Saturday, February 17, 2007

Celebrating our Stars


Celebrating our Stars
Originally uploaded by carlamarieweir.
On Thursday and Friday we had our annual get together of HIPPY home instructors and coordinators, we call it the HIPPY Rally. It was a power packed day and a half with intensive hands-on workshops and a powerful closing speaker.

The first day the Friends of Texas HIPPY (Advisory Group) met, and then joined the opening of the Rally to meet the home visitors and coordinators. We began with our celebration of the home visitors who have taken steps in furthering their education. Each of these home visitors (photo above) received a photo frame, and I told them that it was for the picture of them accepting a diploma whether that is their High School Equivalency, a certificate of completion for an ESL course or their college degree. The remainder of the day was an intensive goal setting session with Lucy Cantu. That evening, we had a team building dinner at the Latino Cultural Center, sharing and learning from an art exhibit on 13 Latina artists. Friday was an all day session with Public Allies focusing on how to develop leadership and involvement in the parents that we serve. The closing speaker, Donna Haddock Padron spoke on "Never Giving Up" and shared her personal story of overcoming abuse.

Thanks to everyone who participated in and supported the Texas HIPPY Rally!