Mentor Schools Get Social With #OnceACard on Twitter

"Once a Cardinal ..."—you're surely familiar enough with the phrase to finish that sentence, but have you used the hashtag?

As Mentor Public Schools prepares for the 2013-2014 school year beginning Wednesday, district employees and officials have been using #OnceACard all over Twitter. Its meaning can range from a point of pride to a way of disseminating information that might be useful to anyone within the school system.

"People (in the district) had been using #GoCards or #GoCardinals, but that is really used by the (NFL's) Arizona Cardinals. We wanted one that nobody was really using," district spokeswoman Kristen Kirby said.

"We want anybody in the Mentor Schools community who has positive things to share to use the hashtag."

That includes students, though a quick search shows the hashtag mostly being used by school personnel like Superintendent Matt Miller, who came up with the idea.

Teachers from buildings throughout the district have been tweeting it along with links to useful articles or best practices for the classroom. To them, Twitter is another professional development tool they can use to better themselves.

"It's huge for teachers to turn to each other and get feedback from peers all over the country and, really, the world," Kirby said.

Of course, it will also be useful when it comes to supporting the Cardinals at academic and athletic challenges. Tuesday morning, Kirby gave a tutorial to some people in the administrative building. When she searched for "#OnceACard," a tweet came up with information about the varsity girls volleyball matchup against Eastlake North, which nobody in the room previously knew about.

"I think its great! More teachers are using Twitter and the trend is growing," Carla Kehres, Tech/Media Specialist for Garfield Elementary, said via direct message on Twitter.

"I love being able to sort out my Twitter feed to just items that pertain to Mentor. Twitter is a fabulous professional development tool, as well as a great way to share info with all of our stakeholders: Staff, students, parents, and community members."

Naturally, she ended the message with #OnceACard.