Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR413 Compare Versions

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1	1	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 413
2	2	WHEREAS, Supporters of Incarnate Word Academy in
3	3	Brownsville are gathering on June 3, 2023, to celebrate a legacy
4	4	of service that has spanned 170 years; and
5	5	WHEREAS, One of the first schools in the Rio Grande Valley,
6	6	the academy was founded by four sisters of the Incarnate Word and
7	7	Blessed Sacrament; they traveled to Brownsville from Lyon,
8	8	France, at the behest of the first Catholic bishop of Texas, the
9	9	Most Reverend Jean M. Odin; the French-speaking sisters, Claire
10	10	Valentine, Ange Barré, Ephrem Satin, and Dominique Ravier, spent
11	11	a few months in Galveston learning English and Spanish before
12	12	proceeding to their new home; in order to provide textbooks to
13	13	their pupils, they purchased a used printing press; and
14	14	WHEREAS, The school rented a small, four-room frame house
15	15	before moving to Fronton Street at the end of 1853; students
16	16	hailed from Brownsville, other cities in the Rio Grande Valley,
17	17	and Matamoros, Mexico; the sisters faced many challenges, from
18	18	yellow fever epidemics to bandit raids; in 1867, a hurricane all
19	19	but demolished the building, and the school was nearly forced to
20	20	close, but the local community and Bishop Claude Dubois came
21	21	together to raise funds for a new convent and school, built on
22	22	East Saint Charles Street; and
23	23	WHEREAS, By 1885, high school instruction became available
24	24	at Incarnate Word; the new Villa Maria High School was completed
25	25	on Jefferson Street in 1926; growth continued in subsequent
26	26	decades, and in the 1960s, elementary instruction moved to
27	27	buildings on Resaca Boulevard, purchased from the former
28	28	Harlingen Air Force Base and renovated; a new high school was
29	29	built on the Resaca campus in 1971, while the junior high
30	30	transferred to the old Villa Maria facility; and
31	31	WHEREAS, Villa Maria High School closed in the early 1990s;
32	32	Incarnate Word Academy then served elementary and middle school
33	33	students at the Villa Maria campus, while the old IWA barracks
34	34	became home to the new Villa Maria Language Institute; in order
35	35	to invest in much-needed updates and improvements, the sisters
36	36	sold much of their property to the neighboring hospital; and
37	37	WHEREAS, The new century has brought many changes to the
38	38	education landscape, and Incarnate Word Academy is set to close
39	39	at the end of the 2022-2023 school year; while marking the end of
40	40	an era, members of its community may reflect on the important
41	41	role the school has played in the Rio Grande Valley and celebrate
42	42	the unyielding faith and dedication of the sisters who provided
43	43	generations of young Texans with a strong foundation on which to
44	44	build their lives; now, therefore, be it
45	45	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 88th
46	46	Legislature, hereby honor the legacy of Incarnate Word Academy in
47	47	Brownsville and recognize all who those who have contributed to
48	48	this historic institution.
49	49	LaMantia
50	50	________________________________
51	51	President of the Senate
52	52	I hereby certify that the
53	53	above Resolution was adopted by
54	54	the Senate on April 13, 2023.
55	55	________________________________
56	56	Secretary of the Senate
57	57	________________________________
58	58	Member, Texas Senate