This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about a choral concert. 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*
- VOCAL TYPE - The vocal type/range for each student in the choir (eg. baritone, soprano).
*= 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’s Choir Presents “Stand Up” the Fall 2026 Concert Achievement Summary: Merit University students performed in the College Choir Concert on Sunday, November 21, at the Historic Palace Theater in the heart of downtown Albany. The performance was titled "Stand Upl" and featured music from diverse locales and historical eras. |
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’s Choir Presentation of “Stand Up” Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], is a [VOCAL TYPE] for the Merit University Choir. On Sunday, Nov. 21, [LAST NAME] was one of 51 students who performed in the College Choir Concert on at the Historic Palace Theater in the heart of downtown Albany. The performance was titled "Stand Upl" and featured music from diverse locales and historical eras. Merit University’s Performing Arts College is a progressive artistic center, where you can hone your craft, collaborate, and become a ground-breaking artist. Where students become masters of their disciplines, hone their craft and develop who they are as performers and artists. Stand Up was on of the many examples of the talent with in the Performing Arts College. Learn more about our calendar of events visit meritpages.com. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes a placeholder for the vocal type/range for each student in the choir (eg. baritone, soprano).
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’s Choir Presentation of “Stand Up” Opening: Merit University students performed in the College Choir Concert on Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Historic Palace Theater in the heart of downtown Albany. The performance was titled "Stand Upl" and featured music from diverse locales and historical eras. The following local students were featured: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN] performed as a [VOCAL TYPE] Closing: Merit University’s Performing Arts College is a progressive artistic center, where you can hone your craft, collaborate, and become a ground-breaking artist. Where students become masters of their disciplines, hone their craft and develop who they are as performers and artists. Stand Up was on of the many examples of the talent with in the Performing Arts College. Learn more about our calendar of events visit meritpages.com. |
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.