This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about students spending their spring break performing community service. 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*
- LOCATION - The location the student traveled to (eg. Endor)
- ORGANIZATION - The organization the student volunteered at (eg. the Ewok Rescue Program)
- DESCRIPTION - A stand-alone sentence describing the students' work at each location (eg. "While there, students spent the week living simply while building shelters for the many Ewoks displaced through the deforestation of Endor".)
*= 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 Students Spend Spring Break Helping Others Achievement Summary: Almost 175 Merit University students embarked on 19 alternative spring break trips around the galaxy this year. The students spent the week living simply, focused on service in their destination community but also on teamwork and reflection within their group. |
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] Spends Spring Break Helping Others Through Merit University Alternative Spring Break Program Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], was among over 200 Merit University students who spent their spring breaks serving others through MU's Alternative Spring Break Program. [LAST NAME] traveled to [LOCATION] to volunteer with [ORGANIZATION]. [DESCRIPTION] The student-led MU trips took place from March 4-11. Each trip focused on a social issue, such as homelessness, resettlement, environmentalism or community wellness, in a specific region. Almost 175 students embarked on 19 spring break trips around the galaxy. The students spent the week living simply, focused on service in their destination community but also on teamwork and reflection within their group. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes placeholders for the location the person traveled to (eg. Endor) and the organization they served (eg. the Ewok Rescue Program). It also includes a stand-alone sentence describing the students' activities (eg. "While there, students spent the week living simply while building shelters for the many Ewoks displaced through the deforestation of Endor".)
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 Spend Spring Break Helping Others Through Merit University's Alternative Spring Break Program Opening: The Merit University Students spent their spring breaks serving others through MU's Alternative Spring Break Program: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], traveled to [LOCATION] to volunteer with [ORGANIZATION]. [DESCRIPTION] Closing: The student-led MU trips took place from March 4-11. Each trip focused on a social issue, such as homelessness, resettlement, environmentalism or community wellness, in a specific region. Almost 175 students embarked on 19 spring break trips around the galaxy. The students spent the week living simply, focused on service in their destination community but also on teamwork and reflection within their group. |
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 the step by step tutorial here.