Queensbury Union Free School District has been recognized with four awards by the New York School Public Relations Association in its annual Communications Contest.
About 40 communications professionals from across the country served as judges to evaluate more than 470 entries in this year's contest. Queensbury UFSD will receive four of the 144 awards that will be presented for outstanding work in school communications at the NYSPRA Spring Conference in March.
Queensbury UFSD won an Award of Honor for its 2025-26 budget newsletter.
The “Budget News” issue of the district newsletter is one part of a comprehensive budget communications plan. As part of that plan, its purpose is to build informed consent among potential voters for the annual school budget proposal and for any additional propositions on the ballot.
The budget newsletter was distributed to approximately 12,600 households throughout the Queensbury community. Content was planned to appeal to the varied interests among potential voters, with articles on school finances, music, literacy, fine arts, athletics and academics, highlighting programs at each of the four schools on campus.
Queensbury won an Award of Merit for Excellence in Writing for the article “Queensbury senior is a video game virtuoso,” written by Gretta Hochsprung, the district’s public information specialist.
The article highlighted Queensbury student Dominique “Dom” Cheese, who emerged as one of the top Rocket League players globally. Despite initially not planning to attend college, Dom earned scholarship offers from at least 20 colleges, many of which were eager to have him join their esports teams.
The district also won awards for two photographs taken by Hochsprung — one photo from the Queensbury High School Musical 2025 production of “The Wizard of Oz” and a second photo of a child enjoying a potato sack race at Queensbury Elementary School’s annual Field Day event.
“Gretta’s award-winning work reflects her exceptional communication skills and her deep commitment to telling the Queensbury UFSD story,” said Superintendent of Schools Kyle Gannon. “Her work not only informs, but also strengthens the connection between our schools and families. I am very proud of her efforts.”
Hochsprung will accept the NYSPRA awards at the NYSPRA Spring Conference in March. NYSPRA, a state chapter of the National School Public Relations Association, is a non-profit membership organization that serves school communications professionals and administrators in New York State.