Bill and I are staying in Palm Desert at Marriott's Desert Hills Villas through a timeshare exchange while I attend my 3rd GLBT Conference. Last night we checked in (after a 9 hour drive) and went over to the Riviera in Palm Springs so I could register and we attended the welcoming reception--drinks and hors d'oevres. We paid for a ticket for all meals so that Bill could eat with me--his name tag said "ALL MEALS" in the same way that mine said LYNN WALTON--friends teased and called him "ALL" :)
This morning at breakfast we heard the welcome, intros, and then CTA President Dean Vogel was the keynote speaker. His talk included a lot of the CTA history to be celebrated as it turns 150 this year. It was really interesting to note that CTA was started while Lincoln was president and it's purpose was to work for equitable and adequate funding for education--which we are fighting for 150 years later.
The first workshop I attended was given by C. Scott Miller and dealt with the legal rights and responsibilities that educators have in regard to GLBT education. The Fair Act requires educators to teach GLBT history along with other protected groups' history. Title 9 prevents teachers from separating classes into boys and girls in addition to equal funding. Seth's Law requires all districts and schools to have an anti-bullying policy in place--as of 7/1/12. It was very informative and well done.
At lunch the keynote speaker was Dan Guerrero who does a one man show around the country called "Gaytino"--he is both gay and Latino. Very poignant and entertaining.
My next session was "Addressing the Unique Need of GLBTQ Students & Staff" by Johnnie Terry. He is a Philosophy Prof. at Sierra College and led a great interactive session while explaining what steps they have taken on his campus to improve the climate.
The 3rd session was good but, the title was misleading and she was also a college professior and had done the same program as Johnnie.
Bill arrived in time to attend the GLBT Caucus meeting with me and then took me to Burgers & Be.er, a sports bar (which I had requested), so we could watch the Niners beat the Packers :)
Had a nice long talk with Douglas in between my last session and the caucus. Talked w/Kymber in the car on the way to dinner. Played telephone tag w/Johnnie. Bill surprised me with cards and a beautiful pearl necklace...advance planning!! One of the cards had a photo that looked just like the photo Johnnie took for my mom of the outdoor church service site on the Neuse River in Oriental.
All in all a nice day if slightly unusual way to celebrate my birthday!
