Memories.
A young Royce West walked the halls of Kennedy-Curry Junior High School in the 1960s. He went on to high school, attending Wilmer-Hutchins where he was a scholar, athlete and leader; and named Most Likely to Succeed.
And he didn’t stop after graduation, going on to the University of Texas at Arlington where he received two degrees before heading off to law school at the University of Houston.
It was a full circle moment for Texas State Senator Royce West as he sat on the stage at the renaming ceremony of what is now the Royce West Leadership Academy, 6605 Sebring Drive in Oak Cliff.
Former and current Dallas ISD superintendents and board trustees; along with the West family, his pastor Rev. Bryan Carter of Concord Church, Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers, elected officials and his former math teacher Shirley Fisher, were in attendance to celebrate the occasion.
Current trustee Maxie Johnson, who worked on the honor, praised the senator, saying he represented Black excellence. He also pointed out that the school, resulting from the merging of a high school named after Pres. John F. Kennedy and a middle school named for local Pastor Milton K. Curry, has another element to it.
According to Johnson, in the future Curry’s name will reappear on the campus of Paul Quinn College.
