Special to The Leader

Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD Administrators spent Friday, August 4, preparing themselves to lead their campus and departmental teams to a successful school year. Using the book, Teach Like a Pirate, the group spent the day discovering some of the environmental and historical treasures in Orange, as well as doing professional development and team building activities at the newly renovated Orange Train Depot.

Some of the activities and points of interest included a swamp tour, with biologist and Swamp Tour owner, Eli Tate, and a tour of the Port of Orange offices, by Port Director and CEO, Gene Boullion and Debbie Britnell in Port Administration.

Dan Perrine and Margaret Toal joined the bus tour to give the group some of the history of Orange, from pirates, such as Jean Lafitte, to shipbuilding during WWII, and stories of early citizens that sound more like the history of Tombstone, AZ than the Orange where they live now. The bus tour was followed by a tour of First Presbyterian Church, narrated by Perrine, who is a church member and docent.

Following lunch, the group moved to the Orange Train Depot, where Carol Sims told the educators about the history of the Depot and explained the process of renovating the building, which had been in disrepair for years. The site also served as a great facility for the administrators professional development, led by Superintendent Dr. Pauline Hargrove and Director of Technology, Kim Allen.