(BRADENTON FL - January 4^th, 2006) Refreshed and invigorated after the holiday break, close to 7,000 district employees returned to work Jan. 2, eager to start the second semester of the 2006-07 school year. Students returned to classes on Jan. 4.

To prepare for the start of the new semester, all district employees took part in an “Inservice” day on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Inservice days provide district employees with special training opportunities to enhance their professional expertise and tie in nicely with one of the district's core values, which states that lifelong learning is essential for individuals and communities to flourish.

A wide variety of learning opportunities were available around the district Wednesday morning, including a training session devoted to reducing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students which was held at eight different school sites across the county.

Another morning seminar which attracted hundreds of employees to the Manatee Civic Center discussed improving safety and security in the workplace. Employees at that seminar learned valuable ways to detect, deter and diffuse potential sources of conflict at schools and other district work sites. The facilitators for the safety seminar were Karen Cascaddan, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, and Jan Sumner, Program Specialist for the district's Safe and Drug Free Schools program.

Wednesday afternoon, all district employees tuned into a 90-minute cable television show broadcast live from the School Board Chambers at the School Support Center in downtown Bradenton. The program, which was emceed by Executive Director of Planning Herb Tschappat and Superintendent Roger Dearing, focused on the topic of goal setting. The show was broadcast locally on Manatee Educational Television

Executive Director of Planning Herb Tschappat and Superintendent Roger Dearing emceed a live broadcast to all district employees on the topic of goal setting on January 3

Lisa Fehling and Sharon Graham take part in InService Training on January 3

Goal setting is a key component of EdVantage, the district's comprehensive strategic plan for the future. During the broadcast, Tschappat spoke with numerous district employees who have already successfully incorporated goal setting into their professional or personal lives.

One of the employees interviewed was Mayra Cestero, who works in the district's English Speakers of Other Languages department. Cestero talked about how she utilized goal setting to earn her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees after coming to Manatee County from Puerto Rico at a time when she already had a family and spoke little English. Cestero now uses her knowledge and skills to help students from other countries adapt to the American education system.

The show also included taped segments where students from Connie Dixon's class at Braden River Elementary and Gail Roberts' class at Palm View Elementary talked about the innovative ways they've learned to incorporate goal setting into their lives for educational and personal purposes.

Dearing used the acronym ACE to describe the district's concentration on goal setting. The A stands for Articulating the goals you want to achieve; the C stands for Creating an action plan to attain the goal; and the E stands for Exhibiting steps along the way to achieving the goal.

“Teaching students to set goals at an early age will not only help their personal lives, educational pursuits and career aspirations, it will also improve the quality of our school district,” Dearing said. “Students who learn how to set and achieve goals establish a pathway to excellence, and that's what our school district is all about.”