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Welcome
Welcome to Region 8 ATPE’s Web page! We may be small, but as our ATPE State Vice President Deann Lee (a member of Region 8) says, “We are the little mouse that roars!” Region 8 ATPE is made up of schools in Delta, Morris, Hopkins, Lamar, Red River, Titus, Cass, Bowie, Marion, Camp and Franklin counties. Situated in the northeast corner of the state, we pride ourselves on being the “Gateway to Texas” because Region 8 shares its borders with Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Our area has many small rural schools as well as a few larger districts, and we all work hard to bring positive recognition to our communities, our region and our state. I personally would love to invite everyone to visit our “neck of the woods” some time. We have many state parks with lakes for fishing, boating, camping or just getting away from it all. (We aren’t known as the Lakes Country for nothing!) You’ll find plenty of eating and shopping opportunities in Texarkana, Paris, Sulphur Springs and Mt. Pleasant (a few of the larger towns in Region 8). Of course Jefferson is well-known for its historic appeal, but many will find the small towns in our area an antique-lover’s paradise, too. Whatever your interest, a drive along the highways and back roads of Region 8 will help you discover a little bit of each area’s unique flavor and as well as some of its contributions to our state’s history. Region 8 is growing, and we are letting everyone know about the great opportunities that ATPE has to offer on the region level. We are striving to make ATPE stronger so that we can better meet the needs of our students, our educators and our schools. Being involved with ATPE-PAC means getting our message to the Legislature that educators are a force to be “reckoned” with in Texas politics, and with ATPE being the largest non-union teacher organization in the nation—more than 115,000 members strong—we are making our voices heard in Washington, too! I invite you to check out our Region 8 Web page. Feel free to e-mail me anytime or call me at North Lamar High School in Paris. Regional meetings are held in the fall and spring. (Watch for more information on these at a later date.) We also meet while attending state events so that we keep the region and local units working together at all possible opportunities. Some of our local units offers scholarships open to all students and participate in new-teacher orientations to help keep ATPE at the forefront of activities. Please check out the ATPE website to see all of the wonderful benefits that ATPE has to offer. I look forward to seeing or hearing from you during the upcoming school year.
Sincerely,
Sandra Patterson
Region 8 ATPE president
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