More than 200 school personnel administrators and other human resources staff attended TASPA’s 2006 Casual Attire Summer Conference, “Jamaican Jamboree,” in Austin, July 12-14 at the Austin Doubletree Hotel.

The conference opened with a wonderful and relaxing reception co-sponsored by longtime TASPA sponsors AESOP and WinOcular, represented by Seth Gurss and Paul Montgomery, respectively.  Attendees were delighted at the expanded variety of appetizers as well as the addition of live steelpan music by Leon “Smooth” Edwards of Steel Island.  Thank you for your ongoing support, Seth and Paul! 
Another returning sponsor, The Gallup Organization, represented by Gary Evans, sponsored breakfast for both days of the conference.  A new sponsor this year, Education America Network, represented by Mike Sproule, joined forces with WinOcular to sponsor the program printing.  All of our sponsors are equally appreciated for their support of this conference!!

The featured keynote speaker on Thursday morning was Erna L. Grasz, delivering a presentation called "Leadership: A Matter of Choice in Lifelong Learning."  Ms. Grasz emphasized that it is often in the low points of our life that we actually do the most learning and growing as people and as professionals; therefore, if we choose to take the opportunity to learn from those events, adversity has personal growth and insight as a reward.  Texas Teachers Alternative Certification Program, another longtime advocate of TASPA, represented by Vernon Reaser, sponsored Ms. Grasz’s presentation.

At the second general session, Marty De Leon, legislative counsel for the Texas Association of School Boards’ Governmental Relations Division, gave a legislative update focusing on the recent actions of the Texas Legislature.  Marty’s session was described by many attendees as “humorous and informative” and as “a must-have at every conference.”  A PDF file of his handout can be found on the TASPA website for a limited time here.   A new and equally appreciated sponsor, Quality Act Alternative Certification Program, represented by Rosemary Robbins, sponsored the luncheon.

Throughout the day on Thursday, the latest trends in human resource operations and logistics, best practices in personnel administration, updates on federal and state regulations, and school personnel law were covered in more than 30 professional development workshop sessions presented by personnel law attorneys, experts in school district personnel topics, and representatives from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC).

A Courtyard Fiesta Reception with Mexican appetizers and live mariachi music was sponsored by Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, and was the highlight of Thursday evening’s events.  Many attendees commented on how enjoyable the event was and how valuable these networking opportunities are for the participants.

Highlighting this year’s conference were addresses by the Texas Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Bell and Independent Gubernatorial Candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn.  One attendee suggested in the evaluation form that we need to do this every election year at the Summer Conference.  All speakers mentioned that, if elected, they would de-emphasize TAKS as much as possible, and stressed the key role that education and educators play in defining the future and success of Texas.  Governor Perry was unable to attend due to a previous commitment.

Please check the “Mark the dates!” section in the right-hand column of this newsletter for other TASPA upcoming conferences. We hope to see you at one of them!

Summer Conference photos

Attendees enjoy the Steelpan music and Wednesday evening reception sponsored by AESOP and WinOcular

Attendees at work before breakfast, sponsored by The Gallup Organization

Erna Grasz smiles during her keynote presentation “Leadership: A Matter of Choice in Lifelong Learning”

Conference attendees enjoy the luncheon, sponsored by Quality ACT ACP

Marty De Leon prepares to deliver a legislative update after the luncheon

The Thursday reception, sponsored by Texas Teachers ACP, featured a mariachi band

Gubernatorial candidates Chris Bell and Kinky Friedman have a friendly exchange in the hallway between speeches

Gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn greets attendees as she enters the ballroom.

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