Celebration, demonstration tied to DISD's newly renamed school, Royce West Academy
DALLAS - There's an old school in southern Dallas' Highland Hills area with a new name.
The change comes with recognition and, from some, reluctance, for a school named after state senator Royce West.
The school was officially renamed Tuesday for West after the school board approved the name change.
"It hit me, that this school is named after me," said West. "So the things I've done that warranted the naming of the school. I have to continue to do."
"Everyone here knew he was going to be great, so why not allow the students today to know what greatness is," said Shay Brewer, a community advocate. "What many of these students may not realize, until today, Sen. West was just like them, he was a student here in this school."
For decades, this southern Dallas campus was the merging of John Kennedy High School and Milton Curry Junior High, a product of racial desegregation for the then Wilmer Hutchins School District.
The legacy of the Wilmer Hutchins era became one reason some strongly object to renaming the school.
"Our ideal outcome is for it to be rescinded," said Subrina Brenham, who opposed the name change. "We want to keep our name. We have nothing against Royce West."
The elected Dallas ISD trustee for this school is Maxie Johnson.
"To have him, from a child, to catapult to the leader he is, it was a no-brainer for our community, and it was well received," Johnson said.
The kid from Kennedy Curry is now the neighborhood's leading voice at the state legislature, and the kids at Royce West Academy found out he was just like many of them a long time ago.