LISD Academic Advocates

1. Call to Order and Pledge. The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. at the Cedar Park High School library. At that time the Pledge of Allegiance was recited

2. Minutes. The minutes were read from the Aug. 29, 2005 meeting. Ray Cowperthwaite moved to accept the minutes. Karen Tarlow seconded the motion.

3. Treasurer's report. There was no treasurer's report.

4. Committee reports. There were no committee reports.

5. Speaker. Torvald Hessel came and talked to us. He is a board member of the Friends of the Austin Planetarium. This board has existed for two years.
Austin is the 16th largest city in the U.S. but it has no planetarium. This group is working on getting one here. The scores on the science TAKS and TEKS can go up with a planetarium. It can help with science projects and provide plenty of information on Astronomy and Space Science.
A planetarium is an enclosed building that houses an instrument for projecting the constellations, planets and other astronomical phenomena onto a domed ceiling. The Friends of the Austin Planetarium is dedicated to the establishment of a first class planetarium in Austin to benefit the school children and general public of Central Texas by providing a venue for the advancement of science education and space exploration.
Hessel gave us a description of the facility and the possible layout of the building. They will need a minimum of 2-3 acres to build on. He gave a break down of what it would cost to get a 16,500 sq. ft. building up and going. We were also shown the resources, timeline and accomplishments that have already been achieved.


6. Announcements. Our next meeting will be October 24. Betsy Gonzales from CPMS will be out speaker. She won the Texas Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year award.

7. The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Hosier
Secretary