ADL Delivers First A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Training in Sarasota

Date: November 2, 2009

Close to 30 teachers from throughout the Sarasota region participated in ADL's A CLASSROOM OF DIFFERENCE™ Teacher Training at the School Board of Sarasota County on October 30th.  The training was provided to elementary, middle and high school educators from a variety of schools including Sarasota High, Alta Vista Elementary, Wilkinson Elementary, Heron Creek Middle, Riverview High, North Port High, Ashton Elementary and Sarasota Middle.  

The goals of the program were for the teachers to:

• learn ways to help break the cycle of hate and violence;
• increase their skills to combat prejudice and promote intergroup respect with students;
• examine concepts of personal identity and cultural awareness and how they influence one's teaching; and
• improve their ability to assess incidents of bullying and name-calling and the best ways to respond. 

The teachers received ADL's Anti-Bias Study Guides which contain lessons they can infuse into their daily curriculum which meet state and federal standards for character education and safe schools. 

Participant feedback was extremely positive and included such comments as:  "I received practical, user-friendly activities that can easily be transferred to the classroom," and, "Excellent materials provided - - all should be required to participate in this workshop."