DePaul PRSSA hosts Niles high schoolers for a glimpse into a PR future

I’m Brielle Kohlbeck, the VP of Community Outreach here at DePaul’s chapter! My major project this year was to connect high schoolers with the world of Public Relations & Advertising, a project that required months of conversations, planning and plenty of help.

I still remember getting told that this was the goal for my position. The immediate high school flashbacks and the realization that, like most, I had absolutely no idea what PR was when I was applying to college. This is exactly why we wanted to collaborate with high schoolers and introduce them to PR before they had to learn about it on their own.

When Alex Castaldo, the Communications Coordinator at Niles Township District 219 and a DePaul College of Communication grad, reached out about a potential collaboration, we knew it was the perfect fit. Castaldo put us in touch with the Niles Township student communications internship program. We brought them alongside a site visit to The Motion Agency and hosted them at DePaul for a post-visit tour and Q&A, which was obviously served with a side of Lou Malnati’s pizza.

We owe a huge thanks to Motion’s Chief Growth Officer, Andrew Krause, responsible for giving us a tour of the office space, as well as Account Supervisor Hannah Marshall, who worked together on a presentation for our group. The visit was also extended to chapter members, making it a meaningful and educational experience that promoted networking for high school and DePaul students alike.

After returning to DePaul’s Loop Campus, I gave our group a quick tour of the Richard M. and Maggie C. Daley Building, showing off our unique elevator system and talking up student media on the 11th floor. As a double major in journalism and PRAD, we discussed the crossover between the two fields and how managing The DePaulia, our student newspaper, as well as serving on DePaul’s PRSSA e-board has helped me grow in both fields respectively. I shared how DePaul’s award-winning newspaper, radio station and PRSSA chapter are just a few of the ways students can push themselves to thrive in any field.

DePaul PRSSA Vice President Mariana Castro set up our presentation with me while the group grabbed pizza and took their seats. Lucas Rodriguez and Angela Schak, two members of our Community Relations committee from this year's Midwest Conference, PR-Palooza, joined Mariana and I to present about what public relations is. We discussed the differences between PR, Advertising and marketing, as well as the different career options for each. DePaul PRSSA President Delila Moreno also jumped in to explain her experience working on real campaigns as a student and chapter leader.

The visit ended with a thoughtful Q&A on all things college, even an honest conversation about how hard finding classes always is on that very first day. We were happy to hear one of the students planned to commit to DePaul that very weekend, and we hope to see all their faces in the future. It was inspiring to get to know a bright group of young adults, many of whom hoped to find careers in communication, art and photography.

DePaul’s PRSSA chapter will always prioritize community and education, especially if that means connecting to an audience still trying to figure it all out, just as we were at some point. Through changing majors and lifelong passions, all of us in PRSSA found our way, which is all we can hope for each and every high schooler.