Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) survived another hurricane with the passing of Delta on Friday, October 9. This was the second hurricane in about a month to blow through Orange.
While Hurricane Laura did some structural damage to buildings at the end of August, Delta toppled trees. LSCO President Dr. Tom Johnson said many of the same trees that were blown over by Laura suffered the same fate from Delta with between 25 to 30 needing to be re-erected.
The campus lost power for about 24 hours which fortunately occurred after classes were out. Students and staff were able to return to classes on the following Monday.
Of greater concern to Dr. Johnson are the faculty and students with Lamar State College Orange who live in Louisiana. The southwest part of that state took the brunt of both hurricanes. “I don’t know the exact number, but I do know that about eight percent of our students traditionally are from Louisiana, but we have quite a few employees that live in Louisiana,” Johnson replied.
The college celebrated its Student Appreciation Day on October 14. With the COVID pandemic in effect the celebration was held outside in the beautiful weather and was somewhat scaled back.
Student Appreciation Day titled “Food, Fun, and Freebies” allowed clubs and other organizations to share their information and recruit students to join them in their activities. It is an important opportunity for especially freshmen to connect with a group or organization at the college during stressful times like this according to Johnson.
The Lamar State College Orange has a lot to boast about with its fishing club. The Gators have two outstanding teams of anglers. The pair of Brett Fregia and Jack Tindel will be competing in the Bass National Championship later during October in Florida.
The two qualified in their first tournament to go to the national championship. “They’re going to a national championship, a little two-year school is going to be competing against some of the major universities in the entire country over in Florida, so we’re trying to figure out a way maybe to do a drive-by parade,” Johnson proudly announced.
The other pair of Gators are Trent Buchholz and Grady Doucet, and they qualified for the FLW National Championship as did Fregia and Tindel. That fishing championship will be held in March 2021. Dr. Johnson thanked all the sponsors of the fishing club that are behind the scene that make this happen.
The second 8-Week Semester at Lamar State College Orange starts Monday, October 19. There is still an opportunity to register for the classes that will be offered during the shorter semester. The online courses include Personal Finance, Economics, English, Texas Government, and U.S. History. “The 8-Week class is a lot like the summer class, you get in, you study, and you get out, you pickup those credits, you move on,” Johnson explained.
This is another example of how LSCO is working to meet the unique schedules of its students. The college’s president credits Dr. Wendy Elmore with coming up with unique ways to meet the student’s need that Lamar State College prides itself in doing.
The LSCO Foundation met October 13 with Dr. Johnson. Judge Courtney Arkeen is the chair of the foundation. Johnson praised, “It’s amazing what they’re able to do to put scholarships together so that students can go and learn a trade, a skill, or prepare themself for a university,” Johnson concluded. “The LSCO Foundation is truly changing lives by supporting us.”
Dr. Johnson can be heard on KOGT’s People in the Know every other Wednesday. The program is aired at 7:00 AM.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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