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The three morning presentations all had a cultural and pedagogical theme. Dr. Véronique Mazet of Austin Community College opened with "Illustrestage - théâtre culturel bilingue français-anglais à Austin Community College." This project brings together a diverse population from the college community, with francophones and anglophones in harmonious interaction. The second presentation was by Sani Adamou of Austin, who hails from both Bénin and Niger. He spoke about and showed examples of the Beninois hip hop group H20 Assouka, which uses its songs, in a combination of French and African languages, to raise awareness of the importance of responsible personal behavior. View examples on YouTube. Closing out the morning session was our own Program Director, Dr. Jacki Thomas of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, who showed how she teaches the beloved French children's book and film, "Le Ballon Rouge," in intermediate French classes. Jacki brought along examples of creative student projects done using the language of the book.

Jacki Thomas also brought information about a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts to subsidize performances by Austin-based singer Christine Albert. Read more on the TCA web site and the booking page for Christina Albert.

The business meeting was held after lunch at Palmer's Restaurant. Dr. Jacki Thomas, as Region VII Representative, gave her report on the AATF National Convention held in Philadephia in July and encouraged members to attend the 2011 convention in Montréal. Talal Zineddine was unanimously elected Treasurer through the Spring of 2012, making his term coincide with that of the President. It was announced that the Spring Meeting will be held at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin on March 26, 2011, at which time we shall hold elections for Vice-President, Secretary, and Program Chair. The official minutes of the meeting will be posted in due course.

Certificates for six (6) hours of TEA-approved CPE credit were issued to those in attendance.