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Participating Community Partners

Beaumont Community Players, Port Arthur Little Theatre, Harvest House, American Red Cross, Beaumont Heritage Society, Landmanor, United Board of Missions, Dream Center, Beaumont Art League, Beaumont Children's Museum, Salvation Army, Shorkey Center, YMCA, Market to HOPE, Hope Women's Center, Stable Spirit and Texas Naturalists.

More than 200 ÐßÐßÊÓƵ University students participated on the day of the event!     

(ÐßÐßÊÓƵ students arrive early to prepare) 

BISD ROAR Reading Initiative

Assistant Director of Engagement, Teressa Robertson, participates in the BISD ROAR Reading Initiative.

On November 12, 2015 the Beaumont Independent School District, in an effort to promote reading and increase reading proficiency at the early levels, launched the ROAR! reading initiative. The program was designed as a partnership between the Beaumont community and BISD.

The primary goal of the program is to have all BISD second through fifth graders reading at or above grade level by the end of the year by pairing them with volunteers who will assist them in improving their reading skills. BISD, in partnership with our community, wishes to instill a love of reading at an early age and provide them with positive attention and learning outcomes. The district believes, based on internal studies and confirmed by academic research, that students who attain a mastery of reading skills at an early age will be better equipped for the future.

The success of the program depends on not just the participation of BISD faculty and staff, but on the community as a whole. Students will be paired with and will read a level-appropriate book to the volunteer during their half-hour reading session. Volunteers, who have attended specific training for the program, will work with the students by asking questions that will increase comprehension and help build confidence. Based on the observations of the volunteer as well as other classroom-based metrics, as the student progresses, the book level and difficulty will increase.

For more information or to become involved contact 

Levingston Park Master Plan

The Center for Resiliency is collaborating with the Department of Public Works in the City of Orange to develop a Master Plan for modifications to Levingston Park, a city park near the intersection of Border Streets and Dupont Drive in Orange. Levingston Park is being repurposed following the laying of a pipeline by GT Polymers. The Department of Public Works in the City of Orange has requested citizen input on the transition of Levingston Park from its current dated infrastructure to a newer park. The City of Orange agrees with GT Polymers to lay an effluent pipeline through the park. GT Polymers agrees to recover the park area after the pipeline is in place.

Levingston Park in the City of Orange, Texas is ideally situated for adaptation to a passive use, natural area. The Park is located along the east bank of Adams Bayou and within ½ mile of the Sabine River. Vision

The Levingston Park Committee envisions a community conservation park designed to enhance the well-being of humans and nature by bringing stakeholders together collaboratively in drafting, approving, and supporting park renovations. The park will benefit the community as a safe and sustainable 17-acre green corridor winding along the waters of Adams Bayou.

Just a mile south of the Orange historic district, Levingston Park offers a green space amid industrial and residential surroundings. Bordered by swamp and marshland, the park connects structured environs to nature as an artery from the city to the coast along Adams Bayou. Levingston Park is seen as part of an ecological greenway connecting the community with a network of ecosystems, such as the bird migratory flyway and the Monarch Butterfly migration pathway. Our goal is connective conservation bringing people closer to the natural environment.

The park itself will have few structures, but rather a variety of native plants and trees where residents can fish from the banks, wander the trails, kayak along the bayou, or relax in the shade of a relative wildscape. Plans include a future canoe/ kayak trail beginning in the north at Shangri La and the Stark Foundation trailing south to Levingston Park. It will be a water-trail leading birders and fishermen past islands and bayou banks teeming with wildlife. The priorities for park use are to create an accessible park that remains clean of debris and dumping for the community, but also appreciate the natural greenway alongside Adams Bayou as it crosses Orange County and City and connects to greenways along the Sabine River, Sabine Lake and the Gulf Coast.

In addition to its natural beauty, Levingston Park is the historic homesite of Samuel Levingston and his son, George Levingston, who developed the Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, through World War II.

For more information on the Levingston Park Project visit  or contact Marilyn Guidry, Assistant Director of Research and Data Management at MGuidry11@lamar.edu 

The Palms at Pleasure Island Green Space

DOE Grant Manager, Davon Chargois, serves as the Project Coordinator for The Palms at Pleasure Island Green Space.

This is a project to convert an abandoned golf course into multi-use greenspaces. The Palms at Pleasure Island is owned by the City of Port Arthur and suffered severe damage when Hurricane Rita struck Southeast Texas in 2005. The former course has become overgrown, but this may have allowed for the establishment of habitat for many different species of vegetation, birds, and other wildlife. This project will allow the city to utilize the former golf course as a place for visitors and community members to enjoy the ecological elements while participating in recreational activity.

Project location: 1901 T.B. Ellison Parkway Port Arthur TX.

Project leader: George Davis; Director of Pleasure Island Department, Port Arthur TX.

For more information on The Palms at Pleasure Island Green Space contact Davon Chargois

dchargois2@lamar.edu