Tehachapi News

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As a kid I can remember my Boy Scout leader commenting during archery practice that, “You can't hit the mark without placing the target.”

It was his way of making the same point rather simply put, as Steven Covey, who wrote the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” Covey's main point in his work was the poignant term, “Begin with the end in mind.” Before you start putting any effort into anything you should know what you are trying to accomplish and what your goal is. With your target set you're less likely to wander and more likely to focus your effort and not waste energy, money and most importantly, time.

This rather basic fact is accepted as a given by those of us here at Tehachapi Unified and it has forced us all to spend time clarifying our goals. To that end the district has set up a committee of some 30 plus people who have begun a strategic planning process. This exciting and dynamic process involves going to the very core of what the district's educational community values, then setting its core belief, assessing the district's current position and looking at where the district wants to be in 3, 5, 10 years from now and further.

The decisions made today by this committee aren't meant to predict the future for our district, but are meant to create the future. Our 30 person team has met three times and has assessed district values and set district beliefs and is preparing to do a full analysis of district strengths and weaknesses later this month and possible external influences on the district.

When we are done we will have a complete picture of where we currently are and where we intend to go. Our Strategic Plan will become our target and we are going to decisively act on our future economic, physical and cultural environment to make our target a reality. Expect more exciting news about TUSD Strategic Planning and it proceeds.