ACET is buzzing with activity this summer, particularly due to a series of trips to our nation’s capital. Recently, Kirsten and Stella attended an advisory board meeting with a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The meeting gave ACET an opportunity to present last year’s findings and to participate in discussions with project leadership. “It’s nice to have a chance to debrief together and also be part of the planning process,” Stella reflected about the event. June also marked another DC trip for Kirsten, where she attended an annual meeting with the Children’s Bureau.

In July, Joseph Curiel will arrive for the National Council for Community and Education Partnership (NCCEP)/GEAR UP annual conference. Joseph is looking forward to both networking with attendees and taking in the sights of the city. The 4-day conference, entitled “The E4 Revolution: Education, Empowerment, Equity & Economics,” will mark Joseph’s first visit to DC. The trip to DC also includes a pre-conference discussion about moving forward with the multi-state consortium of GEAR UP programs for the purposes of cross-program evaluation and research.

Finally, Mary Burns is traveling to the DC area for a slightly different event at the end of July: she will be co-directing a workshop with her sister at Baltimore, Maryland’s Otakon, a convention dedicated to Japanese media and culture and one of the largest of its kind in the country. The workshop subject is the traditional Japanese card game hanafuda, and will both teach attendees to play the game as well as examine its history, symbolism, and appearances in modern culture, in and outside of Japan. Both Mary and her sister are very excited to have been accepted to present at Otakon.

ACET Staff