One of EC’s publications, Community News, was recently honored as “best in the country” for winning the gold 2010 Paragon Award at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) national conference held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last March.

Sent out biannually to residents within the El Camino Community College District, this magazine-style publication features information about academic programs, facilities news, alumni profiles and more.

“It’s exciting to be recognized by leaders in the publishing, advertising and marketing fields,” Ann M. Garten, director of community relations, said. “Everybody was excited to win.”

The Paragon Award recognizes outstanding achievement in communications at community and technical colleges and is described as “the only national competition of its kind that exclusively honors excellence among marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges” by the NCMPR.

Even though the school has won several awards at the national level in the past, Garten said this was the second time it won a first place award for one of its publications.

In 2003 the school won a gold award at the national level for a promotional video that was aimed at providing students with an ‘overview of the campus and the different programs and services,’” she said.

Gabriel Moura, 21, film major, said he thought it was “marvelous” that the school was able to win first place at a competition in which 650 colleges from around the nation were also competing.

In addition to the Paragon Award, EC’s public relations department also received three other awards from the Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO), an organization dedicated to promoting excellence in public relations and related professions at community colleges around California.

“It was really nice for the staff to be recognized for their efforts and it’s certainly good for the college as well as the department,” she said.

A gold award was received in appreciation of the help EC’s public relations and marketing department provided to the Nisei Diploma Project Committee, a student-run movement at University of Southern California that is aimed towards granting honorary degrees to the Japanese American students of the WWII era.

Another gold award was given in acknowledgment of EC’s monthly online newsletter, ECC Matters, which highlights student, faculty and staff stories as well as provides information on various events and programs taking place on campus.

“Our focus really is student success so I mean it’s nice to be recognized for one of our publications,” Garten said. “It’s a nice asset to what really is the purpose of the publication is – promoting student excellence.”

Furthermore, the college was honored with a silver award for its “success in implementing and maintaining a successful Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube presence.”

“It feels good to be associated with a school that is named ‘best in the country’ and is continuously trying to excel,” Gia Song, 33, Middle Eastern studies major, said. “I’m proud of El Camino.”