More old school ties... Lincoln and McHi (McAllen High School)

Front view of Lincoln School. During my schooldays, students in McAllen might attend a public or private kindergarten, then six years of elementary school followed by two years of junior high school and four years of high school. I began kindergarten in Port Isabel, Texas (at Derry School), just across the Laguna Madre from South Padre Island, then finished kindergarten in McAllen near the site of today's La Plaza shopping mall. After six years at Victor Fields Elementary, I spent just one year of seventh grade at Travis, then two years at Lincoln. (Lincoln was sort of a transitional school; I attended it as an eighth and ninth grader to participate in the advanced math progression whereas most of my class mates remained behind in Travis school for eighth grade and about half of them went on the McHi for ninth grade. Advanced and college-prep students spent two years at Lincoln.



Front view, Lincoln Jr. High School, McAllen, Texas.


North entrance to McAllen High School. During my three years at McHi, I took German, science, ROTC, and other classes and was active in various clubs (German, ecology, jr. engineering, rifle, forensics, class rep, etc., at various times) and the DeMolay youth fraternity. (As a general policy, I was always active in enough clubs to have hall passes to let me wander around the otherwise somewhat overly regulated school as I pleased.) During my high school years, however, I spent most weekends and summers at South Padre Island where I worked on boats and went beach combing and shell collecting.

McHi stadium shown during a regional track meet. Football is the subject of great devotion in Texas.