The CALAS spring general membership meeting, held at CAS on April 4, 2018, was one of its best meetings yet, with engaging guest speakers and rich discussions on several important topics. Marie Salazar Glowski opened the meeting with the exciting announcement that the CAS hurricane relief effort, with matching funds from Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF), raised a total of $125,067.42. A significant amount of money has already been sent by BBF to Texas and funds will soon be channeled to Puerto Rico specifically to be used in schools. Marie also updated the group on CAS’ offer to allow CALAS to use its lobbyists to bring the voice of Latino educators to the legislative level and briefly reported on a proposed bill to help create pathways to certification for minority teachers.

Guest speakers included Jean Silk from Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) and Dario Soto, STEAM coach for the Hartford public schools. Mr. Soto, chair of the CALAS Networking and Collaboration Committee, discussed avenues for improving the CALAS website and expanding its use of social media platforms.