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September 27th, 2006
BRADENTON - What do a group of Manatee School District employees have in common with Maria Sharapova, Derek Jeter, Kevin Garnett, LaDainian Tomlinson and Freddy Adu?
The answer - the district employees and those world famous athletes have all trained at the world-renowned IMG Academies in Bradenton.
Known internationally as a premier training site for aspiring athletes, IMG Academies covers close to 300 acres in Manatee County and includes The Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, The David Leadbetter Golf Academy, The IMG Soccer Academy, Baseball and Basketball Academies, an Officiating Academy, a Mental Conditioning Academy and The International Performance Institute.
During a recent two-day session, 34 employees from across the district took part in a leadership seminar at IMG titled: “Performance Rules.” The Performance Rules seminar stressed fundamental skills of successful leadership including trust, teamwork, organization, communication and mental preparation.
The instructors for the seminar were Bob Delaney, a 20-year NBA official and Director of the Officiating Academy at IMG; Steve Shenbaum, an actor and President of “game on Media”; and Trevor Moawad, Director of IMG's Mental Conditioning program.
Drawing on their experience in working with world-class athletes, the instructors presented a vast playbook of ideas and strategies for the district employees to take back to their jobs in the school system.
“Some of the things that impressed me were the focus on goal setting and the fact that your attitude is contagious,” said Jenni Gilray, an Assistant Principal at Braden River High. “Since we are working with kids, those are messages that we need to make sure we incorporate into our classrooms.”
Don Ross, Supervisor of Vehicle Maintenance for the school district, said the seminar provided him with motivation as well as information.
“I think it's great that the district is stepping up to provide us with some new tools and direction,” Ross said. “I plan to start putting some of the things I learned into practice right away.”
This was the second group of district employees to take part in the leadership training at IMG. In the future, additional employees representing all of the district's different departments and work sites will get a chance to participate in similar training sessions with IMG, according to Herb Tschappat, Executive Director for District Planning.
“Leadership is one of the five strategies we're striving to accomplish through EdVantage,” Tschappat said. “We're looking for ways to develop leaders who will have an impact at every level of the school district.“
Since the district has more than 42,000 students and is the largest employer in Manatee County with more than 7,000 employees, Tschappat said it's great that the school system can benefit from the prestigious expertise available at IMG Academies.
“It's a natural partnership,” Tschappat said. “We're thrilled to be working with them and we feel like the future possibilities are endless.”
NBA referee Bob Delaney talks to district employees about leadership