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SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, RGV - The Texas Border Coalition held its 2019 annual meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Blue Marlin Room at Pearl South Padre Resort on South Padre Island.

The meeting included a wide-ranging panel discussion on the innovative ways border communities are preparing for the 2020 Census. The panel discussion was titled \\u201cCounting the Whole Number of Persons in Each State: 2020 Census Preparations in the Border Region.\\u201d\\xa0

Cynthia Garza-Reyes, representing the City of Pharr, said her city would be utilizing the technology skills of high school students to ensure a thorough census count.

\\u201cWe are in a different environment to what we were ten years ago. As a city we acknowledge the value of our students in terms of how they are equipped when it comes to technology,\\u201d Garza-Reyes said.

\\u201cWe are assuming that a lot of the count will be done through our student population. We are working with each school district to come up with collaborative ways to make sure that each family is counted through the student.\\u201d

In addition to Garza-Reyes, the panel consisted of Cameron County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez, Nestor Lopez, representing Hidalgo County, and Albert Morales, representing the U.S. Census Bureau.\\xa0

LeRoy Cavazos, senior manager of public affairs and communication at Coca Cola Southwest, moderated the panel discussion. Cavazos is a Texas Border Coalition board member.

The above podcast consists the raw audio from that panel discussion.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.