Aubrey ISD celebrates Evalois Owens Middle School opening
Past and present members of the Aubrey community turned out to support Evalois Owens and to explore the middle school that bears her name on July 24.
Evalois, who retired from Aubrey ISD in 2006, served the district for 40 years in roles that included school secretary and business manager.
“Can you believe that last August, we stood here looking at a picture, and today we’re looking at a building on this beautiful campus,” she said to the crowd gathered at the ribbon cutting.
She recognized the infl uence of the example of her “civic and faith centered parents,” Howard and Juanita Irick, and she thanked her husband Buddy Owens “who patiently listened every day for 40 years to school stuff.”
She also thanked a handful of educators she worked with, as well as her children.
“Our children were not only preacher’s kids, but their mom was at school every day with them, so you know what they went through.”
She touched on the red iron bridge that is a key element throughout the school, as it “ties old and the new together.”
Owens Middle School Principal Pamela Foster spoke as well, welcoming everyone into the school and talking about the culture that she’s already working to create.
“Owens is not just a building,” she said. “… One of the things that we’re doing in Aubrey is bringing a piece of the community into our building. And when you go in here, you will see a bridge.”
That red iron bridge refl ects one of Aubrey’s key landmarks, the historic Elm Fork Bridge along west FM 428.
“It’s not just a bridge,” Foster said. “This is a bridge connecting us to the community, connecting our kids to the community and giving everyone here a place to belong.”
Evalois never stopped working for Aubrey ISD; she just stopped receiving a paycheck.
Evalois has volunteered with the Aubrey Education Foundation since its inception, she participates in the Chaparral Legacy Cooperative and she has been part of the facilities planning committees that have evaluated the district’s needs in the form of new schools, including the committee that recommended the May 2022 bond that funded the construction of Evalois Owens Middle School.
AISD Superintendent Dr. Shannon Saylor introduced each speaker and recognized the people throughout the crowd, including the school’s namesake.
“I’m going on 30 years of knowing Mrs. Evalois Owens,” Saylor said. “Back in her beginning career in Aubrey ISD, she was known as the tax collector. The hirer. The firer. She pretty much ran the schools.”
She continued, including touching on working with Evalois when Saylor was a teacher and coach.
“She has been instrumental to Aubrey ISD, loves Aubrey ISD [and] grew up here,” Saylor said.
Several students who will attend Owens participated in the ceremony, including Kinsly Laster, Ian Griffin and Ty Crawford leading the pledges and the Owens Middle School cheerleaders performing as the high school drumline played.
Two of Evalois’ fellow school namesakes— H.L. Brockett and Jackie Fuller—were in the crowd to support their friend and colleague with whom they both worked.
In addition to her fellow namesakes, two former AISD superintendents came out to celebrate— Deborah Sanders and Dr. David Belding.
“Aubrey ISD is such a special place, and Mrs. Evalois is a special person,” said Belding, who was superintendent at the time of the bond passing. “To have her name on this school is fantastic. … I’m eager to go see it, to see the vision we had when we designed it.”
Buddy was brimming with gratitude and pride in the honor given to his wife.
“With real humility, I always thought she would be, and she deserves it as much as anybody I’ve ever known,” he said. “And it’s not false humility, either. She loves this school [district].”
Their daughter, D’Ann Owens, also spoke with gratitude for her mother’s dedication being acknowledged in such a lasting way.
“It’s a very big honor, and she deserves every bit of it,” D’Ann said.
Jen Holland, Evalois’ niece who serves alongside her through AEF, said she loves knowing that her aunt’s hard work and humble leadership will be known by future generations of students who pass through the doors of Owens Middle School.
“There’s a generation that’s still here that will be able to say, ‘Hey, that’s my great-aunt’s school,’” Holland said. “That’s amazing.”
Evalois was looking up at her school right before the ceremony and shared the emotions she felt about it bearing her name.
“It’s beautiful and amazing; that’s the two best words I can think of,” Evalois said. “And it’s just unbelievable.”
