, water bottle and more.

The initiative led to a small group of employees volunteering their time to plan events and share information focused on nutrition and wellness prior to the pandemic. During the pandemic, an employee newsletter was reinvented and distributed weekly with a wellness check-in, employee-created content and helpful resources for surviving the spring quarantine.

“When we launched the wellness initiative, we never could’ve anticipated that we’d be faced with a global pandemic six months later. Having a committee in place allowed us to continue supporting our employees during the pandemic with relevant and timely communications,” stated Daniel Del Vecchio, superintendent of Camden County Educational Services Commission.

“Internal communications with our employees is critical at all times, but especially during a global pandemic. Getting involved with the wellness committee last year helped me to create a foundation for internal communications that our employees needed once the pandemic hit. Our internal communications will continue to evolve as we survey the communication preferences of our employees this year. We don’t want to contribute our resources toward unnecessary communications that end up in someone’s trash folder,” said Lori Perlow, communications manager at the Camden County Educational Services Commission and president of the New Jersey School Public Relations Association.

Planning for this school year’s wellness activities is underway. With some employees working on-site and others working remotely, the Camden County Educational Services Commission’s Wellness Committee is tasked with developing an innovative plan to engage employees in meaningful wellness activities.