Bill Text: TX SR413 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing the legacy of Incarnate Word Academy.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2023-04-13 - Reported enrolled [SR413 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SR413-Enrolled.html
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| WHEREAS, Supporters of Incarnate Word Academy in | ||
| Brownsville are gathering on June 3, 2023, to celebrate a legacy | ||
| of service that has spanned 170 years; and | ||
| WHEREAS, One of the first schools in the Rio Grande Valley, | ||
| the academy was founded by four sisters of the Incarnate Word and | ||
| Blessed Sacrament; they traveled to Brownsville from Lyon, | ||
| France, at the behest of the first Catholic bishop of Texas, the | ||
| Most Reverend Jean M. Odin; the French-speaking sisters, Claire | ||
| Valentine, Ange Barré, Ephrem Satin, and Dominique Ravier, spent | ||
| a few months in Galveston learning English and Spanish before | ||
| proceeding to their new home; in order to provide textbooks to | ||
| their pupils, they purchased a used printing press; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The school rented a small, four-room frame house | ||
| before moving to Fronton Street at the end of 1853; students | ||
| hailed from Brownsville, other cities in the Rio Grande Valley, | ||
| and Matamoros, Mexico; the sisters faced many challenges, from | ||
| yellow fever epidemics to bandit raids; in 1867, a hurricane all | ||
| but demolished the building, and the school was nearly forced to | ||
| close, but the local community and Bishop Claude Dubois came | ||
| together to raise funds for a new convent and school, built on | ||
| East Saint Charles Street; and | ||
| WHEREAS, By 1885, high school instruction became available | ||
| at Incarnate Word; the new Villa Maria High School was completed | ||
| on Jefferson Street in 1926; growth continued in subsequent | ||
| decades, and in the 1960s, elementary instruction moved to | ||
| buildings on Resaca Boulevard, purchased from the former | ||
| Harlingen Air Force Base and renovated; a new high school was | ||
| built on the Resaca campus in 1971, while the junior high | ||
| transferred to the old Villa Maria facility; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Villa Maria High School closed in the early 1990s; | ||
| Incarnate Word Academy then served elementary and middle school | ||
| students at the Villa Maria campus, while the old IWA barracks | ||
| became home to the new Villa Maria Language Institute; in order | ||
| to invest in much-needed updates and improvements, the sisters | ||
| sold much of their property to the neighboring hospital; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The new century has brought many changes to the | ||
| education landscape, and Incarnate Word Academy is set to close | ||
| at the end of the 2022-2023 school year; while marking the end of | ||
| an era, members of its community may reflect on the important | ||
| role the school has played in the Rio Grande Valley and celebrate | ||
| the unyielding faith and dedication of the sisters who provided | ||
| generations of young Texans with a strong foundation on which to | ||
| build their lives; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 88th | ||
| Legislature, hereby honor the legacy of Incarnate Word Academy in | ||
| Brownsville and recognize all who those who have contributed to | ||
| this historic institution. | ||
| LaMantia | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| President of the Senate | ||
| I hereby certify that the | ||
| above Resolution was adopted by | ||
| the Senate on April 13, 2023. | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| ________________________________ | ||
| Member, Texas Senate | ||
