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NAAE Communities of Practice - For your reference, click here for the NAAE's Communities of Practice page. This page can also be found under Teacher Toolbox>Resources on our Web site.

2010 VATAT Award Winners - This year's VATAT Award winners have been posted on our Web site to honor the exceptional achievements by agriculture science teachers and supports who have made significant contributions to the profession. You can find all of the 2010 award winners listed here.

 IMPORTANT VATAT ONLINE UPDATE - If you are a VATAT member and you are registering for the conference, please print out your registration confirmation on the page indicated below (after you click "Register Now") or the confirmation in your email until further notice because it will not show up in your shopping cart. Thank you!

Conference Update - The VATAT Conference link on our Web site has been updated with important information. Please check here for information on the housing, tentative agenda, tentative Wednesday and Thursday workshops, VATAT Activities and more!

Summary of the 2010 - 2011 Graduation Requirements - To view the summary of the 2010 - 2011 graduation requirements from TEA's Web site please click here.

Career and Technical Education - Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, Course Crosswalks and Coherent Sequences - Recommendations for revision of the TEKS were adopted by the SBOE at the July 2009 meeting. The TEKS that the SBOE adopted may be accessed here. A draft course crosswalk comparing the 1997 courses to the courses to be implemented in 2010-11, a recommended course sequence and a text equivalent description of the recommended course sequence for each cluster may be accessed here under the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' link.

Floral Grant Opportunity - The Texas State Floral Association is providing an opportunity in the 2010-2011 year for twenty-five Texas schools to receive grants in order to fund floral classes. More details will follow at a later date.

Former VATAT President, Waylon Carroll, Recognized For Mark In Agricultural Education - The Avalanche-Journal in Lubbock recently published an article recognizing former VATAT President Waylon Carroll's achievements in agricultural education and other agriculture-related organizations. Carroll served as the VATAT President from 1964-1965. Click here to read the full article.

New TEKS Posted -TEA is pleased to announce that the career and technical education (CTE) Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) is now posted on the TEA website.  You will find Chapter 130 at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/home/sboeadopt.html .  

Chapter 130 contains 16 separate subsections, one for each cluster.  It is in this chapter that you will find the TEKS for the high school Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources courses (subsection A).   

Chapter 127 has both old and new courses, so look at the implementation dates when you read the TEKS.  The old courses in 127 will go away in 2010. You will find Chapter 127 at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/.

Chapter 127 contains two new middle school courses and three new high school courses which are common to all CTE (any CTE teacher can teach these courses).  There will be no final decisions made until January by the State Board of Education concerning courses that might count as a fourth math or science or those which might meet the speech or fine arts requirement.