The Harker School was recently awarded with a 2026 Silver Circle of Excellence Award by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for their “Magic Happens at Harker” ad campaign. CASE’s international Circle of Excellence Awards annually recognizes its member schools’ achievements in areas such as marketing, advancement and alumni relations. 

 

The campaign was created by Harker’s Office of Communication by team members Pam Dickinson, director; Desiree Mitchell, marketing manager; Sophie Ormond, photo desk editor; and Jenny Sandrof of Blue Heron Designs. “Our goal was to increase community awareness of the magic that we know happens at Harker where students truly uncover their unique gifts,” said Pam Dickinson, Office of Communication director. She added that the campaign slogan was sparked by an unscripted moment in a campus video where someone said, “Magic happens at Harker.” “We recognized this as a powerful, authentic hook, so our team scaled the sentiment into a cohesive multichannel campaign. We integrated high-energy photography with bold lettering to create a sense of movement and discovery.” The campaign was carried out through mailers, print ads, digital campaigns, video and Harker’s website. 

 

A statement from the judges who adjudicated this year’s nearly 4,200 entries from colleges, universities and secondary schools nationwide read: “Excellent job! Judges loved how the idea came about and the effective use of resources. They also liked that the video is short and shows what the ‘magic’ is all about.”

The Office of Communication has previously been recognized with CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for the Harker website, athletic branding, the 125th anniversary website, the Capital Campaign middle school construction video series, Harker Magazine and a previous ad campaign.