State Bar of Texas Contact: Frank Alvarez Local Bar Services Coordinator State Bar of Texas 1414 Colorado, Room 206 Austin, TX 78701 E-mail: Falvarez@texasbar.com 2001 Law Day Celebration Activity Summary: Since the theme of this year’s Law Day celebration was “Protecting Our Children’s Best Interest,” we wanted to invite as many school age children to the ceremony as well as a number of non-profit organizations that benefit kids and their health. The highlights of that day’s activity were as follows: Scheduled two tours for 100 4th grade students from Galindo elementary, as well as another 20 kids ranging in age from 7-15 who are home-schooled. The children were introduced to Justice Greg Abbott, of the Texas Supreme Court, who gave some history and background of the court and then introduced them to the other eight Texas Supreme Court Justices in their chambers. The students were greeted by Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar in the Capitol rotunda. They toured the Capitol including the Senate and House chambers while in session. The children saw a skit that focused on making right and wrong decisions and the consequences that stem from those decisions. The statewide renowned Pflugerville High School band played several patriotic songs. The ceremony featured Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge, Sharon Keller, as well as the entire first-place award winners in the essay, photo and poster contests. After the ceremony, the kids were given free immunizations and free dental exams. At last, the children were given lunch (hot dogs, frito chili pies, chocolate chip cookies and best of all Blue Bell Ice Cream). Activity Narrative: The ceremony highlighted many aspects of this year’s theme, “Protecting Our Children’s Best Interests.” Some of the things that put attention to this theme were: The articles that were written by several law school deans here in Texas and were later submitted by the State Bar of Texas to the media to stir up interest. Many of the local bar associations throughout Texas paralleled their local activities from the theme that we published in late December 2000 and early January 2001. Approximately 120 children were a part of the festivities here at the State Bar of Texas on Friday, May 4. After the tour of the Texas Supreme Court, the children went to the State Capitol. Upon their arrival in the rotunda of the capitol, they were greeted by Secretary of State Henry Cuellar. Secretary Cuellar gave some background of the capitol and explained what was currently happening and why so many people were there in the capitol. The legislature was in session and the tour guide led the students on a tour, which included both legislative chambers and the underground extension to the capitol. The Law Day skit titled, “Judge Judy” directed the kids' attention to making the right decision and knowing that there would be consequences for poor decisions. The ceremony’s keynote speaker was the Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge, Sharon Keller, touched on the point saying, “If we love freedom, and if we instill in our children a love of freedom, we have to teach them about it.” The Mayor of Austin Kirk Watson along with Travis County Commissioner Todd Baxter and a representative of the Governor of Texas Rich Perry, presented the State Bar with a proclamation recognizing Law Day and “Protecting Our Children’s Best Interest.” We had the four poster winners for each age division on-hand, along with the essay and photo winners. The winning posters and photo were on display in the front of the lobby. The essay winner got to read her essay during the ceremony. The media was on hand to view the ceremony while also recognizing their “friendly competitors” receive the “Gavel Award" for best news reporting while informing and educating the public about serious legal issues. Four non-profit associations worked with the State Bar of Texas and Galindo Elementary to help kids by providing free immunizations and free dental exams. Many of the kids from Galindo Elementary come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and this is the best way to protecting our children’s health. A key partnership that contributed much to the success of the Law Day ceremony was with the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA). With their assistance, we were able to solicit entries into the Law Day essay, poster and photo contests. TYLA also provided the U.S. Savings Bonds for each of the top three winners in the poster contest for each age division as well as some very nice plaques that would complement the prize that the State Bar offered the photo winner. With TYLA’s assistance, we were able to bring all four 1st place poster winners and the photo winner to Austin for the ceremony. The State Bar of Texas received increased interest and participation from the local bar associations. There was an increase in the number of essays submitted for the essay contest by more than 8 percent and the number of posters submitted were tripled compared to last year. This is further evidenced by the increase in the number of press releases among  local bar associations' Law Day celebrations. This increase can also be attributed to a stronger effort made by the State Bar of Texas connecting the local bars with their area schools and school districts as well as with the Educational Service Centers. The State Bar made four mailings to the 285 local bar associations throughout Texas: (1) a cover letter with the ABA Law Day guide; (2) the Law Day registration form, the “How to…” form, the local schools listing and the sample press releases; (3) a letter from the State Bar of Texas Law Day subcommittee chair, Judge Patrick M. Garcia; and (4) the letter from the Local Bar Services Director, Barbara Earle, targeting select local bars that celebrate Law Day and work with kids in some form or fashion. Such an effort yielded great dividend in terms of press coverage of the State Bar’s celebration, the various local bar association’s activities, the number of Law Day posters/photos/essays, the work with the four non-profit health associations and the work with Galindo Elementary and the Austin area home schoolers association, Christian Home School Association (CHEA). Since Law Day has been a yearly event for the State Bar of Texas, the State Bar has adopted Galindo Elementary as a partner in our education efforts. These efforts may lead to something bigger for next year such as a computer deal with Dell Computer (still pending). That not withstanding, Galindo has been a partner of the State Bar of Texas’ for more than seven years. The home schoolers (CHEA) has already made overtures to the State Bar to partner with us again. They are starting early in modifying their database and newsletter to turn out a larger number of kids and families to the Law Day ceremony in 2002.  Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization