By: Barney McClure, VATAT Executive Director

Final plans are being made for our summer professional development conference in Lubbock July 29-August 3, 2018. It is our intention to plan and conduct the premiere education professional development opportunity in Texas. Our board of directors, staff, and elected teachers have been working hard to provide an indispensable opportunity to stay informed concerning new developments in agricultural education, participate in workshops designed to enhance teaching, communicate with vendors, and network with fellow educators.

Our partners Texas FFA, the Texas FFA Foundation, and TEA have also had input that will make teachers more effective and efficient during the coming year. We also work with a certified meeting planner to overcome any stumbling blocks that might come up. The Lubbock Convention and Visitors Bureau has helped us in many ways to coordinate our numerous activities. It really does take a village to put on a conference like ours.

In addition to meeting in the new twelve area format this year, there will also be some other changes.   We have been tracking attendance at workshops and meetings the past two years with a ticketing system. Starting this year, we will be using a new system that utilizes your smart phone. We believe this will be easier for everyone and will give us the information you need to keep track of your continuing professional education hours. (For those of us who don’t have a smart phone, we will have a system in place for you as well. -Just something to make sure no one ends up in a tizzy!)     

I hope to see all of you in Lubbock. The last time we were there for conference was 2009. Many things have changed since then, but we are looking forward to a productive and profitable week. There may even be a few surprises in store. Make your plans to be there.