Elementary school named for McKinney’s Harry McKillop breaks ground

BY STEFANIE WHITE, McKinney Courier-Gazette
(Created: Friday, July 13, 2007)

Mr McKillop

Melissa City Council member Sharon Weideman signs a groundbreaking shovel after construction of Harry McKillop Elementary School was symbolically kicked off on Thursday. The school is scheduled to open fall 2008. This photo and others are available through MyCapture at www.scntx.com. Photo: Robert James Hughes/McKinney Courier-Gazette

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Melissa city leaders and school officials, along with McKinney resident Harry McKillop and his family, donned their hard hats and gold shovels for the groundbreaking of Harry McKillop Elementary School in the Liberty development in Melissa.

The Melissa ISD Board of Trustees in January approved the naming of their new school after McKillop.

The 18-year McKinney resident has engaged in humanitarian efforts in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to focus world attention on the plight of American prisoners of war and those missing in action from the Vietnam War.

Melissa ISD Superintendent Jason Smith said the district was pleased that one of their schools would be named after someone like McKillop.

“We’re extremely excited and proud to know that we have a true American hero,” Smith said. “That we have one of our elementary schools to have his name on it.”

Also helping to make the event memorable, Smith said, was having several city officials, Pogue Construction and the McKillop family present for the groundbreaking.

“It made this a very special day for the community of Melissa,” Smith said. “I don’t think that we could have better kicked off to have so many people here.”

The land in the Liberty development was donated by Hillwood, a company owned by Ross Perot Jr., a personal friend of McKillop. McKillop said Perot is the one who decided to name the new elementary school in Melissa after him.

“He didn’t ask me, he told me,” McKillop said. “I’m just pleasantly surprised.”

McKillop said he is especially pleased to have an elementary school named after because he said much of a child’s developmental years take place in elementary school.

“I’m really enthused because I think the whole country needs to pay more attention to the young kids,” McKillop said. “Kindergarten, first year, second year: They’re all able to learn a lot more than we’re teaching. It’s all being overlooked. We spend so much time on kindergarten type thinking than educational thinking.”

School board member John Burchett also was pleased with the groundbreaking event for Harry McKillop Elementary School.



“This is a spectacular day,” Burchett said. “The gentleman that the school has been named after, they don’t come any finer.”

Burchett said that though McKillop is nationally known for some of his humanitarian efforts, there are some efforts that people don’t know as much about.

Although McKillop is from McKinney and the school is in Melissa, Burchett said there is a little bit of irony that the school is located in the Liberty development.

“It’s also the concept of liberty and freedom,” Burchett said. “And he is a true patriot.”

Burchett said what makes the school special is the fact that McKillop will be involved during the construction of the school.

“This is going to be a real treasure for the community, the school, his involvement,” Burchett said.

McKillop said he has high hopes for the school when it opens in fall of 2008 and hopes the rest of the community has high goals.

“I want for us to make commitments to the school,” he said. “I want the community to recognize those commitments are outstanding. We have to keep that in mind over the years.”

Contact staff writer Stefanie White at swhite@acnpapers.com. To post comments online, access this story at www.scntx.com.