Sunday, December 18, 2016

VICTORIO AVILA BACK ON THE VICTORIA HEIGHTS MARQUEE!

By Juan Montoya
Remember when former Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila was fit to be tied when a new school nprincipal painted over his his brother's name from the marquee at Victoria Heights Elementary School?

If you ever had the chance to visit the school during elections (it's a voting site), you would have seen the name  Victorio Avila on a sign placed just below the school name. It is also the home of the Mighty Tigers.

On June 2015, BISD maintenance workers painted over Victorio Avila's name on the beam supporting the marquee.

Victorio Avila was a principal who served there for years. Avila's brother has since passed away, but it was a source of pride to his family to pass by and see the memorial there to remind them of their family member.
In an old picture we were able to dig up, the memorial can be seen clearly that Avila worked there as principal from 1978 to 1997, almost 20 years.

His brother Pete told us that Victorio was principal at Palm Grove Elementary and George Saenz was principal at Victoria when Saenz got in some trouble and was moved to Palm Grove and Avila to Victoria.
Imagine the surprise of Avila family members when they drove past the corner of 13th and Roosevelt and saw the sign painted over.

Victoria heights Elementary is one of the district's oldest schools, opening its doors in 1926, just 11 years after the 1915 formation of the Brownsville Independent School District.

Apparently, the new principal, one M. Moreno, thought the sign honoring Avila was nothing special and had maintenance paint over it. Now Pete is making arrangements to speak with BISD superintendent Esperanza Zendejas about its removal.

Pete apparently still has some pull and the new sign on the marquee has been painted to honor his brother.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Juan, traigo el pito bien inchado con este frio...brrrrrrr!

Anonymous said...

To the first blogger, did your Mom ever wash your mouth with soap? Shame on you! As for removing the name of Mr. Avila from the Victoria Heights Elem. marquee, someone did not follow protocol. In order to remove the name from a building there must be some kind of corruption attached to the name and in no way did Mr. Avila EVER dare fail to honor the values that his parents, his wife and his sons always lived their life. Names like the one's at a school in San Benito, as well as a county building in San Benito deserve to be removed. Pete, I am glad to see that you stood up to the integrity of your brother!!!

oscar said...

Mr abila best principal ever

rita