Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee Dedicate Field

By Ashley McBride

McKinley's football team has had three home games on the newly renovated football field, but Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee felt it was still important to officially dedicate the stadium.

"Renovations like this better the perception of public schools by outsiders," said Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools.

Accompanying the Mayor and Chancellor was Allen Lew, chief of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission; and Harry Thomas, Ward 5 Council Member. Thomas warranted "boos" from the crowd after stating he played football for Wilson SHS, since McKinley did not recruit him.

"That year we came back and beat McKinley at their homecoming game," he said.

Ironically, that has been the case for McKinley's football games recently. We won our first Homecoming game against Spingarn SHS and a week later went to Eastern SHS and beat them at their Homecoming. This year, McKinley was within one game of the playoffs, the closest they have been since reopening. The spirit of the team was lifted due to the renovation of our athletic facilities.

The four million dollar project started in June and will be completed in the upcoming weeks. Wilson SHS, Coolidge SHS, Roosevelt SHS, Dunbar SHS, and Ballou SHS were the other schools in the District that were renovated. However, the money to renovate Ballou did not come from DCPS, but from donations from the Fannie Mae Organization.

"We had to do this right the first time," said Lew. "That meant a new field, track, lighting, scoreboard, press box, locker rooms, and restrooms."

McKinley Technology High School is now an up to date school with a state of the art building and field. The current seniors and juniors were told for years they would not have a field to play on or bleachers to sit on and watch those events.

"I didn't expect to have an actual homecoming before I graduated," said Joseph Thomas, 12th Grade. "I'm glad we have a home now."

By Anna Kinsman |  November 8, 2007; 9:38 AM ET News
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