Goals and resolutions are not just for New Year’s Day.

In fact, the staff of the Daily Eastern News was too anxious to wait for the New Year to roll around. New school year, new News– the office now proudly displays a list of the Daily Eastern News staff’s hopes and aspirations for the semester and for the year. Our goals range from improving readership through increased social media interaction to seeking out and employing writers, designers and photographers from other majors to meeting and beating daily deadlines.

Each writer, designer and photographer at the News has also stated his or her own semester and yearly goals, whether aloud or on an intrapersonal basis. Group improvement starts first at the individual; each Newser’s personal growth as a person and journalist helps the News become a better publication.

However, improvement does not have to stop at the paper’s producers. The News also encourages you, our reader, to set goals for the new school year. Why not? A more well-rounded, skilled and intelligent readerbase helps not only the News but also the reading area around it. In these fraught times, Coles County could use all the help it can get.

Goals are an important part of anyone’s growth process. We at the News encourage all readers to strive constantly for improvement, whether the reader in question is successful, stable and satisfied or not. For those readers already content with their places in life, the News recommends goal-setting as a means of lifestyle maintenance or as a way to commit to helping friends and families share in prosperity and happiness.

Personal goals can be lofty or miniscule, and comprehensive or specific. One might choose to focus on improving their vocabulary or their physical fitness in an effort to become a more self-confident and adjusted person. On the other hand, one may also choose to increase their understanding of the industry or profession they work in, or to make strides towards promotions and accolades at work. All goals, provided they are logical and achievable, are praiseworthy.

The editorial staff at the News suggests a scaffolded approach to goal-setting. Scaffolding is a term used frequently in teaching. It refers to a process in which teachers build assessments, skills and exercises on top of each other so that students are prepared for their next tasks through completion of the tasks beforehand.

When outlining the News’ year-long plans, staffers created monthly benchmarks to ensure that yearly goals were achievable in a timely and balanced manner. For example, in striving for a yearly goal of improving staff size and increasing staff retention, the News has agreed to spend the month of September recruiting publically for writers, and to speak to classes about jobs at the News, while November’s goals include staff bonding exercises and de-stressing get-togethers.

Scaffolded goals are exceptionally useful for people who feel they may not be able to commit to their goals, or for people who worry that they will forget their aspirations. While it may seem elementary or even make-work to scaffold a goal, scaffolding can make hard goals seem achievable and can make long goals seem timely.

The staff of the News looks forward to the coming year and to the coming improvements. We hope our readers can enjoy a similarly successful year.