Texas Rural Schools to Meet Feb. 13-15

The Texas Association of Rural Schools will discuss telecommunications technology, multicultural education, school finance and other topics during its annual conference scheduled for Feb. 13-15 at Baylor University. The event, now in its sixth year, is hosted by Baylor's School of Education. All conference sessions will take place in the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Keynote speakers for this year's conference will be Dr. Mario Benitez, the 1997 Robert Foster Cherry Chair for Distinguished Teaching at Baylor, and Gary Groggin, director of programs for the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board (TIF). Benitez will deliver his address from 8:30-9:50 a.m. on Saturday, and Groggin will speak during the Saturday luncheon session which runs from noon until 1:25 p.m.
Benitez is a nationally recognized teacher and scholar in the field of multicultural and bilingual education. Recently, he was named one of 12 Distinguished University Professors at the University of Texas at Austin, the only faculty member in the College of Education to receive this honor. Benitez will focus his address on multicultural education.
Groggin's address will focus on the history of the TIF Board and on information regarding the state agency's prior grant offerings. TIF distributes $150 million per year in grants for telecommunications infrastructure to K-12 public schools, colleges and universities, public libraries and public health organizations. Groggin will review the grant programs available and give strategies for completing the grant application, project design and grant implementation.
For more information, call the School of Education at 710-3117.