• Members of the Bennett Elementary Choir wait to greet Senior Tour participants.
• Bennett Elementary pull out all the stops to welcome the 2016 Senior Tour when it arrived at their campus.
• The Senior Tour visits three McKinney ISD campuses each year. Here, students from Bennett Elementary welcome tour members to their campus with great fanfare.
• McKinney ISD Superintendent Dr. Rick McDaniel greets students at Bennett Elementary during the 2016 MISD Senior Tour.
• Students demonstrate technology that they use at Bennett Elementary.
• Senior Tour participants visit the art class at Bennett Elementary.
• Tour organizer and MISD Partners in Education Director Nancy Cowlishaw immortalizes the Tour with a selfie.
• The 2016 MISD Senior Tour arrives at Dowell Middle School.
• The Dowell Middle School Orchestra plays for the 2016 Senior Tour.
• The 2016 Senior Tour at the newly renovated Dowell Middle School.
• The Dowell Middle School Band performs for the Senior Tour.
• 2016 Senior Tour members enjoy a guided tour of the newly renovated Dowell Middle School.
• Dowell athletes have some fun on the basketball court with members of the 2016 Senior Tour.
• The 2016 Senior Tour arrives at the final stop of the day—McKinney High School.
• MHS student representatives guide tour members through the historical displays that line the entry corridor of their school.
• Criminal Justice teacher Kina Vinson talks about the mock trial courtroom at MHS.

McKinney, Texas – As two McKinney ISD school buses pull into the drive at Bennett Elementary, they are met by a vast sea of cheering kids and Elvis music blasting over a P.A. system.

The atmosphere is loud and bubbling with energy as more than 70 McKinney senior adults make their way off the buses to be greeted with smiles and handshakes by poster-waving members of the school’s student council and choir.

The 2016 Senior Tour is underway—in true, fun-filled Bennett Elementary fashion.

The 2016 MISD Senior Tour arrives at Dowell Middle School.

It’s an annual event, now in its sixth year, that has become a favorite of those who have experienced it — a day long excursion to three MISD campuses where the tour participants get a first-hand look at the wide range of programs available to our students. It is a day that is marked by smiles from students and seniors alike.

Each year, the Senior Tour visits a different elementary, middle and high school campus. This time around the tour starts in the morning at Bennett, moves to Dowell at midday and wraps up at McKinney High School in the afternoon.

At every stop participants are greeted with fun and fanfare by students who are eager to meet them and serve as ambassadors for their school.

Tour participants create art projects and explore the integration of technology and learning during their tour of Bennett. Dowell’s presentation is heavy on fine arts as the school’s top choir, orchestra and band each lend their talents to the day’s proceedings. At MHS, they take in the mock courtroom, the criminal justice program and the school’s video production class and cosmetology lab among other attractions before heading to the auditorium for performances from the Marquettes and MHS choir members.

MHS student representatives guide tour members through the historical displays that line the entry corridor of their school.

The event is always an eye-opening experience.

First-timer Nancy Soucy said, “It’s been above my expectations. I’ve been with the district almost 17 years now, but I’ve not been to these new schools since the renovations. Unbelievable! The opportunities that the kids have today is just something that I never had. Everybody was so welcoming, and you can see the excitement in the kids’ eyes. They love to learn!”

With the day drawing to a close, the tour participants make their way back to the waiting buses and climb aboard. It’s been a great day, and MISD Superintendent Dr. Rick McDaniel is pleased with the opportunity for our community to catch a glimpse of what MISD is about.

“I could not be more proud of McKinney ISD on this day, in particular Bennett Elementary, Dowell Middle School and McKinney High School,” said McDaniel. “Our senior adults enjoyed this experience and really have a much better understanding of all that our schools have to offer and all of the hard work that our teachers put into the job every day.

“I think this group truly appreciated an opportunity to reach out and see our kids perform and see what they’re doing in the classrooms, and I just could not be more proud of the three schools that represented our entire district today,” he said.

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