Movement to Name School after Officer Chris Yung Gains Momentum

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Officer Yung's photo superimposed over the Devlin Road School site is the profile photo for the 'Name the new PWCS in Bristow "Chris Yung"' Facebook Page. Officer Yung's photo superimposed over the Devlin Road School site is the profile photo for the 'Name the new PWCS in Bristow "Chris Yung"' Facebook Page.[/caption]

Prince William County Schools held a meeting Jan. 12 to discuss the naming of Devlin Road Elementary to open in September of 2015. Next week, they will hold a second meeting Monday, 7 p.m., at Gainesville Middle School on Limestone Road.

Prince William County Schools is inviting the community to have their opinions heard on the best name for the school. So far, the proposal to name the so-called “Devlin Road School” after Officer Chris Yung has gained the most traction.

Most people remember Yung as the officer who died on New Year’s Eve Day 2012 while on duty as a motorcycle officer for the Prince William Police Department. Yung's motorcycle collided with another motor vehicle that was turning into the Sowder Village Square shopping center on Nokesville Road. Yung passed away at 34-years-old.

Today people remember Yung as a well-liked, good humored officer.

With the decision coming up to name a new Bristow elementary school, Gina Lapihuska of the Independence community in Manassas suggested the school be named for Officer Yung.

Lapihuska’s daughter will be entering kindergarten and attending the new school. Being a stay-at-home mom for the first time, Lapihuska wanted to get involved in her daughter’s school and the school community.

While thinking of ways to become involved, it occurred to her that the school should be named after fallen Prince William Officer Chris Yung.

Lapihuska said she met Young once, but knows the Yung family better than she knew Chris.

“I met Chris two weeks before he had passed away. My brother in law works in the motor unit. He was good friends with Chris,” she said.

She also felt it would be an important gesture to name the school after a police officer, saying she grew up in from a law enforcement family as her father is a retired Prince William Captain.

Knowing that she would need to the community’s support, Lapihuska created the Facebook page ‘Name the new PWCS in Bristow “Chris Yung’ Elementary.”’ That page has 1,430 likes at time of publication.

Lapihuska said the page took off quickly.

“[We received] over a thousand likes within 24 hours. It helped that it was published on NBC4, and people have been sharing and sharing,” Lapihuska said.

Lapihuska has been overwhelmed by the community support, but found the actual number of individuals who showed up at last week’s meeting to be disappointing.

“What’s going to help the most is people coming out to the meetings and sending letters, which they are doing, which is great,” she said.

Lapihuska, does not know if he School Naming Committee, a sub-committee of the School Board, will give more weight to citizens who attend the naming meetings over other means of communication. However, she is asking for citizen support in attending the meeting.

The Naming Committee is composed of School Board members Milt Johns (Chairman At-large), Gil Trenum (Brentsville) and Alyson Satterwhite (Gainesville); thus, citizens can contact their school board representative directly to express their thoughts on the naming of the school.

At the meeting held at Victory Elementary School, Lapihuska represented the group that wanted to name the school after Chris Yung. Yung’s parents and brother were also in attendance, and they spoke favorably of the recommendation.

According to Prince William County School’s Dave Beavers, Supervisor of Planning and Financial Services, there was one other recommendation brought up at the Victory Elementary meeting. That suggestion was that the school be named after Virginia State Senator Charles J. Colgan (R).

Colgan has served as State Senator since 2008, representing the 29th district. Previously, he served on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Colgan has a building at Northern Virginia Community College named after him.

Lapihuska said she believes Colgan should one day have a Prince William school named for him, but right now for this school, she is advocating that the school be named for Officer Yung. She believes naming the school after Yung is a great way to make sure his legacy lives on.

“He’s such a great role model for kids. He was such a great guy all-around,” she said, explaining that people said he was even nice while giving out traffic tickets.

In addition to the Facebook Page, momentum to name the school after Yung has snowballed with the circulation of a petition Lapihuska is running on the Facebook site. The petition, ‘Name new school in Bristow “Chris Yung Elementary” was started by Diane Winters and has 1,804 signatures to date.

People commenting on the petition have provided reasons that the school should be named for Yung.

Officer Yung’s widow, Robin Yung, signed the petition, signaling her support.

“I’m signing this for my kids who are so proud of their father," she wrote.

Some who commented specified what made Officer Yung so memorable.

“Chris was a good man and a great police officer. This is a great way to support and honor a fallen officer in Prince William County," a friend wrote.

Some wrote that naming the school after Yung would be a great way to make sure that Chris Yung lives on in memory. Others said it would be a good way to honor law enforcement in the community.

According to Beavers, the Naming Committee is still taking suggestions that includes the names of individuals and school names that represent the community.

The Naming Committee has moved the next naming meeting from Sinclair Elementary to  Gainesville Middle School instead. It is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The public is also invited to present their suggestions or support previous suggestion for the naming of the school, during citizens time at the February 4 School Board Meeting at the Kelley Center. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

The public can also speak at the February 18 meeting, in which the naming will be open for action. To speak during Citizens Time, residents need to sign up ahead of time either on online or in person by 6:50 p.m. that day.

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