PACETAH

Seventeen grant members attended the NCHE conference in Austin last week.  The sessions were really informative!  On Thursday we did our own tour of historic sites in Austin, including the Texas State Cemetary, the Capitol and downtown Austin, as well as the LBJ Library.  We observed the “circus-like” atmosphere on the Capitol grounds as, on one side of the Capitol, we observed a group promoting ethanol (several teachers got both a free meal and a free T-shirt out of that deal!). On the other side of the Capitol a protest against the proposed immigrant legislation allowed lots of students and a few older folks to wave flags, chant, and perform for the TV cameras that were in evidence.  It appeared that most were having a good time.  Our teachers had a good time, too, although I didn’t notice any of ours dancing in front of the TV cameras!