This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about a band or orchestral performance. In order to personalize the achievement for your students you will need to prepare a spreadsheet of student data to use as placeholders throughout the achievement. Here are the placeholders used in this story:
- FIRST NAME*
- LAST NAME*
- HOMETOWN*
- ZIP CODE*
- EMAIL ADDRESS*
- MAJOR
- CLASSIFICATION - The student's year on campus (eg. freshman, senior)
- INSTRUMENT - The instrument the student plays (eg. cello, trumpet)
*= Data required by Merit
Achievement Title & Summary
Your achievement title and summary will be used for the online version of your story and shared across social media. They will also appear on your school's Merit page.
Your summary should act as a comprehensive overview of the achievement. After your summary, readers will see a list of students who are part of the story.
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Achievement Title: Merit University Band’s Spring Concert Achievement Summary: The Merit University Concert Band’s performance of “Enchantment Under the Sea: a Back to the Future Odyssey” will run Nov. 9-13 in Merit University’s Performing Arts Center. The performance, arranged by conductor Nigel Tufnel, mixes Alan Silvestri’s booming film score with music from 1955, 1985 and 2015. |
Individual Story
Your Merit achievement will create personalized online stories for each of your students. Throughout this story you will insert placeholders for the data from your spreadsheet. These placeholders are in [BRACKETS] in the text below.
This version of your story can also be sent to newspapers interested in just one student. Merit will automatically turn it into an individual press release for you and add your saved boilerplate.
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Headline: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME] Performs in Merit University Band’s Spring Concert Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME] of [HOMETOWN], will be participating in the Merit University Concert Band’s performance of “Enchantment Under the Sea: a Back to the Future Odyssey”. [LAST NAME], a [CLASSIFICATION] majoring in [MAJOR], plays the [INSTRUMENT] in the MU Band. The performance, arranged by conductor Nigel Tufnel, mixes Alan Silvestri’s booming film score with music from 1955, 1985 and 2015. The performance will run Nov. 9-13 in Merit University’s Performing Arts Center. The cost is $8 for general admission, $5 for MU faculty and staff, and free for MU students with identification. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes placeholders for the student's year in school (eg. freshman, senior) and the instrument they played (eg. cell, trumpet).
Group Press Release
This is the version of your press release that will be sent to newspapers interested in multiple students from your spreadsheet. It's a local story that will include a list of only the students from a paper's coverage area.
Your group press release will have an opening, repeating and closing section. The opening and repeating sections will be the same for every newspaper. The repeating section will contain all of your placeholders and will be the only part of the press release that varies from paper to paper. Use the last sentence of your opening to introduce your list of students.
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Headline: Local Students Perform in Merit University Band’s Spring Concert Opening: The following local students will be participating in the Merit University Concert Band’s performance of “Enchantment Under the Sea: a Back to the Future Odyssey”: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME] of [HOMETOWN], a [CLASSIFICATION] majoring in [MAJOR], plays the [INSTRUMENT]. Closing: The performance, arranged by conductor Nigel Tufnel, mixes Alan Silvestri’s booming film score with music from 1955, 1985 and 2015. The performance will run Nov. 9-13 in Merit University’s Performing Arts Center. The cost is $8 for general admission, $5 for MU faculty and staff, and free for MU students with identification. |
Note: Merit will automatically add your saved boilerplate to the closing section of your group press release.
Add Images and Publish
Achievements are at their best with images included. If possible, include a photo with your story. Get a picture of the achievement in action or a group shot of the students involved. If you're unable to include a photo, instead consider using a school or department logo. The image(s) you choose will appear on your online stories and also go to media recipients.
Use this template as inspiration to publish your next achievement.Log into your Merit account here. If you’re looking for more details on how to build this template into the Merit achievement workflow you can follow thestep by step tutorial here.