During McKinney High School’s graduation ceremony on Friday, there was a touching tribute to a former educator from a student blazing a path of her own.
Hannah Tadesse, valedictorian for McKinney High School, went to McGowen Elementary, named after Jesse McGowen, who was hired by the McKinney ISD in 1963, the year the district voted to desegregate.
“Every time I speak of this, it brings tears to my eyes,” McGowen told NBC 5. “Because they were looking for a Black counselor, and it was the students — the Black students, the white students, the Hispanic students — who spoke up and said, ‘Why are you looking? We already have a counselor here. We have Mr. McGowen.’”…