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Texas News
Avellaneda named Superintendent of Gonzales ISD
After many successful years with the Corsicana Independent School District, well wishes are shared as Dr. Elmer Avellaneda, affectionately known as “Dr. A” is named the Lone Finalist for the position of Superintendent of Schools in the Gonzales Independent School District.

“It has been my pleasure to serve the students and community members of the Corsicana ISD. This district has not only facilitated my growth, but the growth of my family. This growth has ensured I will be able to live out the legacy CISD instills. The Tiger Nation will always have a place in my heart,” Dr. A said.
Fairmeadows Elementary gets a new principal in D’Ville’s Pablo Orozco
Please help us congratulate Pablo Orozco as Fairmeadows Elementary’s newest principal. He’s been in education for ten years. Previously, he spent three years serving Duncanville High School as an assistant principal. Before joining the D’ville family, Orozco was a dual language teacher in Fort Worth ISD. 

Orozco holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and a master’s degree from the University of North Texas.

This educator is excited to impact Duncanville ISD’s youngest panthers.
El Paso ISD hires first equity officer
El Paso’s largest school district, which has long struggled with academic achievement gaps between its wealthiest and poorest students, has hired its first equity officer.

The El Paso Independent School District board on May 17 approved the hiring of Marivel Macias as chief organizational transformation and equity officer, a new executive cabinet-level position created by Superintendent Diana Sayavedra.
Healing ceremony held in Austin to honor victims of Uvalde school shooting
The community ceremony was hosted by Nuestro Grupo/Academia Cuauhtli at the Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center.

A healing ceremony in support of Uvalde was held in Austin on Sunday. 

The community ceremony was hosted by Nuestro Grupo/Academia Cuauhtli at the Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center on the morning of June 5. 

Organizers invited the community to honor the 19 students and two teachers who lost their lives at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Attendees could also use the event to express their grief and call for change. 
Texas Republicans want to arm more school employees, but few districts are opting in
Since Texas launched the school marshal program in 2013, just 84 school districts out of more than 1,200 have armed school staff. Educators say the program’s lack of popularity shows that teachers don’t want to be the ones to defend schools from mass shootings.

Nearly a decade ago, Texas lawmakers created the school marshal program, a way for educators to carry weapons inside schools. It was the state’s rapid-fire legislative response to an unthinkable national horror 2,000 miles away when 20 first graders and six adults were shot and killed in a Sandy Hook, Connecticut, classroom just before Christmas 2012.
Upcoming Events
Save the Date!
Save the date for the TALAS Summer Conference 2022:

Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Kalahari Resort
Round Rock, TX

Stay tuned for continued updates on this exciting event.
The Holdsworth Center Webinar:
Why Invest in Strengthening the Principal Leadership Bench?
Thursday, June 9th, 2022 at 10 a.m.
Now more than ever, principals must be prepared to navigate ambiguity and respond to challenges with creativity. Aspiring principals need more opportunities within their districts to learn, grow and prepare for these critical roles, and, when given support and guidance, district leaders can design and develop systems that make this possible.

Join us for a conversation on June 9 at 10AM with three district leaders who have made this work a priority as part of their involvement with the Holdsworth Leadership Collaborative:

  • Dr. Roland Hernandez, Superintendent, Corpus Christi ISD
  • Dr. Walter Jackson, Superintendent, La Porte ISD
  • Dr. Hedith Sauceda-Upshaw, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning, Conroe ISD
Looking for a new opportunity?
Leadership opportunities available:
Take a look at who’s hiring:
National News
Diverse student needs must be considered in school shooting responses
Approaches like providing mental health services and adding resource officers may need to be tweaked for Black, Hispanic and immigrant students.

When Elizabeth Brown took over as principal following a 2018 school shooting at Florida’s Forest High School, she thought her community had made plenty of progress in its recovery: The room where the shooting took place had been repurposed, parents seemed to trust her with the school safety plan, and Brown had gotten the hang of working around students’ trigger points. 
Make Teaching a True Pathway to the Middle Class for Young Latino Teachers
1 in 10 Latino students attend a school without a single Latino teacher

As a former teacher, I’m disheartened by the current state so many educators across the country find themselves in. At the start of the pandemic, there was a glimmer of hope that as a society we would rally together to support and value teachers as parents and guardians saw firsthand how much work goes into teaching and the role educators play in the lives of children. 

Fast forward to now, and that glimmer of hope has faded as teachers are now under a microscope with attacks on what they can teach or say in the classroom and are having to put their own health on the line to continue teaching.
‘State-sanctioned violence:’ Inside one of the thousands of schools that still paddle students
While corporal punishment has been stamped out across most of the U.S., some schools use it routinely — and pressure parents to choose it over suspension

At the beginning of every school year, April Johnson oversees distribution of the Covington County School District student handbook. Tucked into the first half of the handbook is a section titled “Corporal Punishment.”
Twenty years after former Secretary of Education Richard Riley spoke these words, the need for qualified professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics continues to grow as the nation confronts global health, climate and security challenges that require innovative solutions to save lives.
4 strategies for effective intervention to accelerate learning this summer
Inspire thinking, monitor progress, prioritize SEL, and make screen time matter.

Students and educators have faced significant challenges due to interrupted learning and the trauma of the pandemic. In addition to the fact that over 200,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver to Covid, learning disruptions have exacerbated an already existing achievement gap. Studies show achievement tended to drop more between fall 2020 and 2021 than between fall 2019 and 2020, indicating that negative impacts on student achievement continued beyond spring 2020 school closures.
“Read Conmigo,” scholarships for bilingual educators
The Kemper Foundation, the philanthropic partner of the Kemper Corporation, one of America’s leading specialty insurers, announced the launch of its new “Read Conmigo” bilingual educator scholarship program.

This initiative seeks to strengthen the foundation’s commitment to the development of better educational opportunities through support for elementary teachers of bilingual programs. It also plans to strengthen the literacy skills of Latino students, both in English and in Spanish.
Las Tienditas
This Week’s Featured Sponsor
TALAS sponsors make this newsletter and other TALAS activities possible. Please support them. Click on the logo to learn more!
BrainPOP is an online educational solution that makes rigorous learning experiences accessible and engaging for all. We combine knowledge-building content with creative projects to develop higher-order thinking skills across your entire curriculum, preparing students for success in life.

BrainPOP has been a trusted resource to more than six million educators and has engaged the hearts and challenged the minds of over 300 million learners worldwide. More than 100 Texas school districts and half of Texas schools partner with BrainPOP, and 9 out of 10 educators would recommend BrainPOP to a friend or colleague.

Take a minute to learn more about BrainPOP. What are you teaching this week?