80R16102 JGH-D

By: Castro H.R. No. 1929

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Principal James Buchanan of Communications Arts High School in San Antonio has been honored with the Friend of the Profession Award by the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching at the group's 2007 annual conference; and

WHEREAS, A graduate of Angelo State University with a bachelor's degree in speech and theater, Mr. Buchanan also holds a master's degree in educational administration from Texas A&M University-Kingsville; and

WHEREAS, Over the course of his accomplished 35-year career, Mr. Buchanan has worked as a director and actor in film, television, radio, and the theater, and 14 of his plays have been produced in the United States and Europe; a veteran educator, he has taught theater and speech for 25 years in Sonora, Midland, and San Antonio, and he was the theater director at Taft High School in San Antonio for 10 years; and

WHEREAS, His devotion to teaching has been honored with numerous awards; he has been named Texas Speech Teacher of the Year, Midland Teacher of the Year, and Northside ISD Teacher of the Year; in 1996 he was recognized as a Distinguished Educator by Trinity University, and in 1998 he received a Texas Excellence in Teaching Award from The University of Texas at Austin; named Administrator of the Year by the Texas Educators of Foreign Languages Association in 2003, he also won the San Antonio Mayor's Distinguished Leader Award in 2006; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Buchanan is today the principal of Communications Arts High School in San Antonio, a magnet school of 500 students, where under his leadership the teaching and use of Spanish have become a top priority; named as one of the 100 best high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine, CAHS requires all students to take at least three credits of Spanish instruction; the school's students, 98 percent of whom enter college immediately after graduation, learn to speak, write, and use electronic media in Spanish as well as to advance their skills in English, and the school publishes La Comunidad, the only school newspaper printed entirely in Spanish; and

WHEREAS, A regional organization of foreign language teachers, the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching represents teachers from the southwest region for the purpose of enhancing the teaching of foreign languages and recognizing excellence in language study and teaching; the Friend of the Profession Award recognizes an individual or organization not directly involved in language teaching who has contributed significantly to the profession; only five individuals have received the award since 1999; and

WHEREAS, Lauded by his colleagues and students for his wholehearted support of the teaching of Spanish, Mr. Buchanan has also been praised for encouraging teamwork and personal involvement in decision making; he was instrumental in organizing field trips to the San Antonio Museum of the Arts and for developing a relationship with KVDA-Telemundo so that students could learn to edit and air news stories in a Spanish-speaking environment; bilingual himself, he has given speeches in Spanish and regularly converses in Spanish with classes; and

WHEREAS, James Buchanan has shown himself to be a creative and committed teacher and administrator, and his commitment to the teaching of Spanish has greatly enriched the education and lives of his students; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas Legislature hereby congratulate James Buchanan on winning the Friend of the Profession Award from the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching and extend to him sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Mr. Buchanan as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.