Overview

Here is just a brief overview of some of the events planned to date.

Special sessions include these outstanding speakers:

• Eduardo Sanchez, MD (V.P. and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross & Blue Shield)
• Dr. Alma Allen, Texas House of Representatives 
• Raymond Simon, Deputy Secretary, Department of Education
• National Teacher of the Year Michael Geisen, a science teacher from Oregon
• Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation, Advancement for Teaching
• Kagan Professional Development (Interactive pre-conference workshop)
• James G. Cibulka, new NCATE President - Welcome and Vision for Accreditation
• Annette Digby, ATE 2009-2010 President

Visits to specialized schools in the Dallas area

A look at the classroom of the future, on-site

Interactive professional clinics and concurrent sessions

Specialized sessions for preservice teachers including the National Teacher of the Year

A Valentine’s “Texas Style” Fun night, and MORE….

Speakers

Keynote speakers for ATE's 2009 Annual Meeting will include:

Eduardo J. Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP
(Sunday Opening General Session)
Eduardo J. Sanchez is Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. Dr. Sanchez is currently serving as Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Chair of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP), and a Food & Society Policy Fellow.
Prior to joining BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, Dr. Sanchez served as the Director of the Institute for Health Policy and Professor in the Division of Management, policy and Community Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH). He held the title of Texas Commissioner of Health from 2001 to 2006 as Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health (TDH) from 2001 to 2004 and as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) from 2004 to 2006. He led the consolidation of Texas' public health, mental, health and substance abuse agencies into one single agency, DSHS, and in 2005, Dr. Sanchez directed the Texas health and medical response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He served on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity and on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) Board of Scientific Counselors during his state health officer tenure.
From 1992 to 2001, Dr. Sanchez practiced family medicine in Austin, Texas. In addition, he served as public health officer and chief medical officer for the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department from 1994 to 1998. He played a key leadership role in helping to create the Texas Association of Local Health Officials (TALHO) in 1997, and he served as TALHO's first President.
He received his medical degree in 1988 from The University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School and completed a family medicine residency at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. He holds master's degrees in public health from the UT School of Public Health and in biomedical engineering from Duke University. He also holds bachelor's degrees from Boston University in biomedical engineering and chemistry.

Dr. Alma Allen, Texas House of Representatives (Monday morning General Session)
Prior to being elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2004, Dr. Alma A. Allen was elected to the State Board of Education in 1992 and re-elected in 1996, 2000, and 2002. Allen represents the State Board of Education on the Texas Growth Fund Board.
During her tenure on the board, Allen, has served on the board's committees on Planning, where she served as vice chair; School Finance/Permanent School Fund; Personnel; and Long-Range Planning. She was chair of the Adult Literacy Task Force and served on the Early Childhood Task Force. She was a member of the State Board of Education's Committee on School Finance/Permanent School Fund.
Allen served as president of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Allen is a retired administrator with the Houston Independent School District. She worked for the Houston district from 1961 to 2000. She began her career in education as a teacher. She was assistant principal at Foster Elementary School and then served as principal at Peck Elementary School, Windsor Village Vanguard Magnet School, and G.B.M. Turner Elementary School. She also worked in personnel and central administration. Additionally, Allen served as a guest lecturer at Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, the University of Houston, and Texas A & M University. Currently, she is a motivational speaker, educational consultant, and professor at Prairie View A&M University.

Lawrence Allen, Houston Independent School District (Monday morning General Session)
Lawrence Allen, Jr., a third-generation educator, was elected to the State Board of Education in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. He represents about 1.4 million people in the Houston area. He serves on the board's Committee on Instruction and previously served on the Committee on Planning.
Along with his service on the board, Allen is the director of special projects in the Houston Independent School District. He served as principal of the Jesse H. Jones High, assistant principal of Dowling Middle, Jones Senior and Jack Yates High School. He was a teacher at Lanier and Dowling Middle School.
Allen is a member of the Houston Association of School Administrators; Texas Association of Gifted and Talented; National Association of Secondary Principals; and the National Association of Secondary Administrators; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. He holds a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from Prairie View A&M University.
As the District 4 representative on the State Board of Education, Allen, a Democrat, represents parts of Fort Bend and Harris counties.
Allen has been married for 20 years to Clothild (Cindy) Allen. Allen has four children, Patrice, Lawrence III, Alim and Ali.