This page provides an outline for how to build a Merit achievement about a student art exhibit. 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*
- TYPE OF ARTISTRY - The artist's title (eg. painter, sculptor)
- ARTWORK DESCRIPTION - A description of the artwork (eg. "the use of color in black and white photography" or "the juxtaposition of size among natural objects")
*= 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 Showcase Work in Annual Art Exhibition Achievement Summary: Works by art students at Merit University are highlighted in the Exhibition titled "Explorations." The exhibition, which runs Monday, Mar. 21 through Sunday, Mar. 28, features a range of media, from traditional two and three-dimensional approaches, to digital and new media. Visit the exhibition on campus in the Fine Arts Building to celebrate curated exhibits from our talented students. |
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] is a Featured Artist in the Merit University Annual Art Exhibition Body: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN], is a featured artist in the Merit University Annual Art Exhibition. [LAST NAME] is a [TYPE OF ARTISTRY] whose art focuses on [ARTWORK DESCRIPTION]. [LAST NAME]'s work is highlighted in the Exhibition titled "Explorations." The exhibition, which runs Monday, Mar. 21 through Sunday, Mar. 28, features a range of media, from traditional two and three-dimensional approaches, to digital and new media. Visit the exhibition on campus in the fine arts building to celebrate curated exhibits from our talented students. The exhibition are both free and open to the public. The Fine Art building hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. |
Note: The spreadsheet used in this sample story includes a placeholder for the type of artistry the student used (eg. painter, sculptor). It also includes a placeholder for a description of the artwork (eg. "the use of color in black and white photography" or "the juxtaposition of size among natural objects".
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: Merit University Students Showcase Work in Annual Art Exhibition Opening: Works by art students at Merit University are highlighted in the Exhibition titled "Explorations." The exhibition, which runs Monday, Mar. 21 through Sunday, Mar. 28, features a range of media, from traditional two and three-dimensional approaches, to digital and new media. The following local students work are part of the exhibition: Repeating: [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME], of [HOMETOWN] is a [TYPE OF ARTISTRY] whose art focuses on [ARTWORK DESCRIPTION]. Closing: Visit the exhibition on campus in the fine arts building to celebrate curated exhibits from our talented students. The exhibition are both free and open to the public. The Fine Art building hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. |
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.