D214 Community Education receives best brochure award

District 214 Community Education received a 2018 International Award for Best Brochure from the Learning Resources Network (LERN), the world's largest lifelong learning and continuing education association.

"The feedback on the program guide's redesign has been very positive," said Patrick Mogge, director of District 214 Community Engagement and Outreach. "We have expanded our program to offer more classes, trips and lifelong learning opportunities for all of our residents and the new guide allows us to ensure they receive the information in the best possible way."

When the previous Director of Community Education retired in 2016, the District consolidated resources by folding the Community Education program into the District's Community Engagement and Outreach Department. With the assistance of the new department, Community Education implemented a makeover for its fall 2017 program guide to shine a spotlight on its Community Education programs. The guide was redesigned to create a highly visual, clean and professional look to better resonate with members of the community.

District 214 Community Education also utilized the LERN Market Segmentation Analysis to target its best customers as well as residents in the postal carrier routes that already produced the majority of registrations. This allowed Community Education to reduce the total number of program guides and still see an increase in revenue for the fall semester. The cost savings and user fees from classes were used to offset the cost of printing, its upgrade and redesign.

District 214 Community Education successfully utilized data-driven brochure design and distribution best practices, and will serve as a model for lifelong learning and continuing education programs across North America, according to LERN.