Callisburg, Texas is located about 70 miles north of Dallas/Fort Worth. Callisburg is a rural school district which is comprised of several small rural communities. The nearest city is Gainesville (about 15,000 population and about 12 miles away) which is where our guests stayed. The school district's northern border is the Red River, the dividing line between Texas and Oklahoma.

Callisburg Independent School District's participation in MTP is a community effort with Callisburg Elementary, Callisburg Middle School, and Callisburg High School participating. We partner with Omose Elementary, Omose Junior High School, and Miyagi Prefectural Kesennuma High School, all located in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. This is the second year Callisburg and Kesennuma have been partners and we are very excited about extending our relationship and our projects.

This year, Callisburg High School has the same team as last year: Tim Jones, government and economics teacher and traveling partner; Karla Burkholder, CISD director of technology; and Skip Waller, CHS Principal.

The trip from Washington, D.C. to Texas was uneventful compared to last year. The nine traveling participants had no trouble boarding their flight and all of the luggage made it to Texas on time.

The weather in Texas was stormy, but there was a break in the clouds at landing time. However, our plans for the day had to be altered due to the rain. We had planned to visit the Thomsen Wildflower Preserve in North Texas on our way from the airport to Gainesville, but storms
prevented the visit. Instead, we stopped at a famous North Texas eating establishment in Sanger, Texas called "Babes." Babes is famous for Texas style cooking: fried chicken, fried steak, barbeque chicken, fried catfish green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, banana pudding, and pecan pies. The meal is served family style and patrons are entertained by the wait staff who are also singers.

After checking into the hotel, we toured the Gainesville/Callisburg area where we saw buffalo, longhorn cattle, the Red River, the Texas Tourist Bureau, and the Callisburg Elementary School campus.

On Monday, the entire group joined elementary students on a field trip to the University of North Texas Elm Fork Environmental Center in Denton, Texas. UNT Elm Fork Center is one of the fractal partners with MTP. The center includes an artificial river complete with fish and other living creatures where students can do hands-on learning in a safe environment.

Monday evening our partners were treated to a barbeque dinner at the elementary campus that was attended by faculty, administration, school board members, and staff from throughout the district.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the teachers visited each of the three campuses and interacted with students. Mr. Kubota and Mr. Sato taught high school students in science, world geography, economics, and government classes. One great advantage of participating for a second year is that the "ice has been broken" and teachers can become deeply engaged in the educational process.

Tuesday night the partners were hosted by local families with meals in their homes. Wednesday night some of the partners visited First United Methodist Church where Mr. Sato played with the hand bell choir.
Mr. Sato and Mr. Kubota also spent time at a local "watering hole" called Hubcaps where they heard live country music.

Friday night was their first trip into Indian Territory as they rode across the Red River to dine at famous catfish restaurant.

Friday morning was spent at North Central Texas College where we have a very active partnership with the science department and something called the North Texas Science Collaborative which included several colleges and universities as well as other public schools. Mrs. Lisa Bellows, the science department chairperson at NCTC has been a tremendous asset in guiding Callisburg teachers and students through their projects.

Friday afternoon the Japanese teachers gave presentations to the Callisburg faculty members that described Kesennuma and our relationship through MTP and the pair projects.

Saturday was spent sight seeing. Mr. Kubota and Mr. Sato spent the morning at the Gladney Ranch, about 15 miles north of Gainesville in Oklahoma. They experienced herding cattle on 4-wheelers (Yamaha motorcycles), feeding hay and minerals to the cattle, and observing nature and the reclamation of a mining operation on the ranch. For the noon meal, Mr. W.A. (Pete) Jones, owner of Gladney Ranch, hosted the partners to another meal of barbeque at a local restaurant.

Saturday afternoon was spent on a whirlwind tour of Fort Worth and Dallas with the highlight being a visit to the Texas School Book Depository (site of the Kennedy assassination) and a shopping spree in the West End Marketplace of Dallas.

Finally it was time to say goodbye with a farewell dinner at a local Tex-Mex restaurant.

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