22 High School Students Become "Town PR Representatives" as "High School Student Advertising Department" Enters its 2nd Year!

The first workshop was held on Saturday, June 6, Reiwa 8, at the Kashima Civic Culture Hall "SAKURAS".

This project started in Reiwa 7 and is now in its second year. This year, 22 high school students are participating, including returning members from the first term. In this project, high school students will act as "town PR representatives," uncovering the charms of Kashima City from their unique perspectives and disseminating them through platforms like Instagram. Through the experience of learning about, thinking about, and communicating about the region, they will foster a deeper affection for Kashima City and connect it to new city promotions that leverage the sensibilities of the younger generation.

First Workshop: "Learning the Basics of Public Relations and Design"

Icebreaker

First, everyone introduced themselves as an icebreaker, followed by a drawing relay and charades game within their groups.

Despite it being their first meeting, the venue was lively, and all members were able to break the ice.

Drawing Relay

Next, a basic lecture was held to learn about the role of public relations and design concepts. By considering "to whom," "what," and "how" information should be conveyed, they learned perspectives for effectively communicating the region's charms.

In the latter half, during group work, participants exchanged opinions about the "charms of Kashima" while looking at materials such as the Kashima BOOK produced in Reiwa 6. The high school students re-examined the appeal of Kashima City from various viewpoints, including everyday scenery, culture, and human connections.

From June to September: "Charm Dissemination," and from October onwards: "Regional Co-creation"

Moving forward, from June to September, under the theme of "Charm Dissemination," the high school students will communicate the charms of Kashima City that they discover themselves through planning and design.

From October onwards, as "Regional Co-creation," they are scheduled to develop activities to consider, propose, and produce PR materials and plans based on requests and consultations from the city hall and the community.

Next Up: Planning Creation

The homework from the first workshop is to "devise a plan to disseminate the charms of Kashima City." Each participant will summarize the charms of Kashima City they felt into a plan from their own perspective.

At the next session, a guest lecturer will be invited to teach about planning methods and how to create captivating taglines.

They will refine the content through discussions with fellow participants, polishing it into even more appealing plans.

What kind of information dissemination will the unique ideas of these high school students lead to? In the second workshop on Saturday, July 11, they will tackle the first step: creating plans.