AquaTeens is an exciting way for kids 14-17 years old to explore the opportunities in zoo and aquarium careers. The Texas State Aquarium is looking for positive, responsible students with an enthusiasm for learning and having fun. This is a year-round program, and the interview and selection process takes place in May; and after training, the teens start in early June.

 

Applications for AquaTeens 2009 are no longer available. Next year's application will be available March 2010.

 

To be added to our mailing list, please email bdavis@txstateaq.org or call 361.881.1256.

The national Endangered Species Day Art Contest provides students with an opportunity to learn about endangered species and express their knowledge and support through artwork. The contest is organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Endangered Species Coalition, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art/ University of New Orleans. The contest's winner will be honored with their name engraved on a special trophy designed by a gifted young artist, Meredith Graf of New Orleans, LA and will also be recognized at a reception in Washington, D.C. in May, 2010.

The deadline to enter is March 26. Winners will be chosen in four categories: Grades K-2, Grades 3-6, Grades 7-9, and Grades 10-12. From these, one national winner will be selected in 2010.

Register for the Endangered Species Day Art Contest today!

Endangered Species Day is a celebration of our nation's wildlife and wild places. Started in 2006 by the United States Congress, Endangered Species Day is an opportunity to learn about endangered species and how you can help protect them. The art contest is an integral part of the fifth annual national Endangered Species Day, celebrated on and around May 21, 2010.

Schools, scout troops and other educational institutions are encouraged to learn about our nation's wildlife, birds, fish and plants on the brink of extinction. For more information and for lesson places and other educational materials, visit www.EndangeredSpeciesDay.org

Essay Topic
Economics Outside the Box

Students often think economics is crammed inside a box that looks like a textbook. The 2010 Economic Essay Contest challenges you to jump out of the box and find economics in the world around you. The lessons that economics teach can be found almost anywhere.

Maybe you read a news story or heard a report on television. Many current events have an economic angle. Perhaps you read a novel, saw a movie or heard a song. Characters are often challenged by limited resources and faced with difficult decisions with significant opportunity costs.  You might consider sports. How do incentives challenge professional and amateur athletes? Think about an entrepreneur. What resources are required for a new business?

The Task
Choose a narrative that illustrates an economic lesson. Remember that the narrative can come from any source, but you must describe it for a reader who is unfamiliar with the story.

Identify the economic lesson or lessons that are present in your narrative. Give a thorough explanation of the economic concepts. A list of possibilities appears below, but you are by no means limited by them.

• Supply and demand
• Scarcity
• Incentives
• Markets (mature and expanding)
• Choice and opportunity cost
• Moral hazard and asymmetric information
• Government regulation
• Comparative and absolute advantage
• Marginal utility
• Economies of scale
• Technology
• Profit maximization
• Diminishing returns
• Coordination and cooperation (the prisoner’s dilemma)

The Details
The contest is open to 11th and 12th grade students attending schools in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District, which covers Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico. Participants submit essays to the appropriate office of the Dallas Fed, as determined by the location of their school. To determine the appropriate office, visit the Dallas Fed web site at www.dallasfed.org and click on Economic Education, 2010 Economic Essay Contest. To determine the appropriate office, see the Eleventh District counties.

Essays may be submitted now through February 26, 2010. Essay must be accompanied by student entry form (coming soon).

Ten essays will be selected for recognition from each office. The selected students, their parents and their supervising teachers will be invited to an awards ceremony at the office where they entered:

March 23		San Antonio
March 30		El Paso
March 30		Dallas
March 31		Houston

The top three finalists from each of the four office locations will be invited to an awards luncheon at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on April 22. Each of the 12 finalists will receive a savings bond:

First place		$1,000 Series EE savings bond
Second place		$500 Series EE savings bond
Third place		$250 Series EE savings bond
Remaining finalists		$100 Series EE savings bond

The supervising teacher and parents or guardians of each finalist will be invited to attend the awards luncheon. Guests will have an opportunity to tour the Bank during their visit.

For attendees from outside the Dallas–Fort Worth area, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas will cover travel expenses (automobile mileage or round-trip airfare, if distance requires) for the student, the supervising teacher and one parent or guardian.

Note: All parents or guardians are welcome to attend the luncheon, but the travel expenses of only one per student will be covered.

The Rules

1.	The deadline for entry is February 26. Essays must be postmarked on or before that date.
2.	The student entry form (photocopies are acceptable) with signatures of the student, a parent or guardian and the supervising teacher must accompany the essay.
3.	Each student may submit only one essay.
4.	Essays must be in 12-point type and limited to five double-spaced, one-sided, numbered pages with one-inch margins.
5.	Each essay must have a separate title page listing these items:
	Essay title Student’s name Student’s e-mail Home address (include city, state and ZIP) Home telephone number Supervising teacher’s name Teacher’s e-mail School's name and address (include city, state and ZIP) School’s telephone number Total number of pages submitted
6.	The title of the essay, but not the author’s name, should appear at the top of the first page of text.
7.	A reference page should be included after the last page of text. All sources must be properly acknowledged and correctly noted in the essay.
8.	The entrant must submit two copies of the essay. Essays will not be returned to the author.
9.	Essays that do not conform to contest rules and regulations will not be submitted for judging and will not be returned to the author.
10.	Family members of Federal Reserve Bank employees are not eligible to participate.

Judging
Qualified Federal Reserve staff will judge the essays according to five criteria:

1.	Comprehension – How well does the essay reflect a thorough understanding of the topic?
2.	Conclusions – Do the conclusions follow logically from the argument? Are the conclusions compelling?
3.	Creativity – Were diverse resources and original ideas used to develop the topic?
4.	Organization – Does the argument follow a logical and easily understood progression? Does the evidence support the essay's main points?
5.	Writing – Were correct grammar, spelling and punctuation as well as concise language used?

Student Entry Form (coming soon)
Please refer to the list of Eleventh District counties to determine which Dallas Fed regional contest you should enter. You can find listings for each office: Dallas, Houston, El Paso and San Antonio.

Print out and complete the student entry form. Then mail the entry to the appropriate address:

Dallas: Princeton Williams Senior Economic Education Specialist Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 2200 N. Pearl St. Dallas, TX 75201-2272 (214) 922-6826 princeton.williams@dal.frb.org	El Paso: Lupe Mares-Edens Public Affairs Manager Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas El Paso Branch 301 East Main St. El Paso, TX 79901-1326 (915) 521-5248 lupe.edens@dal.frb.org
Houston: Robbie Moses Economic Education Coordinator Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Houston Branch 1801 Allen Parkway Houston, TX 77019 (713) 483-3637 robbie.moses@dal.frb.org	San Antonio: Rachel Peña Senior Public Affairs Representative Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas San Antonio Branch 126 East Nueva St. San Antonio, TX 78204-1020 (210) 978-1663 rachel.pena@dal.frb.org

http://www.dallasfed.org/educate/essay/index.html

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s national touring panel exhibition, Looking at Lincoln: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era, will be on display at the Noel McArdle Gallery located in the Janet F. Harte Public Library in Flour Bluff. The exhibition focuses on images of Abraham Lincoln through the sometimes scathing wit of the political cartoonists of his time, giving visitors the opportunity to set aside their current assumptions of Lincoln and see the man through the eyes of his contemporaries.

The Corpus Christi Ballet would like to invite your students and staff to share in the enchanting scenes from Dracula

Please join us in experiencing the true joy of first-rate classical ballet at its finest as the Corpus Christi Ballet, with its professional soloist Shannon Cruz, perform these well-loved classics. This wonderful cultural experience teaches children how music, story, lavish sets, and dance can combine to produce understanding and involvement as an audience in a way that movies or television cannot.

A teacher resource packet will be provided. Appropriate for 6th grade and up.

Presented on:

April 16th, 2010 - 10:00 a.m.

http://www.corpuschristiballet.com/2009_2010season.htm

 The popular comic strip heroine takes center stage in one of the world's best-loved musicals. Winner of 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Annie tells the story of a spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents, who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations, befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and finds a new family and home with billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

Show Dates:
A Family Entertainment Series Musical on the Mainstage
March 5-28, 2010
Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm
Sunday matinees, March 21st and 28th at 2pm

Tickets:
$16 Adults
$13 Seniors and Military
$6 Children and Students with I.D.

Harbor Playhouse Website