Fannin County, Texas -- Dodd City ISD made good use of a valuable new resource in the area -- Bois d'Arc Lake Operations Center -- to host Summer Professional Development classes so that local educators could receive continuing education courses without driving into the metroplex.

The Bois D'Arc Lake Operations & Education Center has three indoor classrooms, including two with wet lab centers, an outdoor classroom, a conference room, and an expansive lobby.

Bois d'Arc Lake Operations Center

Continuing education courses offered during the Dodd City ISD Summer Conference included elementary and secondary classes featuring Texas paleontology, an introduction to coding and robotics, aquatic science, and native plants for native pollinators.

Conference sponsors included North Texas Municipal Water District, Bonham Public Library, Texas Historical Commission, Fannin Soil and Water Conservation District, Honey Grove Library & Learning Center and Sloans Creek Farm.

An instructor prepares a class for a field trip to Ladonia Fossil Park at the site of Lake Ralph Hall.

 “We really enjoyed using the facilities at the NTMWD Lake Operations Center," remarked Bryan Peeler, Chairman of Fannin Bank. "The views out the windows are spectacular, the facilities are first-rate, and the staff is wonderful.”

 Bois d'Arc Lake Operations Center, located on FM 897, opened in January 2022 and is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

For more information, click here or call 469-626-4760.

Faith Rich teaches "Tech Tips" in this classroom.

An instructor discusses water sources for pollinators in another class.

Pollinator garden and gazebo in back of Bois d'Arc Lake Operations Center

A dodd City ISD bus waits to take a class to the Ladonia Fossil Park at the site of Lake Ralph Hall.

Just down the road from the Bois d'Arc Lake Operations Center, egrets are nesting in the flooded bottomland.