As social media continues to rise in popularity, so does the stigma that comes with it. “Distracting” is often used to label platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok. While social media has its downfalls, staff members have found ways to unify and educate in a youth-friendly environment. Through active accounts, biology teacher Joshua Little, secretary Janet Owen and Principal Dr. Wendy Stratton utilize these accessible and high-impact multimedia tools to build deeper connections with the heart of the community while staying relevant to a digital generation.
When Owen started posting on the admin team Instagram account (@gunnadminteam) two years ago, she intended it to be a page for broadcasting school events, activities and important reminders. What began as a purely informative tool quickly migrated into a story-telling space that provided insight into the personalities of the faculty.
“Dr. Stratton really wanted a way for the admin team to connect in other ways with students, which is why a lot of our posts are getting to know the different assistant principals and little fun facts about people — just trying to make the admin team more personable and less scary,” Owen said.
This summer, Owen came up with the idea to start a series of posts featuring photos of teachers travelling during the break. These snapshots were strikingly diverse, ranging from English Language Learning teacher Alexis Lee at the Leshan Giant Buddha in Chengdu, China all the way to math teacher Rachel Congress standing next to a koala in Australia.
Beyond the summer adventures, engagement spikes even higher when the account posts unexpected talents and fun facts from teachers.
“I try to do fun little things each month,” Owen said. “Two springs ago, around graduation time, we had a bunch of pictures of teachers and staff members when they were in high school that we put up, and the students really loved seeing the flashbacks and the little things (to get) to know people.”
Through consistent posts of meaningful, thoughtful quotes, Owen has already brought the Instagram account to a sweeping 1,195 followers with over 500 posts. She continues to pursue her goal of making the staff appear more approachable and a lot more under the surface.
Contrasting from Owen’s casual, personal touch, Stratton uses social media to share the creativity and community spirit that makes Gunn its unique self. On her LinkedIn account, her posts feature everything from deep, interesting lessons to lunchtime activities and unique partnerships.
“I try to promote Gunn because the big idea is wanting people to understand how much is happening and nobody knows,” Stratton said.
Stratton shares the side of Gunn that doesn’t always make it into parent emails or Schoology announcements: fun classroom activities, events and school spirit. Hoping to expand the featured internal activities going on campus, she is planning on developing an initiative to start a five-minute podcast series in partnership with broadcast teacher Edward Corpuz, featuring simple questions with the staff. Her project aims to elevate connection within the community, particularly for new teachers who may not know much about other staff members.
“One of the things I keep hearing from the staff is that more and more each year there are just new teachers and they just don’t know each other,” Stratton said. “They don’t realize that they have a lot in common and they don’t have time to, so using social media can inspire more department connections and kids can get to know their teachers on a different level.”
As an eighth year teacher biology and Living skills teacher, Little has taken an experimental approach sparking curiosity beyond the labs with social media. Through his Instagram account (@mrlittlebiology), Little’s posts span from fun facts about science to reposts of real-life experiments conducted by well-known scientists, allowing students to draw applications to biology.
“I just started seeing cool things that are posted on Instagram from other scientists and universities that are just fun things that can connect to our class, not necessarily something that we are studying in depth but a connection that students can make that they don’t usually see,” he said.
Little has seen a ripple effect of scientific curiosity outside of the classroom. As he reposts the accounts of notable scientists, students are compelled to interact with these accounts, liking or following and effectively adding scientific content to their algorithm.
“There is a lot for enrichment so students can see extensions of what we talk about in class or real-world applications,” Little explained. “The other cool thing is when students find things that they find related to class and share it with me. It’s really cool to see them turn it around and make a connection with biology.”
Students are encouraged to explore and question outside of lectures. Little sees the positive results stemming from his students’ growing curiosity and exposure to different material past his classroom.
“I think it’s a cool extension that you can add to your classroom — our classroom isn’t just the four walls that we teach in, but outside those four walls,” Little said.
Though their approaches differ, Little, Owen and Stratton all share a common philosophy of using social media to bring the Gunn community closer together. Their efforts prove that platforms seen as distractions can, in the right way, become tools for innovation, unity and connection.
“With social media there are obviously pros and cons, and I think there are some really great aspects of social media,” Owen said. “Students and youth, for the most part, are going to be on social media whether we like it or not, so I think it’s a great place for staff members, teachers and admin to meet students where they’re at and find new ways to connect with them.”
