As a former educator and a current social media junkie, I have thoroughly enjoyed following a website called WA Mash for the past couple of months.

The description of WA Mash from Antonio Viva, the teacher at Worcester Academy who started it (from the site):

WA Mash stands for Worcester Academy Mashup. It is created and maintained by students taking Creative Writing as a junior or senior English elective with Antonio Viva. WA Mash is an online, alternative weekly magazine that deals with politics, news, current events, arts and culture, technology, business, fiction and creative thinking. You can find WA Mash on a variety of social media sites. WA Mash was created to give students a voice in the world of new media. The content is generated by students and published using a variety of social media tools freely available on the web.

The site is a fantastic use of technology in the classroom. I mean, this is a creative writing course that according to a tweet I saw from Antonio used less than 5 sheets of paper in 10 weeks! There is alot to be said about the educational value of WA Mash, but I will leave that to other posts. For the purpose of this post, I am interested WAMash for more than that. WA Mash is a powerful example of social media creating an authentic picture of a facet of the school. It is clear that public relations isn't the purpose of WA Mash - as I said, it is a top notch use of technology in the curriculum, and has no ulterior motivation - but it is equally clear that WA Mash is one of the best PR tools Wooster has.

The students post blogs and videos, reviews and opinions because they want to and because they can (yes, it is a class, but I don't think you can fake the way the students are bought into the project). That is authentic. That is a picture of the school that you will not get from the official view book. I'm not being told that the students use technology in the classroom, I am seeing them use it.

If you are a prospective parent or student, how can you not be impressed by the quality of what the students are producing? If you are an alum, how can you not be proud of the product that you see coming from your alma mater? Doesn't following WA Mash give you a more vibrant, personal, immediate look at the kind of students and opportunities at Worcester Academy than the view book ever could? I am not necessarily suggesting that it is a replacement for a view book - but what a complimentary piece.

WA Mash alone probably isn't going to get someone to apply to WA, but it could tip the scales. It probably isn't going to drive more gifts to the annual fund by itself, but it could make alums feel more engaged and informed about the good work that the school is doing and could make the annual appeal more real to them.

I think authentic can have a lot of meanings in the SM context, and an accessible, engaging look at student ideas and work certainly fits the bill. Kudos to Antonio for starting the project and kudos to the students for being willing to share their ideas so publicly. You should all be proud of what you are doing. I hope that the school can find a way to incorporate the good work as part of its overall PR strategy - it would be worth it.

For more on WA Mash, check out WA Mash - Worcester Academy's use of Social Media in the Classroom, a video podcast that Peter Baron from AdmissionsQuest did with Antonio.