Collins Academy

08/12/2024

Looking for a part-time landscaper for Port Jefferson History & Nature Center. 20 hours per week starting at $14/hr. If you are able and interested, please call Gary Endsley at (903) 319-5312.

10/18/2023

Birds of a feather

07/19/2023

Property Management Agreement with the City of Jefferson-Section 5 (b): Grounds Maintenance of the Port Jefferson History and Nature Center Premises.

The City shall provide grounds maintenance for areas it now services, including, but not limited to, the obligations to mow, edge, and trim limited areas within the Core Section and around the periphery of Port Jefferson History and Nature Center premises.

The City shall maintain the Port Jefferson History and Nature Center Premises in a clean, safe, wholesome, and sanitary condition, free of trash, garbage, or obstructions of any kind, and in compliance with any and all applicable present and future laws, general rules, and
regulations of any governmental authority in force now or at any time during the Term of this Agreement relating to sanitation,
public health, safety, or welfare.

02/16/2023

Get your binoculars ready, a new bird watching trail is in the works down at the Port Jefferson History and Nature Center!

02/16/2023

Cover TEKS that are sometimes hard to address in the classroom with a free field trip to Port Jefferson History and nature center!

3rd Grade
• Environments and how they support populations and communities of plants and animals within a ecosystem
• Structure and function of organisms allow them to survive in a particular environment
• Life cycles

4th Grade
• Producer-consumer needs
• Explore structure-function relationships and survival
• Explore, illustrate, and compare life cycles

5th Grade
• Observe organisms interactions for survival first hand
• Predict effects of changes on ecosystems
• Compare structure-function as related to survival

Contact Gary Endsley Director at Collins Academy to schedule you class field trip today!
Phone: (903) 665-2900
Email: [email protected]

08/16/2022

08/10/2021

The story of Moores Plantation in Cass County, Texas is co-authored by Clare Wong, Aanyah Thompson, Trevonne Horsley and Teresa McCulloch. These participants of a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department COOP Grant in association with Collins Academy in Jefferson, Texas are proud to present this presentation of an historic place.

The story of the Moores Plantation in Cass County, Texas is presented by Trevonne Horsley, Aanyah Thompson, Clare Wong, and Teresa McCulloch of Queen City IS...

08/09/2021

Billy Humphrey and H.J. Neal of Jefferson, TX tell a brief history of Jefferson, TX and it's founders as part of a project of the Texas parks and Wildlife Departments COOP CA-00045. Collins Academy is proud to have these two young men participate in the Summer Internship.

Billy Humphrey and H.J. Neal of Jefferson, TX tell a brief history of Jefferson, TX and it's founders as part of a project of the Texas parks and Wildlife De...

07/26/2021

Two of our summer interns created a video on the Founders of Jefferson Texas and the resulting Great Restaurants that it created.

"Taste of Jefferson" by Jackson Kain and Cameron Gentile. Enjoy

Taste of Jefferson by Jackson Kain and Cameron Gentile is a short story of the founders of Jefferson Texas and how the Great Restaurants developed over the ...

06/26/2021

06/25/2021

Summer Program Expanding Student Conservation Efforts
Collins Academy’s internships have swelled to 12 students this summer thanks to a Community Outdoor Outreach Grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The goal of the project is to create more land stewardship and conservation leadership by providing opportunities for area high school students to learn and practice habitat improvement and maintenance by working gardens at Port Jefferson History & Nature Center, Caddo Lake State Park, and the various pollinator gardens located at public schools in Marion and Cass Counties.

Picture 1 -(L-R) Front Row: Trevonne Horsley, Clare Wong, Tamara Johnson, Cheryl Lockett-Heath, Charlene Moore, Dane Johnson, and Cameron Gentile; Back Row: Aanyah Thompson, Teresa McCulloch, Sandra Ryan, Joseph Harrah, Gary Endsley, Sara Griffin, Ja’Kyrik Nard, Jack Kain, and Billy Humphrey (HJ Neel not pictured).

Interns are shown how to clone plantings at the JISD greenhouse.
The seven-week project involves six students from Cass County and six from Marion County along with teacher mentors from Queen City ISD, Ms. Teresa McCulloch; and Linden-Kildare CISD, Ms. Cheryl Lockett-Heath and Ms. Sandra Ryan. Sara Griffin of Collins Academy is mentoring the Jefferson ISD students.

Interns w**d the native plant garden at Caddo Lake State Park Headquarters while others install new tables.
“The bulk of the funding will be applied to the salaries of the interns and their mentors,” said Gary Endsley of Collins Academy. This represents a good summer job for our students and teachers while maintaining and upgrading native plant gardens we have helped to install in the region. These activities also target Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills aligned learning objectives that are hard to teach inside the walls of a traditional classroom,” he added.

Interns w**d a bed at Port Jefferson History & Nature Center while another group brushes the “Wharf Street” trail.
The internships also include a history component where student groups research and publish findings on some aspect of the history of sites being served by native landscaping activities.
The project will continue through July 23.

06/01/2021

Collins Academy has collaborated with the 4-H of Cass County, Texas A&M and the County Extension Agent, John Ferguson.

Collins Academy in collaboration with the 4-H Conservation Leadership Program and our Extension Agent, John Ferguson of the Cass County Extension Office. We...