AUSTIN SURVIVAL GUIDE

General Information | Bats | Bus Schedules | Job Searching & Employment Help | Local Teen Interest | Newspapers | Music & Movies | Museums | Parks | Schools

General Information

http://www.austin360.com/ and http://austin.citysearch.com/
Web portals to all things Austin and a great site to begin a search for anything that is in, on, or about Austin. Jobs, community events, music concerts, movie listings, restaurants, shopping, and classified ads.

City of Austin
http://www.cityofaustin.org/
The City of Austin homepage.

Everything Austin, Texas
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ea_index.htm
Favorite links from the Austin History Center.

Bats

Bats at Congress Avenue Bridge
http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=122
Everything you wanted to know about our famous resident bat population! There's even a Bat Hotline to call for information.

Bus Schedules

Capital Metro: Routes and Schedules
http://www.capmetro.org/
View the bus schedules to find the route you need. Use the Trip Planner to find out exactly what you need to do to get on the bus.

Job Searching and Employment Help

Youth Employment Partnership
http://www.worksourceaustin.com/jobseekers/youth_services/ youth_services.htm
The goal of WorkSource's youth services program is to help young people (ages 14-21) complete their education and find and retain employment.

City of Austin—Health and Human Services: Youth Summer Jobs
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/health/ys_summerjobs.htm
The Work-based Learning/Summer Youth Employment Program is a joint venture of the City of Austin and Travis County that targets youth between the ages of 14 and 17.

Volunteer Opportunities

Austin Public Library Youth Volunteer Program
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/libvol.htm
The Austin Public Library's volunteer program wants you! The library is expanding its program offerings and needs new volunteers to help with a wide range of duties.

Parks and Recreation - Summer Youth Volunteer Program
http://stevieray.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/pgpardners.htm The program utilizes teenagers with time and energy during the summer to assist the department in a variety of volunteer settings and to prepare teenage volunteers for future employment.

Town Lake Animal Center Services
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/animals/services.htm#volun
Volunteers are integral to the enormous task presented each day at Town Lake Animal Center. Necessary training will be provided. Some volunteer jobs center around customer service to the public, some jobs include direct interaction with the adoption dogs and cats to improve their behavior while awaiting adoption, and other jobs help in a "behind-the-scenes" capacity.

Austin Children's Museum - Junior Volunteer Program
http://www.austinkids.org/Volunteers/Opportunities/Junior-Volunteer-Program.aspx
Volunteer to be a part of the Junior Volunteer Team during your summer school break. Junior Volunteers (JV's) make a 4 week commitment assisting Gallery Staff for 2.5 hours a day.

Local Teen Interest

GENAustin
http://www.genaustin.org/public/
GenAustin's goal is to help adolescent girls develop and maintain healthy self-esteem and leadership skills by educating them, their parents and teachers, and others who touch their lives.

Latinitas Magazine
http://www.latinitasmagazine.org
A webzine for pre-teen and teen Latina girls created in Austin.

Out Youth
http://www.outyouth.org/index.html
Out Youth is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support and provide services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth ages 12 to 19 in Austin and Central Texas. Out Youth offers peer support groups, counseling, educational programs, social activities and community outreach.

Newspapers

Austin-American Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/
Read the Austin-American Statesman online, classified and job ads included. Back issues are available for one week.

Austin Chronicle
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/
Read the Austin Chronicle, the city's alternative free weekly paper, online.

Music and Movies

Two things Austin is really famous for.

Austin City Limits
http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/
PBS television show that features live performances by numerous musicians and groups.

South by Southwest (SXSW)
http://2008.sxsw.com/
Austin's world famous music, film, and multimedia conference. See what all the hidalgo is about and why we are the Live Music Capitol of the World.

Alamo Drafthouse
http://www.drafthouse.com/
A unique place to see a movie or catch special programming like movie sing-alongs or spaghetti western nights. If you're under eighteen, you'll need to bring an adult with you.

Texas Film Commission
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/film/
For everything you need to know about filmmaking in and around Texas. Be an extra in a movie, see a list of movies filmed in Texas, and check out the casting call for Austin openings.

Museums

Austin Children's Museum
http://www.austinkids.org/
This museum is quite possibly the most fun in Austin. Sign up to be a junior volunteer (ages 12-18)!

Austin History Center: Online exhibits
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ahc/austin_treasures.htm
Learn about Austin's history!

Austin Museum of Art - Downtown
http://www.amoa.org/site/PageServer
Take a peek at the art exhibits on display.

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/
Check out the current exhibits about Texas history.

Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art
http://www.blantonmuseum.org/
This University of Texas museum is world renowned for its collections of American and contemporary art, Latin American art, European paintings, and prints and drawings.

Austin Museum of Digital Art
http://www.amoda.org/
The Austin Museum of Digital Art (AMODA) is a non-profit institution that promotes access to and appreciation of digital art. Currently AMODA is a nomadic institution, holding exhibitions, showcases, lectures, youth programs and other events at various locations around Austin, often in collaboration with other arts and educational organizations.

Ransom Center
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/
The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas is the coolest museum (archives, really) in Austin. One of the world's finest cultural archives, the Ransom Center houses 36 million literary manuscripts, one million rare books, five million photographs, and over 100,000 works of art. Highlights include the Gutenberg Bible (c. 1455), the world's first photograph (c. 1826), important paintings by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and major manuscript collections of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Tennessee Williams, to name but a few.

Parks

City of Austin Parks and Recreation
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/
Youth programs, teen programs, summer camps, and finding the closest swimming pool!

Austin Zoo
http://www.austinzoo.org/
Austin's own rescue zoo!

Schools

Austin Independent School District homepage
http://www.austinisd.org/
View the calendar to see when the next day off is scheduled!
A list of all the AISD schools and their web sites

Del Valle Independent School District homepage
http://www.del-valle.k12.tx.us/
The Del Valle Independent School District provides education to Southeast Travis County and the communities of Austin, Garfield, Creedmoor, Mustang Ridge, Elroy, Pilot Knob, Webberville and Hornsby Blend.