Bastrop County Cares will host a town hall Sept. 30 at the Bastrop Convention and Exhibit Center to discuss the future of Texas schools.
The free event—which will feature education professionals, school board leaders, policy experts, school administrators and nonprofit leaders—will run from 6:30-8 p.m.
What residents should know: The town hall will cover a variety of topics, including:
Current legislation impacting public education
How schools are preparing for these changes
Ways community organizations and nonprofits can help address gaps
How parents can be engaged and involved at school, at home and through advocacy
“Organizers emphasize that this is a nonpartisan event, focused on ensuring families and stakeholders are informed and equipped to respond to the new legislative landscape,” Bastrop County Cares officials said in a news release.
The event will also feature:
Free child care
American Sign Language and Spanish translation services
Smithville forum on natural resources scheduled for Sept. 25
The city of Smithville will host a comprehensive plan forum regarding natural resources Sept. 25.
The details: The event—which will focus on issues connected to water quality and management, energy resources, air quality, wildlife, scenic vistas and open spaces—will be held from noon-1:30 p.m. at Smithville City Hall, 317 Main St. in Smithville.
Notable quote: “Smithville's comprehensive plan is an ongoing blueprint for actions and projects that the community recognizes will improve the quality of life for those who live here and will encourage the kind of growth that the community will support,” city officials said in a statement.
ACC to host Austin chapter of NASA Space App Challenge, RiverHacks
Austin Community College’s RiverHacks hackathon will coincide with NASA’s third annual International Space App Challenge, where teams can participate in open data challenges and network with space leaders and experts.
The gist: The ACC Center for Government and Civic Services is collaborating with The Space Workforce Incubator for Texas to host the RiverHacks hackathon and the Austin portion of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge Oct. 4-5 at the Rio Grande campus.
The global event encourages participants to leverage free, open data from NASA and their international space agency partners to create innovative solutions for Earth- and space-related challenges.
Open data may include:
Satellite imagery
Climate and weather records
Planetary data
Astronomical data
Earth observation data
Teams can choose from 18 challenges, created by NASA subject matter experts, to build solutions such as apps, data visualizations or prototypes.
Opportunity Austin partners with Workforce Solutions Capital, Rural Capital Area to support regional industry growth
A new information partnership between Opportunity Austin and both Workforce Solutions Capital and Rural Capital Area will provide data insights into a variety of growing industries in the Austin metro area.
What you need to know: Called the Workforce Industry Insights partnership, the initiative will provide employers with timely workforce data, per a news release shared Sept. 17.
About the program: Using white papers, which are formal data-driven reports, case studies and other opportunities to analyze local data, the partnership will help employers in several industries with insights on hiring trends, workforce needs and strategies, as well as showcasing the connections between community organizations, educational institutions and economic development in fostering regional growth.
