After spending 10 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, Terri McHugh switched careers and became a public relations professional for Schaumburg Community Consolidated School District 54 in Illinois.
In her 24 years in school public relations, Terri has developed and executed numerous strategic communications programs for internal and external audiences and also has had a variety of experiences responding to issues she didn’t plan for, including school crisis situations and media storms.
In 2008, Terri achieved Accreditation in Public Relations from the Universal Accreditation Board and served as the APR chair for the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association and a member of the NSPRA APR Committee.
Terri is currently the North Central Region Vice President of NSPRA. She has held leadership roles for both the Illinois chapter and the National School Public Relations Association, including one term as the Illinois chapter president from 2004-2005.
Terri has also been widely recognized at the state and national levels receiving Golden Achievement Awards for strategic public relations from both the Illinois chapter as well as the National School Public Relations Association. In 2011, she received the Illinois Distinguished School Communicator Award.
She has presented at state, national and local levels on topics including web site design, media relations, social media, positive culture building, recruitment, legal issues, strategic communication and crisis communications.