Melvin B. Alsbrooks was principal at Dinwiddie County's Sunnyside Elementary School.

Dinwiddie County's Sunnyside Elementary School has memorialized its late principal, Melvin B. Alsbrooks, by setting up a scholarship fund and planting crape myrtle trees and a butterfly garden at the school.

But the McKenney Town Council wants to go further. Members presented a resolution to the School Board asking for Sunnyside Elementary to be renamed for Alsbrooks, a former council member and principal of the school for 35 years.

Alsbrooks, 67, died of cancer in February. He dedicated 45 years of his life to the county's public schools.

"He was very energetic and always smiling, very charismatic," said interim principal Kathy Young.

Alsbrooks always taught children to be respectful, courteous and caring for others, she said. The front of his house is full of flowers, Young said, and that's why the school decided to plant a garden and trees in his memory.

"I think he loved to say Sunnyside," she said. "He had such a sunny disposition."

Town Councilman Rick L. Hawthorne told School Board members during a meeting Tuesday that people in that part of the county know Sunnyside as "Melvin's school." He had been the principal since 1973.

"He's a pillar of our society, or was, until his untimely death," Hawthorne said.

Mayor Charles T. Mansfield said he was aware of the School Board's practice not to name schools after individuals. But Dinwiddie High School is named after a former Virginia lieutenant governor, he said.

Superintendent Charles Maranzano Jr. said Dinwiddie middle and high schools do carry part of a name of an individual, but that the schools were named for the county.

"My recommendation to the board will be to honor its practice," Maranzano said. "I think it's a wise practice not to elevate the name of a school to reflect a person."

There are many other people who would like school buildings to be named after individuals who have given their careers and lives to the county's schools, Maranzano said. "I don't want to dismiss other people's contributions."

Maranzano said in no way does he discount Alsbrooks' hard work and dedication.

"I think [the council's resolution] speaks volumes for the McKenney community of how enamored they are and appreciative they are of Melvin's contribution," he said.

Maranzano said he would suggest another way of memorializing Alsbrooks. Maybe the street that the school is on can be renamed, he said. "Perhaps the gymnasium or a field could be named after him."
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or jlizama@timesdispatch.com.