Registration Deadline: February 5th
Information
Important Documents
- ACTE NPS Invitation Letter (ag ed strand)
- ACTE NPS Agenda
- NPS Hotel Reservation for NAAE Members
- NPS Registration Form for NAAE Members
- Suggestions for Scheduling Capitol Hill Visits
We are planning an agricultural education strand as part of the upcoming 2010 ACTE National Policy Seminar (NPS). The ACTE NPS provides an excellent opportunity to learn the basics of influencing federal decision makers, specifically on legislation related to career and technical education, including agricultural education.
At this year’s ACTE NPS, we are including a dinner session (sponsored by Cargill, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation) and other agriculture-specific activities especially for the NAAE members who attend the NPS.
To emphasize the importance of the NPS and to encourage more participation from NAAE members, NAAE will be paying the registration fee of one NAAE member per state to attend and participate in the NPS. As funds allow, NAAE will pay for additional registrations per state ag ed association. Therefore, states may send multiple application forms, but the state must rank the applicants in the order in which they want their applicants considered for registration fee support. Each participant will be responsible for his/her own travel, lodging, most meals, and incidental costs. We encourage state agricultural education associations to assist with the travel, lodging, and per diem costs.
You may review the program for the NPS at http://www.acteonline.org/nps.aspx. The first session, Capitol Hill 101, for first-time NPS attendees (or anyone who wants a little refresher in Capitol Hill operations) will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2010. The opening general session will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2010. Your state’s participant must make appropriate travel plans to be at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia and be ready to attend sessions beginning on Monday morning, March 8. All times listed are in the Eastern time zone.
Registration
NAAE will pay the registration fee for one NAAE member per state to attend the NPS. Your state’s representative must register through NAAE; please do not register through ACTE. Please complete the registration form and return it directly to NAAE as per the instructions on the form no later than Friday, February 5, 2010. If you have already registered directly with ACTE, please notify NAAE of that as soon as possible. As funds allow, NAAE will pay the registration fee for additional persons. If your state association wishes to send multiple applicants, please rank the applicants on the registration form.
Travel
Each NPS participant is responsible for making his or her own travel arrangements. The meeting will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. There are two Marriott hotels in Crystal City; be sure you come to the Crystal Gateway Marriott.
The closest airport to the downtown Washington, DC area is Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA). Other airports that serve the Washington, DC metropolitan area include Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI). Transportation from IAD and BWI to downtown Washington, DC can be expensive; so, DCA is the preferred airport.
The Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) is served by the National Airport MetroRail (subway) station (blue or yellow lines). The Crystal Gateway Marriott hotel is served by the Crystal City MetroRail station (blue or yellow lines). You can find details on the Washington, DC MetroRail system at http://www.wmata.com/rail.
Lodging
If you wish to stay in the hotel where the NPS will be held, you must make your own hotel sleeping room reservations. The meeting will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202.
For sleeping room reservations at the Crystal Gateway Marriott, visit the ACTE website at http://www.acteonline.org. The rate is $229 plus taxes per night, single or double occupancy. The room block at the Crystal Gateway Marriott is being held until February 12, 2010. The Crystal Gateway Marriott is served by the Crystal City MetroRail (subway) station (blue or yellow lines).
Given the high cost of sleeping rooms at the ACTE NPS hotel, NAAE has a block of sleeping rooms at the Holiday Inn Eisenhower with a room rate of $96 plus taxes per night, single or double occupancy. If you would like to stay at the Holiday Inn Eisenhower, you must complete the Hotel Reservation Information Form and return it to NAAE no later than Friday, February 5, 2010. You must present your own credit card at the Holiday Inn Eisenhower to cover all of your sleeping room costs.
The Holiday Inn Eisenhower is about a 5-minute walk from the Eisenhower MetroRail station in Alexandria, Virginia (yellow line). There are some restaurants and other attractions in the general vicinity of the Holiday Inn Eisenhower. The Holiday Inn Eisenhower has a full-service restaurant and bar.
Room sharing: If you would like for us to try to arrange a roommate for you at the Holiday Inn Eisenhower to reduce lodging costs, please so indicate on the Hotel Registration Information Form. For us to assist with possible roommate pairings, we will need your registration form no later than Wednesday, February 3, 2010 so we can work on the pairings and still have time to make the reservations for you.
NPS Schedule Including the Ag Ed Strand
View Schedule
Please note that we will have a dinner session for Ag Ed Strand attendees on Monday, March 8 at 6:00 p.m. This dinner session will be the first time all the agricultural educators will be together officially at the NPS. This dinner session is sponsored by Cargill, as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. This is the session you need to attend to begin preparations for your Capitol Hill visits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please plan to attend this dinner session.
On Tuesday, March 9, from 11:00 a.m. through noon, we will conduct the second session of the Ag Ed Strand of the ACTE National Policy Seminar. Please plan to attend this session as well.
We encourage you to participate in all NPS sessions and activities, including the state planning round table meetings on Monday afternoon. This will provide you the opportunity to interact with other CTE professionals from your respective states.
Capitol Hill Visits
Note on the attached NPS schedule that Tuesday afternoon from 1:30-5:00 p.m. and Wednesday after 10:00 a.m. are reserved for you to visit your members of Congress. It is your responsibility to schedule the visits with your Representative and your two Senators. You may get to see your elected officials or you may get to see legislative assistants only. Please do not be disheartened if you do not get to see your elected officials. Staff members are the workhorses on Capitol Hill. You can trust them to listen to your message and deliver it to their bosses.
Please do not take this opportunity lightly – be sure to visit your elected officials while you are in Washington, DC for this event. The two purposes for you to come to this meeting are: 1) to learn more about being a person of influence with your elected officials, and 2) to visit your elected officials to ask them to support career and technical education, especially agricultural education. Click here for suggestions and tips for making your visit worthwhile.
Some states plan Capitol Hill visits in state groups – so you might want to check in with your state’s CTE leaders to see what plans are being made for state group Capitol Hill visits. It is fine for you to do individual visits as well; you can determine what is best in your own situation.
Questions
If you have questions regarding the schedule for the NPS, the registration process, travel and/or lodging arrangements, or any other matters regarding your participation in the NPS, please contact Jay Jackman or Alissa Smith at the NAAE office by calling (859) 257-2224 or (800) 509-0204 or by sending an e-mail to JJackman.NAAE@uky.edu or ASmith.NAAE@uky.edu.
