SCASD’s longtime communications chief has retired. What stories will he write next?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chris Rosenblum, the State College district's director of communications, has retired.
- Rosenblum said he learned a lot working as a Centre Daily Times reporter for 23 years.
- He plans to work on a new novel focused on Chicago's music scene in the 1950s and 1960s.
After recently retiring from a busy writing career, Chris Rosenblum still finds himself waking up at the crack of dawn to get ready for work.
Rosenblum is trying to break out of his usual routine now that he’s no longer the State College Area School District’s director of communications. The lifelong writer joined the district’s communications team a decade ago following a 23-year journalism career highlighted by a nearly 20-year run at the Centre Daily Times.
Now, with thousands of stories under his belt, Rosenblum is turning his attention to a new writing medium: crafting his own book.
“For the first time in 35 years, I’ll be working on my own schedule and doing my own writing,” he told the CDT. “I’ve been writing professionally for a long time in journalism or for the school district, and it’s exciting to actually get a chance to stretch out and see if I can produce a book.”
Rosenblum is developing an idea he’s had for years: a novel set in the music world of Chicago in the 1950s and 1960s, largely driven by his lifelong interest in music and the works of author Walter Mosley. Inspired by Mosley’s crime fiction novels, which were often set in Los Angeles’ Black communities, Rosenblum hopes to develop similar stories in Chicago neighborhoods full of colorful environments, turbulent times, shady characters and more.
Writing a book isn’t an entirely new venture for Rosenblum, who authored the forward and chapter introductions of “Penn State Forever,” a coffee table book produced by the university and the CDT in 2004 that chronicled Penn State’s first 150 years through photos. He wrote some short stories years ago but hopes his first novel will mark the start of his journey as a published author.
Rosenblum said he wants to finish his book by the fall of 2026 or the spring of 2027. In addition to research trips to Chicago, plus a game or two at the Chicago Cubs’ historic Wrigley Field ballpark, he plans to visit the city’s museums and research libraries to browse through archived maps, photos and news stories to learn about the area’s past before greater urban development wiped out some neighborhoods.
Soon, Rosenblum expects to settle into a new routine on his own terms.
“Instead of going to the school district every morning, I’ll have my morning coffee, maybe work out a little bit and get to my desk to write a little bit for four, five or six hours,” Rosenblum said. “As Stephen King advised, you have to put in the work. I feel like I’m working for myself, finally.”
Choosing to retire from his role leading the State College district’s communications was not due to dissatisfaction with the job, Rosenblum said, but rather the desire for a real change. The lifelong writer, who will turn 58 years old this summer, said he wanted to prioritize some of his passions after experiencing a recent health scare.
“It kind of reminded me that if I had a plan or a dream, I shouldn’t defer it,” Rosenblum said. “That was, in a way, a catalyst for me. I’d been thinking about a change, but a driving factor was my desire to grow a little bit and find a new challenge.”
From CDT to SCASD
Rosenblum’s writing career wouldn’t be complete without Centre County.
Years after graduating from Brown University and teaching English to Japanese students in Osaka, he took up a professional interest in journalism and started working for the Centre Daily Times as a freelancer. He joined the paper’s staff as a full-time reporter in 1996, moved on to lead its features coverage in 1998 and eventually adapted into a dual features and general assignment role until 2014.
Nearly two decades after starting with the CDT, Rosenblum began working as the State College district’s director of communications in January 2015. He said the district pursued him as a candidate specifically due to his journalistic background, adding that administrators saw the value of strong communications and public relations after successfully influencing State College voters to overwhelmingly pass a key referendum that aided the construction of the new State College Area High School.
The timing of Rosenblum’s move to the school district worked out well, he said. At the time, his two sons were in middle school and getting ready to start studying at State High.
“I loved covering this county and writing about its people, but the opportunity to write about students, faculty and staff and share their success stories and help the community understand what a great school district we have — that’s what really drew me over to the job,” Rosenblum said.
State College’s school district helped draw Rosenblum and his wife to Centre County in the first place, he said. He was excited by opportunities to use his communications skills to advocate for public education and help the community understand the impacts of its schools.
Today, school communications teams are tasked with helping administrators communicate with families through emails and school board memos, serving as liaisons for the media and operating as occasional spokespersons. But often the most exciting role, Rosenblum said, is sharing the success stories of district students, teachers and staff.
While reflecting on his feature-writing career with the State College district, Rosenblum thought back to telling the story of retired professional baker Jim Nolte, whose scones, banana breads and other baked goods made him a district celebrity. Another favorite feature centered on newly launched tutoring centers that offer round-the-clock help for students from a rotation of State High teachers specializing in math and STEM or English and language arts.
Managing school communications often presents its own challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and crises like student deaths by suicide or school security threats.
“When you have a school security issue like we did this year at the high school, or a couple of suicides, sadly, or discipline incidents, those are tricky lines to walk,” Rosenblum said. “It was interesting to grow into that and learn to choose your words very carefully. It’s a balancing act between providing enough information for people to reassure them without going over the line and violating confidentiality or privacy. We subscribed, in a way — and I think it’s a good maxim to live by — that sometimes less is more.”
Plenty of puns? ‘Snow’ problem
As any district family would know, no mention of Rosenblum’s work managing communications would be complete without mentioning his iconic snow day messages.
While announcing delays or closures due to winter weather, Rosenblum would always try to fit in an on-theme pun, joke or one-liner to help lighten the mood. He even capped off his tenure by recording a summer-themed announcement with local social media influencer Hannah Morris to celebrate the end of the school year.
Rosenblum’s proclivity for puns started as a reporter when he would slip puns and other wordplay jokes into his limited-space headlines and story introductions. He laughed while recalling how former Centre Daily Times editor Chris Arbutina once implemented a cap of five or six puns per month for his work.
Still, Rosenblum’s love of wordplay never left him. He instead opted to use cheerful messages — including a countdown of the days until spring — in his first winter weather communications for the State College district and quickly received positive feedback.
“I took that as confirmation that people liked them, and I didn’t receive emails from people asking me to stop,” he said with a laugh. “It kind of morphed into the puns because I just thought if cheerful messages made a difference, maybe I’d try a few little jokes. I tried not to overdo it, stay short and sweet. It’s very gratifying and fun to know, in a small way, I brightened people’s days.”
As he grew more comfortable in his role managing the district’s communications, Rosenblum took to creating a document that housed his constantly refined list of puns, rhymes, jokes and one-liners for snow, ice and other winter weather issues. He said new ideas would come to him as he brushed his teeth, mowed the lawn and went about his days.
Writing them down kept those ideas organized and gave him a wide range of options.
“I would love to tell you I come up with them on the spot,” Rosenblum said. “It would make me seem like a genius, but I’m not that brilliant — especially at 4 in the morning.”
Leaving a legacy
Rosenblum said his team’s work would not be possible without the continued support of State College administrators. He credited the district’s current and former superintendents, Curtis Johnson and Bob O’Donnell, respectively, with believing in strong communication and committing to it every day.
“I think it was helpful working for two superintendents who understood the strategic value of communications — that it’s not just reactive, but proactive — and that you can really build community relations with your families,” Rosenblum said. “Before, it was more of a public relations thing of crisis communications, more of the stereotypical spin. The full value of school communications now is about building these relationships with your communities and families and making sure they understand what you’re doing. Frankly, public education needs it more than ever now.”
Rosenblum also credited his predecessor, Julie Miller, and communications manager Nabil Mark for providing a solid foundation for the district’s communications work.
For now, Rosenblum said he has no plans to leave the State College area as he enters retirement. He said he’ll miss using his writing skills to show the community what’s happening in the district’s schools, but he plans to remain a strong advocate for State College’s schools.
“I hope I left it in a good spot,” Rosenblum said. “I hope that’s my legacy. I know that my voice will be remembered for the winter messages, and they were a blast. It’s fun to be known for something. But I hope my legacy will be that I helped build and strengthen the relationship between the district and the community through communications.”
“It was a great run, but it’s time for another adventure.”
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