2015 Dynamic Dozen Top Local Sales and Marketing Executive: Zac Rantz

Zac Rantz is a born innovator.

In what started as a part-time role in 2006 for the former Nixa High School English and journalism teacher, Rantz played a major role in starting the schools’ communication program.

“We started the program off with the website and newsletters called QuickNews, and it just kind of took off from there. Parents were able to know exactly what was going on at school,” Rantz says.

Now, as the chief communication officer for Nixa Public Schools, innovation is the name of the game. Since Rantz took on the communications role full time, NPS has led the way with change.

“One of the main innovations that we have implemented is a comprehensive, districtwide communication program with guidelines, standards, procedures and processors,” he says. “While a staple in the business world, school communication programs have been a newer idea.”

And the Nixa community caught on.

“In the fall of 2008, we went from 200 people wanting the newsletter to almost 2,000 people wanting the newsletters,” he says. “People were wanting communication.

“From there, we implemented our rapid notification system where the principals were required to do a certain number of calls per month.”

Not only did the program work, it flourished. Parents were getting involved in their child’s education like never before.

“What we were finding with the parents is that once the students hit around seventh grade, they stopped communicating,” says Rantz. “We realized quickly that this is an area we need to be focusing on.”

From there, NPS began implementing social media and text alerts. “Over the past couple years, as the millennials have become the parent group, we’ve really changed what we’ve done and evolved the method,” he says.

Last year, NPS received the 2014 Leadership Through Communication Award from the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Public Relations Association. The national award recognizing a schools’ communications program is given to just one school nationwide each year.

However, for Rantz, innovation goes beyond communication. As chief communicator, Rantz took the lead in a community lottery for space at the district’s newly launched STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics – elementary, the John Thomas School of Discovery.

“This was the first lottery school in Nixa and the first fully STEAM school in the area,” he says. “An open house was held where over 3,000 people attended, which was three times the projected attendance, due in large part to the concentrated marketing effort put into articles, press releases and social media. When the lottery occurred in January 2012, over 1500 students applied for 400 positions.”

Rantz knows it takes energy to facilitate innovation, but it also takes time and gentle guidance. “It’s all about being organized,” he says. “If you overwhelm people, they won’t listen.”[[In-content Ad]]