New Pinellas County School Superintendent Kevin Hendrick held the first of a series of "Listen and Learn" sessions at Pinellas Technical College in Clearwater Monday night. 

Hendrick came up with idea to hold the sessions as a way to share his vision and gather community input on improvements for the school district. 

Monday's meeting focused on school choice and student experience. Hendrick said he wants students of all ages to be excited about in-class learning this school year. Since COVID, that has not always been the case.

"Over the years, we've gotten used to online learning, which is great, but school needs to be a place to get stuff I can't get online," Hendrick said.

Hendrick said it's time to raise the academic bar of expectations as well as get students more involved in clubs and extra-curricular activities.

Hendrick said the other way to get students engaged is to get teachers engaged in in-class learning activities.

"A great teacher can overcome poverty, can overcome a lack of parenting at home," Hendrick said. "Great teachers can make a difference."

Soraya Martino, a high school Spanish teacher, certainly thinks so. 

"My classes are very active," Martino said. "I do a lot of games and we talk."

Still, she said engaging students was a challenge last year.

Martino attended Monday night's meeting. She was happy the superintendent asked for the community's input. 

"A great starting point," she said.

With dots and sticky notes, Martino and others shared their thoughts about what works and what is needed in the district. 

Some suggestions included finding "fresh ways to identify gifted students" and "increasing staff who match the student demographics."

The superintendent said they'll look at all the comments and share it with the community as administrators come up with a master plan for the district.

This is the first of seven "Listen and Learn" sessions. The next session will be held at Bay Point Middle School on July 27th, focusing on staff experience. The public can watch the meetings virtually or attend in person. For more information about the Listen and Learn sessions, click here.