ATPE News

State Officers

Jayne Serna President, Leander (13)

Jason Forbis Vice President, Midway (12)

Jerrica Liggins Secretary, Paris (8)

Eli Rodriguez Treasurer, Cypress-Fairbanks (4))

Stacey Ward Past President, Humble (4)

Board of Directors

Twila Figueroa McAllen (1)

Adriane Taylor Corpus Christi (2)

Sean Douglas Cuero (3)

Vacant Pending special election

Christy Skinner Lumberton (5)

Donna Ward Willis (6)

Teresa Millard Woden (7)

Abby Rogers Paris (8)

Denise Sanders Vernon (9)

Wanda Bailey Mesquite (10)

Christopher Adams Crowley (11)

Christina Flores Riesel (12)

Stephanie Stoebe Round Rock (13)

Leslie Ward Merkel (14)

Betty Gail Wood-Rush Early (15)

Sherry Boyd Spearman (16)

Abigail Ramford Lamesa (17)

Gail Campos Big Spring (18)

Robert Zamora Clint (19)

Laura Herrera North East (20)

ATPE News Staff

David George Editor

John Kilpper Art Director

Michael Spurlin Associate Editor

Jack Densmore Associate Editor

Jennifer Price Digital Editor

Marjorie Parker Contributing Designer

Kate Johanns Editorial Director

ATPE News (ISSN 0279-6260) is published quarterly in fall, winter, spring, and summer

Subscription rates: for members of the association, $3 32 per year (included in membership dues); non-members, $10 per year Extra copies $1 25 each

Published by the Association of Texas Professional Educators, 305 E Huntland Drive, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78752-3792 Advertising rates may be obtained by contacting comm@atpe.org Opinions expressed in this publication represent the attitude of the contributor whose name appears with the article and are not necessarily the official policy of ATPE ATPE reserves the right to refuse advertising contrary to its purpose Copyright 2023 in USA by the Association of Texas Professional Educators

ISSN ©ATPE 2023 0279-6260

305 E Huntland Dr , Ste 300 Austin, TX 78752-3792

(800) 777-ATPE (2873) atpe org | atpe@atpe org

Welcome back, ATPE family! Nothing in the universe moves faster than time in the summer. I hope you were able to relax and recharge with family and friends and that you are excited about the 2023-24 school year. I was so glad to see so many of you at the amazing 2023 ATPE Summit at Kalahari in Round Rock. Many thanks to the stellar ATPE staff for putting together such a wonderful event. I was honored and excited to be elected to serve as your 2023-24 ATPE state president.

As the school year begins, don’t forget to ask your colleagues and friends to join ATPE. Your personal invitation is always the best referral. They will greatly appreciate the discounts, advocacy, and legal protection. Let your co-workers know why you are a member of ATPE!

Last spring, our Past State President Stacey Ward came to you noting that because the Legislature was in session, you needed to stay informed about the political decisions that affect our profession. As the series of special sessions continues through the fall, I would urge you to do the same, using excellent tools such as ATPE’s TeachtheVote.org, Advocacy Central, the weekly Teach the Vote email, and updates that our amazing Governmental Relations team sends out. I would also urge you to do something I began doing a few years back— making a monthly contribution to the ATPE Political Action Committee (ATPE-PAC). There is no better financial investment in the future of our organization, profession, or public school system in Texas. And for the price of a trip or two to Sonic or Starbucks each month, we can have a powerful impact.

I cannot thank each of you enough for all that you do for your schools, families, and communities. Have a wonderful fall semester. Take care of yourselves as you take care of your students, and please let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!

Jayne Serna ATPE President

Features

12 Round Rock ISD Community Fights Ongoing Student Homelessness Crisis

Several factors have caused student homelessness to increase in Texas. Fortunately, organizations all over the state are hard at work to help these students, and they could use your support.

15 Scholastic Gaming Programs: Taking Student Engagement to a New Level

Scholastic esports programs are growing rapidly across the state, and in Edinburg CISD, a traditional sports coach is using his talents to build a new program and already seeing great success.

Special Sections

18 2023 ATPE Summit Wrap-Up

ATPE members made the trek

July 10–12 to Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Round Rock for the 2023 ATPE Summit. Catch highlights of the event, including volunteer training, a couldn’t-miss legislative update, the 2023 ATPE House of Delegates, and professional learning. Plus, meet our 2022-23 ATPE award winners.

26 In Your Neighborhood

Join us as we visit ATPE “neighborhoods” all over Texas to get an inside look at what volunteers are doing to recruit, retain, and rejoice with their fellow ATPE members.

31 In Memoriam

Remembering past Region 5 Director Bill Moye

35 Volunteer Spotlight

Meet La Joya ISD career and technical education teacher

Artemio Cantu, ATPE’s 2022-23 Campus Rep of the Year for local units with 501–1,000 members.

Everything Else

6 Calendar

7 Your Ally

2023 Legislation Affecting Educators’ Employment Rights

8 Regional Roundup

10 Your Voice

Three Easy Steps for Turning Anger into Action at the Capitol

11 PAC Honor Roll

28 Your ATPE

Gen ATPE Program I One New = $10 for You l ODP Business Solutions l 2023-24 Leadership ATPE Cohort l Update to Membership Dues I ATPE

Staff Member Recognized by Tarleton State University

The Atpe Vision

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) supports the state’s largest community of educators who are dedicated to elevating public education in Texas.

The Atpe Mission

ATPE advocates for educators and delivers affordable, high-quality products and services that give members the peace of mind needed to inspire student success.