Here's assignment: Help pick name.Byline: ANNE WILLIAMS The Register-Guard He's a multicultural icon, world-renowned athlete and all-around good guy, with a name that anyone with the least interest in baseball knows instantly. And if the Bethel School District Bethel School District may refer to:
Mays, Say Hey Kid, Willie Howard Mays Jr. might just drop by for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "Maybe he would come up and we could all meet him and get autographs," school board Chairman Greg Nelson said, only half in jest for mere sport or diversion; not in truth and reality; not in earnest. See also: Jest . Indeed, "Willie Mays" - along with "Calapooia," "Prairie Glen," "Royal Glen" and "Bethel" - made the board's top-five list of names for a new combined elementary and middle school, scheduled to open this fall at Royal Avenue at Terry Street. The board whittled down a list of 141 potential names, all of them nominated by staff and community members. It did the same with suggested names for a new alternative high school, adjacent to the kindergarten-through-grade-8 school, and the new street that will serve the two schools. "I think we were real happy with the response," board member Keith Anderson For the reggae artist also known as Keith Anderson, see . Keith Anderson (born on January 12, 1968, in Miami, Oklahoma) is an American country singer. Early life said. Now the board again wants to hear from the public. Ballots will be available at all the schools and on the district's Web site after Thursday, district spokesman Craig Hawkins said. The board will look at the tally and take a final vote April 8. It was Hawkins who first suggested "Willie Mays," back in 1998 when the district was asking the public for suggestions to name the new K-8 school off Barger Drive. (The board opted for "Meadow View," although the public's top choice was "Chinook Chinook, indigenous people of North America Chinook (shĭn  k`, chĭ–), Native American tribe of the Penutian linguistic stock. .")
"I've always thought it was the greatest name in the world," Hawkins said. "I grew up a (San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden ) Giants fan and I loved the joy with which he played the game. If we could approach education with that kind of joy, that'd be great." Nonetheless, Hawkins was shocked to return from vacation this week and see "Willie Mays" in the top five. Among the also-rans: "Hogwarts," the name of Harry Potter's school for wizardry wiz·ard·ry n. pl. wiz·ard·ries 1. The art, skill, or practice of a wizard; sorcery. 2. a. A power or effect that appears magical by its capacity to transform: ; "Boresek," the name of the family from whom the district purchased the land for the new school; "Torrey," Eugene's mayor; "Neil Armstrong"; "Martin Luther King Jr."; "George W. Bush"; and "Dude." Neither "Kent" nor "Hunsaker" - the first and last names of Bethel's longtime and respected superintendent - made the final cut, much to Hunsaker's relief. "I would feel very, very awkward even having my name in the hat," said Hunsaker, who plans to retire after next year. The board did sneak in Verb 1. sneak in - enter surreptitiously; "He sneaked in under cover of darkness"; "In this essay, the author's personal feelings creep in" creep in a nod to him, though, among its top picks for street names: "Jody's Way," for Hunsaker's wife. Nelson's personal favorite for the K-8 school was "Amazon Creek," which didn't make the list. Failing that, he said, he likes "Calapooia," the name of the American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. tribe that lived throughout much of Western Oregon This article is about the region of Western Oregon. For the University, see Western Oregon University. Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to apply to the portion of the state of Oregon that is west of the Cascade Range. , although more research needs to be done to determine the appropriate spelling of the word. While predictable, "Bethel" would reflect a historic connection to the region, settled by Danes around the turn of the century. It would also repair an allegedly broken pledge Broken Pledge is an Alove for Enemies EP released in 2003 on Strikefist Records. Track listing
"There's that lore out there," Nelson said. "But there's apparently no documentation to back anything up. We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. who may have been promised." As for "Prairie Glen" and "Royal Glen," they weren't among Nelson's top choices. A glen, according to Webster's, is a mountain valley - hardly appropriate for Bethel's cookie-sheet topography. "It's probably a situation in which the true nature of what a glen was was not fully understood," he said. The public vote will only be considered an advisory vote, Hawkins said. CHOOSE A NAME K-8 school names: Bethel, Calapooia, Willie Mays, Prairie Glen and Royal Glen Alternative high school names: Bethel, Calapooia, Freedom, Horizon and New Beginnings Street names: Blue Heron, Calapooia, Liberty, Opportunity and Jody's Way To vote: Visit the district's Web site at www.bethel.k12.or.us, or pick up a ballot at any school or the district office at 4640 Barger Drive. Ballots will be available Thursday. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion