WE ARE getting attention

A new media promotional campaign called We Are Baldwin is capturing hearts, minds, faces and even entire families throughout the hamlet.

The movement was inspired by a speech by Chris Greer, president of the Baldwin Teachers Association, delivered in mid-March, when 99 Baldwin teachers were issued notices of possible termination. Greer, speaking on behalf of his constituents at a school board meeting, pointed out that teachers in district schools are Baldwin — that whether a person lives in Baldwin or simply works here, he or she contributes to the fabric that makes the community whole.

“No one spoke for quite a while after he finished speaking,” school district spokeswoman Cristina Schmohl recalled. “People were touched, and they were thinking about what he said. I’ve never really seen that before at a board meeting.”

According to Schmohl, members of the school board discussed Greer’s ideas after the meeting. She said that the group was inspired to think about new ways of presenting Baldwin as a composite of vibrant facets.

“We decided to utilize that idea: We Are Baldwin,” Schmohl recounted, although she added that, at the time, there was no concrete idea for bringing the concept to life.

The next step was taken by two media professionals: Vincent Leis, a Baldwin High School technology and broadcasting teacher, and Andy Randazzo, a Baldwin parent and the creative principal at HitState, an advertising, marketing and design firm.

Randazzo, Schmohl said, really “picked up the We Are Baldwin concept and ran with it.” Randazzo had been involved with the rebranding of Baldwin for some time, and his idea for the fresh concept focused on a page containing the phrase “We Are _____” and pointing people to the website wearebaldwin.org. The simple but

compelling principle was that individuals and groups associated with Baldwin could print out a page reading “We Are _____” and then fill in whatever aspect of Baldwin they felt they represented. A photo would be snapped of them holding up the paper, and then, after they signed a release, the image would become a part of the campaign. Thus far, words used to fill in the blank include students, artists, sweet, home, a family, secure, cousins, sisters, PROUD and many more.

A second, equally compelling component of the campaign has been an austere black and white video filmed by Leis, Randazzo and BHS news and broadcasting students Jenna Bowlby, Ryan Brown, Matthew Harris, Josue Lopez and Matthew Hajny. The video is available on YouTube, and can also be seen on the We Are Baldwin website. It had been viewed almost 5,000 times as the Herald went to press.

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