Photo by Erin Nelson.
Jason Gaston, public relations for Hoover City Schools, takes a photograph of Katie Thompson, the special education instructor at Riverchase Elementary School, after Thompson was named the Teacher of the Year for elementary schools on Dec. 17. Gaston began working for Trussville City Schools on Jan. 19.
Jason Gaston, the public relations coordinator for Hoover City Schools for more than 13 years, has headed across town to serve in the same role for the Trussville school system.
Gaston’s last day with Hoover was Jan. 15, and he started in Trussville on Jan. 19.
Hoover school board President Deanna Bamman said Gaston has done a great job as the “voice” for Hoover City Schools.
“He’s an excellent communicator. He’s represented Hoover well,” Bamman said.
Gaston has great listening skills and has been a steady, calm hand for the system over the years, Bamman said. She hates to see him leave, but understands it’s a good opportunity for him to help start a new communications program for Trussville City Schools.
“He’s definitely been an asset for us,” Bamman said. “I wish him nothing but success.”
Gaston, a 44-year-old Homewood resident, said leaving Hoover was a very tough career decision because Hoover City Schools is an amazing place to work.
“It’s an amazing team. It’s a high-performing, high-octane school system,” he said.
However, the job in Trussville presented a unique opportunity to help craft a more organized public relations strategy for that system, he said. It will be the first time Trussville has had someone working full-time in a public relations coordinator role.
Trussville is a great community with high-performing schools and dedicated employees, and Gaston said he looks forward to joining that team, taking inventory of their existing communications processes and enhancing them through research and collaborative teamwork.
A native of the Birmingham metro area, Gaston came to Hoover City Schools in September 2007 following the retirement of public relations coordinator Pat Morrow, with a background in TV broadcasting.
After graduating from Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communication and a minor in public relations, Gaston got his first broadcasting job with WBBJ, the ABC affiliate in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1999.
After about a year there, he moved to WAFF, Channel 48, the NBC affiliate in Huntsville, and in 2005 came to ABC 33/40 in Birmingham for 21/2 years before making the move to public relations with Hoover City Schools.
He went on to earn a master’s degree in strategic communication from Troy University and accreditation in public relations. In Hoover, his duties have included being a spokesperson for the district and the main point of contact for the media, managing the school system’s communication platforms (website, social media and rapid notification system for parents, students and employees) and coordinating communication with both internal and external groups, including the school district’s crisis team, Hoover police and fire departments, county emergency agencies, Hoover Parent Teacher Council, Hoover City Schools Foundation and Finley Committee for Character Education.
His time in Hoover has been full of memorable experiences, Gaston said. Those include the search for a superintendent when Andy Craig left to become a deputy superintendent for the state, the redrawing of school attendance zones, multiple athletic state championships and the school board’s short-lived decision in 2013 to eliminate most school bus services.
“It (the school bus decision) was certainly a polarizing proposal, and it presented some communication challenges for me,” Gaston said.
Another very memorable experience was the “snowmageddon” winter storm that paralyzed parts of the South in January 2014. The surprise ice storm left about 4,000 children stranded in Hoover schools overnight, and Gaston himself was stuck in the school system’s central office for at least one night.
And, of course, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented state-mandated school shutdown and controversial socially distanced outdoor graduation ceremonies at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
“There has never been a dull moment in this job,” Gaston said.
It has been fascinating to him to be part of a school system that continues to grow, evolve and diversify in a great way, he said. “And the fun part of the job has been promoting all the successes of students and school district employees. There is so much great news that happens in Hoover that you almost can’t get to all of it,” he said. “That’s a great ‘problem’ to have.”
He’s looking forward to the challenges ahead of him, he said: “I feel it’s going to be a great place to work, and it’s going to present professional rewards very similar to what I’ve experienced in Hoover City Schools.”
