Amid the beautiful and serene setting of Lake Bistineau State Park, just outside Shreveport, Louisiana, the Texas and Louisiana McKinney-Vento homeless education programs held a meet-ing to share information and ideas for improving service delivery to children in homeless situations. The meeting, which took place on April 24-27, was the first of its kind, and was blessed with perfect weather, great food, and best of all, enthusiastic and motivated participants who came to share their expertise and learn from others in the field of homeless education.

Representatives from 17 of Texas' twenty homeless education programs and all ten of Louisiana's programs participated in the event, which kicked off with a get-acquainted dinner on April 24. Dr. Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Director of Compensatory Education for the US Department of Education, opened with a talk that captivated participants with a call to action. Many commented that Dr. JohnsonÕs rousing speech re-energized them and made them eager to return to their jobs with renewed commitment.

Charles Eldridge and Linda Jarrell, from the Texas and Louisiana HUD Community Builders Programs respectively, described ways in which educators can access HUD funding. Three HUD grants have been awarded to McKinney-Vento homeless education programs in Louisiana and Texas liaisons indicated a strong interest in setting up similar programs across the state.

Dr. Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a sociology professor from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, gave a moving presentation based on research she conducted for her new book, "Children Living on the Streets of the Americas," in which she compared how children in homeless situations fared in the United States, Cuba, and Brazil. Many participants were startled by the results of her research.

Dr. Marilyn Fowler, from the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, provided an interactive session on how to incorporate family learning events into educational, shelter, or community settings. Dr. Fowler has developed a number of fun and educational learning activities that use simple, everyday materials to demonstrate mathematical and scientific principles. These activities are easy even for parents with low educational levels and have proven successful in a number of venues.

Texas liaisons that presented information include Cathy Galloway from Amarillo, Estella Garza from San Antonio, and Sandy Lawrence from Region 13 Education Service Center in Austin.

Attendees rounded out the week with campfires, gift exchanges, and even some jaunts into Shreveport during free time to check out the local scene. On Friday morning, the meeting closed with a viewing of several videos on poverty and homelessness.

Many thanks go to all the Louisiana folks who made the event so very special by adding personal touches to every session. Special thanks goes out to Luke Chiniche, the Louisiana state homeless education coordinator, for following through on the dream of holding this meeting and to Patsy Williams, who coordinated the entire event. The hours of hard work and dedication that Patsy put into the meeting were evident from start to finish.

Texas will host the second annual liaisons' meeting next spring.