Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Nov. 18, 2024:
State Board of Education weighs proposed Bible-infused curriculum
Elementary school curriculum proposed back in May would infuse new state reading and language arts lessons with teachings on the Bible, marking the latest push by Texas Republicans to put more Christianity in public schools. If it is approved by the State Board of Education, the new curriculum will be available for public schools to roll out in August of 2025.
Districts will have the option of whether to use the materials but will be incentivized to do so with up to $60 per student in additional funding. Jaden Edison, who covers education for The Texas Tribune, joins us with more.
Reflecting on the Aggie bonfire tragedy, 25 years later
On Nov. 18, 1999, the annual student-made Aggie bonfire at Texas A&M collapsed without warning. The 59-foot-tall structure, consisting of around 5,000 logs, caved in rapidly onto students, killing 12 and injuring 27.
Kevin Robbins, a professor of practice and associate director at the UT-Austin School of Journalism, interviewed John Comstock, one of the survivors, back in 2016. Robbins joins us to discuss his experience chronicling the tragedy and how it still impacts A&M to this day.
New children’s book tells the story of Houston’s Emancipation Park
Juneteenth marks the day in 1965 when enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free, following the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. Not long after, a park in Houston was founded to memorialize the event.
Emancipation Park is now the subject of a children’s picture book by Tonya Duncan Ellis. The Houston author talks about how her book brings the 150-year-old story of the park to life.
North Texas Black-owned bookstore closes following harassment
BlackLIT, the first Black-owned bookstore in Farmers Branch, has closed its doors after only two years. KERA’s Zara Amaechi reports that after experiencing harassment and threats, its founder isn’t giving up on the dream.
UT Austin’s iconic DKR stadium celebrates 100 years
The University of Texas at Austin opened its doors in 1883, and a decade later the school’s first “permanent” football team was created. Its iconic football stadium, which wasn’t built until 1924, is celebrating its 100th birthday.
Danny Davis covers UT sports for the Austin American-Statesman and joins us with this look at that anniversary.
Podcast looks at how definition of family has evolved
Where does the idea of the nuclear family come from? Certainly, it was the model on many an American TV show. But married-couple households have been on the decline over the past few decades. And as housing prices remain high, people prioritize making career inroads, and cultural attitudes over different identities shift, so, too, shifts what is “normal.”
Austinite Julia Winston has been exploring all of this in the podcast “Refamulating,” which is launching its second season. She joins us today.
How Faith Family’s girls hoops program came under UIL scrutiny
Faith Family Academy, a charter high school in south Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, put together one of the best girls basketball teams on paper that the state has ever seen. But in late October, the University Interscholastic League declared that Faith Family would be ineligible for the playoffs and suspended its coaches for two years after finding that the school had committed recruiting violations.
Greg Riddle, high school sportswriter and editor for the Dallas Morning News, joins us with the story.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Raul Alonzo with the Talk of Texas.
