News from the Area VI Meeting

We met Sunday, November 18 at 8:00 AM in the Hilton Palacio del Rio.

Area Representatives Gretchen Bell and Jean King were present and facilitating. Lee Ann Carrier was unable to attend. There were thirteen TAEA members attending. TAEA President Elect Tim Lowke dropped in for a few moments.

Here's the news:

Houston Area YAM Competition: There will not be a TAEA Area VI YAM Competition this year. There are several reasons for this: Area Reps are extremely busy. We do not have a reservation for Owens where we have done the judging for the past several years. We need to take a hiatus.

Vote in the Members Only area of the TAEA Website: Please go to the TAEA website and vote on whether you want to remain with the current system of Areas or whether you would like to change to representation by Region. Under the current system our Area contains ESC Regions 3, 4, and 5. We currently are allowed four representatives per Area. If this passes there will be one representative per ESC Region. The vote closes December 1! Tim Lowke spoke with us about this matter.

Victoria and Beaumont: We need better representation for and input from the Victoria and Beaumont areas. Currently we have three representatives, Gretchen Bell, Lee Ann Carrier, and Jean King. All are from the Houston area.

Summer Mini-conference: This last summer communications about the our Summer Mini-Conference fell through between the Museum of Fine Arts -Houston and the Area Representatives. There were a number of reasons for this including changes in Leadership/Management at the museum.

Mini-Conferences in general: We may want to consider having a mini-conference separate from the MFAH in future. If we do a separate mini-conference, we will need TONS of volunteers and help from other art educators. We would need to find a location, presenters, etc.
Possible themes for a mini-conference:
"Concepts We Teach Beyond The Classroom"
"Finding Our Place In The Community"
"Finding Your Own Place"
Teacher/Members to present and ideas/suggestions:
- Letha Guillory, MacArthur HS, Aldine ISD, 3D works with fibers and paper and other recycled materials, adapting sketchbooks and portfolios to make easier for students to transport
- Hailey Ann Booth, Cinco Ranch HS, Katy ISD, classroom procedures/ organization and planning in the art room, vertical alignment from elementary to high school, teachers visiting each others schools/classes to make presentations to students.
- Sessions on classroom management due to the growing number of students in our classes.

Newsletter/Blog to go out to districts to advocate for the programs and needs of art educators.

Pull Outs: Sarah Chapman spoke about Fine Arts state bill in the works about students being pulled out of arts classes. Stay tuned to TAEA's website for advocacy/political information (Political Palette).

TRS: The State Legislature is currently considering changes to the Teacher Retirement System. You need to stay informed about this as it directly effects all our futures.

Politics in general: Get names and info on Legislators, District Board Members in your area and share your concerns. Raise your voice. Vote.
To stay informed, most legislative news will be reported on GoArts website, www.goarts.org. It may be too early for things to be up yet on the site, but watch it for news. They may need our support. Register with them.

Katie Brown - Ceramic workshop

Names were pulled for door prizes. Laura Dickinson from Pasadena HS win a educator's membership to Lawndale Art Center. All attendees received at least one prize.

Special "Thank You's" are due to the following:
- TAEA and Abbeyville Press - Suzy Greene - give aways for the area meetings
- Lawndale Art Center - Complimentary Educator Membership
- Jean King - Dias de Los Muertos t-shirts
- MFAH - for all they do for us, including, but not limited to the TAEA/MFAH Summer Mini-Conference (where they handle registration, location, refreshments and more) and the use of the museum and Glassell Junior School as sites for our YAM Show and Reception.

If you want to be more involved in TAEA or have news to share with us, you can contact us through this blog or through the TAEA website under Area VI.
Gretchen Bell
Lee Ann Carrier
Jean King