Retiring Dale City Elementary teacher honored

A routine staff meeting at Dale City Elementary School recently turned into a surprise event at which retiring teacher Ellen Mackinnon was honored for her lifetime of service in public education.

On that morning, Del. Richard L. (Rich) Anderson (R-51st) arrived at the school to recognize Mrs. Mackinnon on behalf of the Virginia General Assembly.

Anderson arrived during the staff meeting and was invited to the front to speak about Mrs. Mackinnon’s service.

He concluded his remarks by presenting the teacher with the flag of the Commonwealth of Virginia flown just a few days before over the Virginia state capitol building in Richmond.

Accompanying the flag was a certificate of authenticity signed by the Honorable G. Paul Nardo, Clerk of the Virginia House of Delegates and the Keeper of the Rolls of the Commonwealth.

Mrs. Mackinnon graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor of arts degree in Early Childhood Education and taught elementary school in Tampa during the 1973-1974 academic year. Married to a career United States Army officer, Stephen R. Mackinnon, this was the first of many teaching opportunities as her military family moved around the country and the world.

She then taught elementary students at Fort Bragg, NC, for three years, later doing substitute teaching while working toward a master of arts degree in Education in Kansas. Later teaching assignments included service as a kindergarten teacher in San Antonio, TX; an in-class volunteer in a U.S. Department of Defense school in Vicenza, Italy; an elementary school tutor in Montgomery, AL; and a teacher’s aide and classroom volunteer at Fort Ord, CA.

In 1992, her family’s military travels brought them to the Lake Ridge section of Prince William County, where she served as a substitute teacher and finally a fifth grade classroom teacher for 23 years at Dale City Elementary School in Woodbridge. Although her formal retirement was at the conclusion of the 2016 school year, Mrs. Mackinnon’s love for public education will continue with her service as a teacher in the Prince William County Retirement Opportunity Program (ROP).

In presenting the flag of the Commonwealth of Virginia to Mrs. Mackinnon, Del. Anderson stated that “Ellen has demonstrated a love of public education and a heart for public service for more than 43 years. She has devoted her entire adult life to what I call a ‘passion profession,’ where she has molded the lives of young Americans from one end of America to the other. We are blessed that she and Steve settled right here in Prince William County.”

In addition to teaching, Mrs. Mackinnon was the rock to her husband Steve, a 22-year Army officer, over the course of his military career. Along with Steve, she raised two sons, both of whom went on to successful professional careers.

Their oldest, Jeffrey, is an active duty U.S. Army officer assigned to the Army Cyber Command at Fort Belvoir, VA. Their youngest, Patrick, is a molecular biologist working as an analyst for the Federal Marshal Service in Alexandria, VA. Ellen is also the proud grandmother to Logan Neale Mackinnon.

Prince William County is truly blessed to have the Mackinnon family as part of its community