Approval for Continued Professional Education Provider

Date: March 24, 2008
Contact: Michael Groomer, 915-532-7273 x124

Chamizal National Memorial approved to become a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Provider for the State of Texas.

Chamizal National Memorial is pleased to announce the approval of their application to become a state provider of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits to Texas educators. This decision follows a state review of the Memorial's education programs and facilitators by the Division of Educator Standards at the Texas Education Agency.

Becoming a state provider of CPE credits means that the Memorial will be able to offer professional development credit for workshop attending teachers from any Texas school district. In the past, the Memorial has proudly partnered with individual districts to offer CPE credit for workshops. In most cases, however, only teachers from the sponsoring district received CPE credit. Being a state provider means that all Texas teachers will be eligible for CPE credit at Chamizal teacher workshops.

Regarding the new development, Julie Fonseca de Borges, Education Specialist for Chamizal National Memorial stated, "While we met with great success in working with partners to provide their teachers with continuing professional education credit, there was a limit to the size and diversity of the group we were able to serve. Being able to offer all Texas teachers CPE credit for attending the Memorial's programs is a great thing because so much of the learning that takes place in our teacher workshops is based on peer learning. Including the perspectives of a wider cross-section of educators will ultimately help all teachers who find themselves faced with the challenges of today's classroom."

Teachers are encouraged to contact Ms. Fonseca de Borges or visit the Memorial's website at www.nps.gov/cham for future workshops and other educational opportunities.

Chamizal National Memorial is one of the 391 National Park sites managed by the National Park Service. The Memorial commemorates the 1963 peaceful settlement of the long-standing Chamizal boundary dispute with Mexico.