Recently, Vista del Lago High School made history through its innovative use of the social media site Pinterest. As a result, Pinterest mentioned the school on its official blog, “Oh, How Pinteresting!”

“Public schools shy away from technology and the risks that social media presents.  I’m trying to embrace it in a way that is positive and informative,” Vice Principal Lori Emmington said. “We were the first school in the district to have a Facebook page.  We were also the first to require our students to learn about the importance of building a positive digital footprint.  You will be able to find us on Twitter soon as well [see the link below.]  For a public school, this is a big deal.”

Emmington and the school’s Communications and Public Relations Department launched the site in January, after weeks of planning and researching. While developing the site, the school worked with Malorie Lucich, a member of the social media giant’s PR team.

The school’s account features boards such as “Public Exposure,” “Stressed about College?,” “Parenting 101,” “Folsom isn’t Boring!,” and “It’s Academic.” Within the boards are resources for parents, students and the community at large. For example, in its board “The Teenage Brain,” the school links an infographic, videos, articles, a medical journal entry and a book for parents.

As previously mentioned, Emmington and the Communications Department were among the first schools to understand this “opportunity.”

“The Communications Department saw the huge potential in the Pinterest platform to promote ideas that are important to parents and student [sic] in the Vista community, so it seemed to be a natural fit for the Department,” Director of Communications Reed Waxham said. “It allows us to communicate a variety of different ideas and platforms to the Vista community.”

The Communications Department said that it was flattered by the social media site’s acknowledgement. It hopes that the publicity surrounding its account will inspire more schools to take advantage of the technology.

“Vista frequently finds itself on the forefront in education, and this is no exception,” Waxham said. “We look forward to leading the way for other schools in the area and around the country on this exciting new platform.”

The school’s official Pinterest account can be found at www.pinterest.com/vdlhs.

The school’s official Twitter account can be found at http://www.twitter.com/vistaeagles