Buckeye district breaks ground on school honoring John McCain

PHOENIX — The Buckeye Elementary School District held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for its newest school, John S. McCain III Elementary.

Located near Miller and Buckeye roads, this will be the district’s ninth elementary school. It is set to open in August 2021.

John S. McCain III Elementary will teach a coding and STEM based curriculum that will also encourage critical thinking, humanities through history and social skills.

Today we celebrate the groundbreaking of our newest school John S McCain III. ⁦@cindymccain⁩ ⁦@BuckeyeAZGov⁩ ⁦@BuckeyeESD⁩ ⁦@AASAHQ ⁦@orcuttwinslow⁩ ⁦@CHASSEteam⁩ look for the press release today. #JSM2021 pic.twitter.com/c1xX9N3qlr

— Kristi Wilson (@KwilsonBESD33) November 4, 2020

“We are determined to have Senator McCain represented by more than his name on the front of the building. This will be a school that reverberates with his presence,” Buckeye superintendent Dr. Kristi Wilson told ceremony attendees, according to a press release.

“His energy. His curiosity. His honor. Not as some sort of memoriam, rather, as a place where students aspire to exemplify the traits so identified with Senator McCain.”

Cindy McCain, the widow of the late senator, was also in attendance and spoke of her husband’s passion for education.

“John often spoke of how important teachers were to him becoming who he was,” she said. “He was a guy that sometimes wasn’t always on the right path and would get himself in trouble, but teachers always helped guide him back.”

Cindy McCain, along with Buckeye mayor Jackie Meck and Governing Board president Jane Hunt, donned a hard hat and participated in the ceremonial first dig.

The school district’s governing board first chose to name the school after the late senator in October 2018.

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