Empowering Professional Leaders was the theme of Monday’s Ripon Unified School District learning day created to address the question of how to best meet the needs of all Ripon students from elementary to high school, according to Superintendent Ziggy Robeson.Robeson said the event showcased the concept that learning and leadership are the key components of a continuous cycle of improvement. Sixth grade teacher Leslie Due remarked, “Being able to choose sessions that are related to my students is empowering.”Samara Stevens – a fourth grade teacher had a simple evaluation at the end of the day, “Inspiring.”Eric Dambrosio said, “The best staff development I’ve attended.”“Effectiveness skills, team functioning skills, systems thinking skills and excellent communication skills are all needed to maintain the sense of urgency today in educating our youth,” the superintendent said. She went on to say that, “We as part of a community that is working to improve our professional skills by engaging in shared inquiry and learning with each other in our common goal to provide the skills for our student successes in the future.”The educational improvement day was designed with an intensive and collaborative approach in mind, she added, including 16 presenters with guest speaker Mark Johnson.