Polk County News - Breakout

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From Enterprise Staff

In the 10 years that Dr. Brent E. Hawkins has served as superintendent of the Livingston Independent School District, he has seen many changes, one of the most recent regarding dual credit courses. Dual credit courses are those in which – if successfully completed – the student receives both high school credit and college credit.

“My first year here, the dual credit program was 48 kids in grades 11 and 12. Those 48 kids’ parents were paying their own way for them to get dual credit classes. Our vision that first year (2014) was college for all. Some folks kind of scoffed at that, said college isn’t for everyone. College truly is cosmetology, welding, health careers, culinary arts, criminal justice, HVAC. Those classes are college,” Hawkins said.

“Last year there were 225 kids in grades 9-12 taking dual credit classes. I am elated at what this school year’s going to bring. I think we’re going to see over 50% of our students enrolled in a dual credit program and that is a very conservative number,” Hawkins said.

The dual credit courses offered by Livingston ISD were previously provided by Angelina College and Stephen F. Austin State University. Beginning this fall, however, LISD’s dual credit courses are being provided by Stephen F. Austin State University, Lamar State College-Orange, Lamar State College-Port Arthur and Lamar Institute of Technology.

Through LISD’s agreement with Lamar, there is no charge for any enrolled student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged, which is approximately 75% of the high school population. Further, LISD will only pay $45 per credit hour for every non-socioeconomically disadvantaged student, a significant decrease from the $370 per course for dual credit courses that the district was previously paying.

“Because we were uncertain if we would be able to use the commerce center this fall, we moved all dual credit classes to the Livingston High School campus for the fall semester,” Hawkins said.

Many of the dual credit courses were previously held at what was called the Angelina College/Polk County Commerce Center located on the Highway 59 Bypass that opened in the fall of 2013. However, with Angelina College no longer providing dual credit courses for Livingston ISD, that building will most likely undergo a name change.

The facility is owned by Polk County and leased to the Polk County Higher Education & Technology Foundation which operates it. Built at a cost of about $10 million, the bulk of the funding came from Hurricane Ike recovery grants awarded to Polk County. In addition to the grants, local fundraising drives generated $1.8 million for the project.

Foundation President Andy Evans said negotiations are underway, with plans to have multiple providers in the building for the Spring 2024 semester.

“The board is in the process of negotiating with multiple providers to bring quality educational opportunities to the building,” Evans said.

 

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The Livingston High School Choir under the direction of Renee Vore will sing in the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony hosted by the City of Livingston at 9 a.m. Sept. 11 at the Livingston City Hall. The Robert Rankin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will honor all first responders during the ceremony. The 9/11 commemorative flag will be raised by the LHS - JROTC Big Cat Battalion under the leadership of Commander C/Lt.CDR Leah Robeson. Everyone is invited to attend the ceremony. Courtesy photo

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(Editor’s note: First Methodist Church of Livingston is celebrating its 175th anniversary and this milestone will culminate with a celebration on Oct. 22 that will include a combined worship service at 10:30 a.m., a luncheon at noon and a concert that evening. Local Historian Gary Davis has compiled the history of the church and snippets from that history will be featured on these pages in a multi-part series leading up to the celebration.)

By Gary Davis

In the year 2023, the Methodists of Livingston will be celebrating 175 years of service in the community. Methodism in Texas originated from the frontier days of circuit riding – itinerant preachers, who traveled on horseback from one village to the next. This system of sending out these preachers to minister to the widely scattered settlers proved to be a very effective way of spreading Methodism across Texas.

The first protestant preacher to cross into Texas was undoubtedly William Stevenson (1768-1857). From Tennessee, the itinerant Stevenson entered the frontier of Texas at Jonesboro (often spelled Jonesborough) in the year 1817. This was the same village where Sam Houston crossed the Red River and entered Texas years later in 1832. Stevenson also has the distinction of being the first protestant in East Texas as he traveled down Trammel’s Trace and preached in Nacogdoches to a mixed assemblage of both Mexican and Anglo citizens. At this time the introduction of protestant beliefs was contrary to Mexican law.

An early written reference to Methodism in Polk County is contained in Homer S. Thrall’s 1872 History of Methodism in Texas. It refers to the year 1843, when circuit rider, Reverend Frances A. Wilson (1790-1867), held protracted camp meetings throughout East Texas. Brother Frank, as he was called, spent a lifetime traveling on horseback, swimming across creeks and sleeping on the ground in the rain, all the while being under the threat of an Indian attack. He faithfully delivered the gospel to the socially isolated and spiritually starved people who traveled from miles around to hear him preach. One such meeting was held on Wolf Creek in Polk County (in 1870 this area was split from Polk and became San Jacinto County). By his estimates, he traveled a total of 150,000 miles, delivered 7,000 sermons and made over 4,000 conversions to Methodism. Wilson is listed on the Livingston Methodist Church Honor Roll of Pastors as having served here from 1853-1855.

At the General Conference of 1844, held in New York City, a schism occurred within the Methodist Episcopal Church over the slavery issue. In a special called conference held on May 1, 1945, in Louisville, Kentucky, a new and separate denomination called the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or simply the MEC, S was formed. The Texas delegates voted to join this new denomination. It should be noted that black families had been included in Methodist congregations in Texas since 1822 and the East Texas conference appointed, in 1846, Reverend Frank Wilson as “missionary to the people of color within the bounds of the Conference.”

In 1845, the Republic of Texas was divided into two conferences, with the Trinity River as the boundary between the West Texas or simply the Texas Conference and the East Texas conference. Frank Wilson was the Presiding Elder (PE) of the San Augustine District. One of the circuit riding preachers in the East Texas conference was Reverend David McGowen Stovall.

Born in Tennessee in 1828, D.M. Stovall was ordained in the Methodist church at age 18. He recalled in a 1907 letter to the Houston Post that his family crossed the Sabine into Texas on February 1, 1836. Stovall was one of seven brothers that were circuit riding preachers that delivered the Methodist faith in Southeast Texas. In a genuine gift of an article in the Polk County Enterprise of July 6, 1911, Stovall advised that he traveled as an itinerant preacher in the East Texas conference for 36 years and that Livingston and Moscow were on his circuit.

Stovall answered the call to serve four years in the Civil War as a Captain from Rusk County. He recalled that in 1858-59 he built the first house of worship in Livingston. He advised that prior to this, the neat little courthouse on the square was the preaching place. Stovall died on March 21, 1912, having served 65 years as a Methodist minister. He is buried in Diboll, Texas.

 

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From Enterprise Staff

The nomination period for the Polk County Enterprise’s 2023 Best of Polk County Reader’s Choice Awards began Friday and will conclude on Sept. 30. The annual awards process provides an opportunity to recognize local businesses, professionals and non-profits.

All nominations and voting will be conducted online and no paper ballots will be accepted during this fourth year of the annual contest. Voters will participate by going to the website easttexasnews.com and clicking on the Contests tab. To register only involves using an email address.

The 2023 Best of Polk County Readers’ Choice Awards will occur in three distinct phases this year. The first phase is the nomination process. Individuals may nominate their favorite local businesses up to once a day per email address. The month-long nomination process will determine the finalists who will be eligible for best of Polk County.

The top eight selections in each category will enter the second phase which will run from Oct. 1-31. During this time voters will have the opportunity to select their favorite among the top eight in each category and will be allowed to vote up to once a day per email address.

The third phase is the culmination of the annual readers’ choice awards when the winners of each category are recognized in a special section that will be included in the Dec. 3 issue of the Polk County Enterprise.