
Congratulations to Dr. Graham for leading a fantastic study-abroad experience in Ireland!!!
Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) Program
Operating as usual
Congratulations to Dr. Graham for leading a fantastic study-abroad experience in Ireland!!!
Hello all! We are very excited to be part of the South Texas International Film Festival as an "official selection"! Our "Ancient Landscapes of South Texas: Hiding in Plain Sight" documentary film has received a few awards since it debuted In November 2023. We will keep you posted as to regional showings of the film as well.
Congratulations to Ashley Leal for being named the UT System's Jess Hay Chancellor Fellow! Dr. Leal has worked with the CHAPS Program throughout the years of her studies as a graduate research associate and recently developed lesson plans and curriculum for our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas TEKS-aligned lesson plan book (which she edited as well).
UTRGV doctoral student named UT System’s Jess Hay Chancellor Fellow Edinburg native Ashley Leal is the first UTRGV College of Education and P-16 Integration (CEP) student to receive the prestigious Jess Hay Endowment for the Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship, awarded by The University of Texas System. She is the second UTRGV doctoral student in uni...
Congratulations to Dr. Gonzalez-Tennant for his 2nd annual summer field school!! What a fantastic opportunity for our students!!
Unearthing the past: UTRGV students get down and dirty uncovering prehistoric stories NEAR LOS FRESNOS — For most of June, UTRGV anthropology students led by Assistant Anthropology Professor Edward Gonzalez-Tennant embarked on a one-of-a-kind archaeological field study here in the Laguna Atascosa, marking the first in the area in about a century.
Ozuna: San Juan Hotel is a historic landmark. It has been a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark since 1985. – Rio Grande Guardian Gabriel Ozuna is an expert on preserving historic buildings. He has responded to comments given to the Rio Grande Guardian by San Juan City Manager Ben Arjona.
Please join us tonight at the historic Restlawn Memorial Cemetery in Edinburg for a Juneteenth Observation program honoring the history of those who are buried there. The program will begin at 6:30pm. See you there!
Hope to see you all on Saturday morning at 10am at the Jackson Ranch Church!!
McAllen Public Library has some wonderful events planned for Juneteenth! Take a look!
Exploring the Legacy of Juneteenth 🎉📚
Join us at McAllen Public Library to learn about the history and significance of Juneteenth! Don't miss this enlightening experience!
Main Library | Auditorium
Wed. June 12th
6:00PM
AN INFORMATIONAL SESSION will be held at the Jackson Ranch Church on Saturday, June 15th from 10am - noon (904 W. Doffin Road, San Juan, Texas).
ALL JACKSON RANCH DESCENDANTS, FAMILY, & COMMUNITY FRIENDS are invited to join us as we let family, friends, and neighbors know about the National Park Service National Network to Freedom designation for the Jackson Ranch Church & Martin Jackson Cemetery. We are working on plans to apply for grant funding to add special signs, brochures, and a wayside exhibit to the property. It would be great to see you there as we would like your input and ideas!!
The CHAPS team hosted a 6-hour professional development workshop for regional K-12 educators on Friday, June 7th. Present were teachers from Donna ISD, Sharyland ISD, Edinburg CISD, PSJA ISD, Mission CISD, Roma ISD and South Texas ISD along with educators from the East Foundation, Quinta Mazatlan and McAllen Public Library. This was the 3rd annual workshop where regional educators enhanced their knowledge of our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas for improved implementation of our TEKS-aligned lesson plans in RGV schools. It was great to have such caring regional educators with us!
San Juan city commissioners plan to demolish the old San Juan Hotel – Rio Grande Guardian San Juan City Commission has hired ERO Architects to to come up with a preliminary design for a new Downtown Conference Center.
Save the San Juan Hotel We must restore and preserve the San Juan Hotel and be a model for the rest of the Valley to preserve our history.
We had a nice day with the community in Brownsville on Saturday, June 1st at the Resaca de la Palma Battlefield site for the National Park Services and the Caracara Trails Jr. Park Ranger Day event. The CHAPS team is always happy to meet with inquisitive young minds and talk with them about our RGV Civil War project and our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas project.
UTRGV CHAPS named 2024 recipient of SAA Excellence in Public Archaeology Programming Award UTRGV Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS) recently received the 2024 Society for American Archeology’s (SAA) Excellence in Public Archaeology Programming Award.
The CHAPS team had a great research trip last week to Webb, Zapata and Starr Counties. We researched 50-million-year-old bituminous coal in Laredo, 43-million-year-old fossilized oysters, remnants of petrified mangrove trees and gypsum at Lake Casa Blanca International Park, a wonderful visit to our friends at the Zapata Historical Museum, and fossilized oyster reefs at Falcon Lake State Park! We endured very hot weather - but we were able to successfully enhance our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas project!
Join Dr. Charles Waite, UTRGV History Department 🏫, for a presentation on Fort Brown 🏰, a National Historical Landmark located in the Rio Grande Valley. Exhibit tour to follow presentation. 🖼️
We had a great day with 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Mary Hoge Middle School in Weslaco today! They learned about the Ancient Landscapes of South Texas from the CHAPS Team and got to touch geological specimens that were 27.4 million years old, 43 million years old, and even 50 million years old! Thanks to Ms. Perez for inviting us to meet with her students!
UTRGV conducts archaeological dig at Bonham Elementary in McAllen McALLEN — The archaeological dig at McAllen ISD's vacant Bonham Elementary campus, led by UTRGV Assistant Anthropology professor Edward Gonzalez-Tennant got underway Tuesday with an unlikely possibility to find anything, but offers a treasure chest of experience for his students.
GREAT NEWS!!
The "Jackson Ranch Church and Martin Jackson Cemetery" has been accepted by the National Park Service’s “National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom” Program. The CHAPS Program's Roseann Bacha-Garza has been working with the National Park Service since 2020 to bring awareness of the Jackson family history and its contribution to the historically significant story relating to Underground Railroad-like activity through Texas and into Mexico. The Jackson Ranch Church property is one of 19 new sites listed on the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program throughout 10 states. Two of these new designations are in Texas. Currently, there over 780 sites on the Network to Freedom map. The Jackson Ranch Church is now one of 5 sites listed in Texas. Please stay tuned for more information regarding this amazing designation and upcoming events! In the meantime, please click on this link to read the national news release: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/national-park-service-announces-19-additions-to-the-underground-railroad-network-to-freedom-in-10-states.htm
If you have any questions, please contact Roseann via email at [email protected]. - or check out our "Pathways to Freedom" project web pages within the UTRGV CHAPS website.
National Park Service Announces 19 Additions to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 10 states - Underground Railroad (U.S. National Park Service) WASHINGTON – Sites of daring escapes and places of refuge are among the 19 new listings added to the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The announcement was made today by National Park Service Director Chuck Sams during a National Park Week event at Mission S...
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL ON THURSDAY EVENING AT QUINTA MAZATLAN!
Join us at Quinta Mazatlan on Thursday, May 2nd at 6:00PM as CHAPS Program Co-Director Dr. Juan Gonzalez presents our Geoheritage project titled Ancient Landscapes of South Texas: Hiding in Plain Sight. The CHAPS team will be on hand afterward to sign our illustrated nature photography book of the same title.
Note: STUDENT ADMISSION IS FREE WITH ID. See you there!
Ancient Landscapes of South Texas: Hiding in Plain Sight The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is an area encompassing the 5 southernmost counties in Texas often associated with poverty, narcotrafficking and illegal border crossings.To fuel positive publicity, educate residents, and attract visitors to the LRGV, the CHAPS Program at UTRGV developed “The An...
Ancient Landscapes of South Texas: Hiding in Plain Sight The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is an area encompassing the 5 southernmost counties in Texas often associated with poverty, narcotrafficking and illegal border crossings.To fuel positive publicity, educate residents, and attract visitors to the LRGV, the CHAPS Program at UTRGV developed “The An...
On Saturday, April 21, 2024, Cub Scout Pack 83 from Mission, Texas came to the Museum of South Texas History to earn the CHAPS Program's RGV Civil War Trail fun patch. The scouts toured the museum and worked on some activities related to the history of the US Civil War in the Rio Grande Valley using our traveling trunk for K-12 education. Thanks to MOSTH and their team for assisting with the activities!!
San Juan Island National Historical Park (SAJH) is recruiting a GIS intern through the NPS GIS Internship Program and the Southern Utah University. The program targets current students and recent graduates from GIS programs nationwide by providing an interdisciplinary professional development experience in a unique setting. Interns develop the critical GIS skills needed to succeed in a federal land management agency while using geospatial technology to support a variety of park management operations. The SAJH GIS intern will support the Resources Stewardship division in the management of natural and cultural resource geospatial databases, assist with web mapping and design, and produce various maps and GIS products for the public.
Applications are due by April 17, 2024. The internship will be in-person and includes park housing. Applicants with advanced GIS skills and knowledge of ESRI ArcGIS/Pro software applications are preferred. For more information about the NPS GIS program or to apply for the internship at SAJH or another NPS unit, please visit Available IIC Internships | SUU.
https://www.suu.edu/iic/internships/
Image Source/Credits: NPS/ICC SUU
The CHAPS Program took some wonderful Anthropology students out to RGV Civil War Trail site Palmito Ranch Battlefield to assist the Texas Historical Commission at their annual "Park Day" clean up event. THC Military Historian Stephen Cure led the day's events and gave a great lecture about the events that occurred in the region on/about May 12-13, 1865. Representatives from the National Park Service, the City of Port Isabel and Brownsville Historical Museum were on hand as well. The volunteers picked up enough trash along Highway 4 to fill the back of a pick-up truck!
Thank you to the Museums of Port Isabel for hosting our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas traveling museum exhibit! Stay tuned for some great events that they have planned!
Thank you to the Texas Preservation Trust Fund of the Texas Historical Commission for supporting the CHAPS Program with our Ancient Landscapes of South Texas so that we can service regional educators and community.
First Sundowner for 2011 is Wednesday, March 30th Don't forget to check www.edinburgpaga.org for updated info on upcoming events!
ECI provides an array of services to children birth to 3 who have developmental delays & disabilities
Join the UTRGV PA Class of 2021 to find out all of the unique things we are up to! You'll find motivational posts, fundraising notifications, and community outreach details all in one place.
Better Living for Texans is a federally funded program that provides nutrition education.
The Rio Grande Valley’s first educational service center that provides elementary students remedial reading assistance, enrichment classes, and introductory lessons. Offering schools Professional Development and new teacher mentorship membership
MAIE is multi-disciplinary field containing elements of industrial, mechanical and materials enginee
The Migrant Education Program (MEP) supports school districts in ensuring quality education programs for migratory children are provided. MEP helps ensure that migratory children who move among the states are not penalized in any manner by disparities.
The Center for Student Involvement is the place to get involved on campus! #dosomethingawesome
Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization (CEO) is the premier entrepreneurship network.