A4
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
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Publisher
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WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Naming the new Seaside schools
P
erhaps the most unheralded local
election is the one scheduled for
Nov. 5 at the Seaside elementary
and middle schools.
That day, students will decide on the
names of their new schools after reloca-
tion in 2020.
Gearhart Elementary will join The
Heights and the middle school will com-
prise one wing of the new
high school and mid-
dle school structure at the
new campus site in the
Southeast Hills.
The purpose for a new
name, Seaside School
District board committee
R.J.
members said in May, is
MARX
to represent “a merge and
true new start.”
Broadway Middle School is named
after the street where it has stood since it
was built in 1949.
In preparation for the transition,
the Bringing Our Elementary Schools
Together, or BEST, committee wants to
guide the community through a process of
selecting a new name, mascot, and school
colors to encompass elementary students
starting in the 2020-21 school year. Mid-
dle-schoolers will vote on a name for their
new campus, which, although under the
same roof as Seaside High School, will
seek its own identity.
The committee started developing
the idea of a name and branding change
during the summer of 2018.
They attended a workshop on school
culture and climate hosted by the North-
west Regional ESD and gathered ideas for
blending staff and student bodies together.
Next, they distributed a survey to staff
members to gather their opinions on the
pros and cons of the transition to the new
campus and subsequently held two joint
staff meetings.
The decision will be up to students.
“We wanted to tie it in with election
day in November so our students could
experience and learn about the voting pro-
cess as well,” Heights principal Juliann
Wozniak said.
The website nearbymountains.com
offers some lovely examples of local
names in those hills, and any of those
could give birth to a new name. Consider
“Twin Peaks Elementary School,” the
mountain near Klootchy Creek — with
apologies to fi lmmaker David Lynch.
Klootchy High has a cool ring to it,
even if it does sound slightly vulgar.
More euphonious mountain areas include
Davis Point, Rippet Mountain and Clark’s
Mountain. Saddle Mountain School has a
nice ring to it.
Seaside might choose to honor a found-
ing father (or mother), or a historical fi g-
ure. The Lewis and Clark brand is spread
thin, but what about naming a school in
honor of Robert Gray, the commercial
seaman who completed the fi rst Ameri-
can circumnavigation of the world in 1790
before coming on and naming the Colum-
bia River on his second voyage two years
later.
How about Washington Irving, whose
“Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise
Home of the Sharks!
Lessons learned from the Texas City
Stingarees.
SCHOOL NAMING TIMELINE
LEFT: Logo of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, a member of minor league baseball’s Southern
League. MIDDLE: Author Washington Irving introduced America to the Pacifi c Northwest in
the 19th century. Could he be an inspiration for the name of the middle school or elementary
school? RIGHT: The Seabreeze Sandcrabs of Seabreeze High School in Del Ray, Florida.
beyond the Rocky Mountains,” published
in 1836, introduced more readers to the
Pacifi c Northwest than any single book up
to that time? And of course, the author of
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Other historical footnote favor-
ites include Willard and Weiser, immor-
tal members of the 1805-06 salt making
expedition in Seaside, immortalized in a
historical marker at the south end of the
Prom at Avenue U. These guys were mak-
ing salt before the Morton’s girl carried an
umbrella.
From the Clatsop and Chinook tribes,
there are chiefs Concomly, Coboway and
Cuscular, who welcomed the Corps of
Discovery to the Coast, and Tsin-is-tum,
also known as Jenny Michel, remembered
as a source of folklore of the Clatsop peo-
ple. Imagine naming the school after a
Clatsop tribe member — and a woman at
that. Tsin-is-tum married the last chief of
the Nehalem people, Wah-tat-kum — a
rather unwieldy name at that for an ele-
mentary school.
The committee could also turn to con-
temporary fi gures for inspiration.
I am told that the Dooley Bridge on
101 is named after a former Department
of Transportation offi cial — perhaps a
building offi cial would be appropriate for
naming. My hat’s off to these guys who
are putting pyramids on our precarious
hillside.
Perhaps students and staff would like
to pay tribute to a person who made an
overall contribution to the community?
The Bob Chisholm Community Center is
an example, named after a former public
works employee and fi refi ghter who died
trying to save a drowning victim.
So is the Don Larson Building, named
in 2017 after the former mayor who
was infl uential in the construction of the
library in 2008.
Sgt. Jason Goodding, the police offi cer
killed in the line of duty in February 2016,
could prove a fi ne choice.
Raise your hand if you know all the
local school nicknames. They’re the Gear-
hart Eagles, The Heights Beavers and the
Broadway Middle School Sharks.
I love the name the Seagulls, a name
shared with Seaside by the San Francisco
collegiate baseball Seagulls, the Salis-
bury (Maryland) Seagulls, and the for-
mer Mobile (Alabama) Seagulls, a pro-
fessional indoor football team that went
defunct in 2001. (If anyone suggested
changing that name, I’d imagine they’d
best leave town.) Maybe the elemen-
tary school should be known as the “Lit-
tle Gulls.”
But of course other nearby birds —
puffi ns, osprey and plover — all carry a
certain cachet.
And once you turn to the sea, well
you’ve got the Whales, the Seals — and
maybe even the Razor Clams, Sand Crabs
or Jumbo Shrimp.
Students, staff and community mem-
bers will submit their ideas, Wozniak said,
before a committee of teachers, parents,
school board members and community
members narrow the choices.
“Then students will get to ‘vote’ on
At Gearhart Elementary School registra-
tion on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, proposal
forms will be available. Proposal forms
will also be available at the elementary
schools, the Seaside Farmers Market,
football games and online. In October,
the B.E.S.T. Team, Parent/Community
Members will narrow down suggestions.
Oct. 18 will be the fi nal date for com-
munity input, and on Oct. 22, members
will create the ballot for student voting.
Votes will be tallied after Election Day,
and the information will be delivered to
the board on Nov. 12, with presentations
to follow at both schools.
The middle school will deliver name
survey forms during registration and
open house, at the Seaside Farmers
Market information booth, at school and
online. Oct. 18 will be the fi nal date for
completing surveys; from Oct. 21-25,
the name review committee will narrow
choices.
On Oct. 28, the school will create a stu-
dent ballot for a naming vote on Nov. 5.
election day for their favorite,” she said.
“Then we will bring the new name, mas-
cot and colors to the board for fi nal
approval.”
A website will be up for input.
Forms will be made available at the
Seaside Farmer’s Market, fall conferences,
registration, and online. The committee —
with the inclusion of a community mem-
ber and board member — will narrow
down the suggestions to two choices.
Throughout December through June
2020, the committee will work to develop
branding and new T-shirts for the students.
So pick carefully.
R.J. Marx is editor of the Seaside
Signal.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Hatred the new norm?
I
s hatred becoming our new norm? Pres-
idential candidate Marianne Williamson
provoked jeers and taunts as she articulated
her spiritual manifesto — urging Americans
to turn politics from hate into an instru-
ment of love. Makes me wonder why so
many Americans fi nd loving one another so
inconvenient.
President Donald Trump’s director of
citizenship and immigration services, Ken
Cuccinelli, recently proposed a revision to
Emma Lazarus’ famous poem inscribed on
the Statue of Liberty. Cuccinelli believes
that the tired and poor should be immigrants
“who can stand on their own two feet and
who will not become a public charge.” How
calloused.
I’m wondering whether Americans can
recall Richard Rodgers’ lyrics for the 1949
“South Pacifi c” song, “You’ve Got to Be
Carefully Taught.”
”You’ve got to be carefully taught to hate
and fear / You’ve got to be taught from year
to year / It’s got to be drummed in your dear
little ear / You’ve got to be carefully taught
”You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
/ Of people whose eyes are oddly made /
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade /
You’ve got to be carefully taught”
I’m wondering why eight-term U.S. Rep.
Steve King and President Trump receive
mere wrist-slaps for their ugly, divisive rac-
ist rants.
For some slight relief, I’m tempted to
cue up the Three Dog Night hit, “Joy to the
World” — ”Joy to the world / All the boys
and girls / Joy to the fi shes in the deep blue
sea / Joy to you and me.”
Perhaps my heartfelt concerns may
prompt others to urge me to move to
another country — whose residents are
more love-inspired.
ROBERT BRAKE
Ocean Park, Washington
Renters’ tax credits
I
happened upon the letter regarding a per-
vasive concern (“Help the homeless,”
The Astorian, June 10). No city in Amer-
ica has enough emergency beds to meet the
needs of all its homeless citizens (national-
homeless.org).
According to Harvard researchers, U.S.
rents have risen by 61 percent since 1960,
but renters’ median earnings have risen only
5 percent.
There are several proposals (that are
similar) in Congress to help alleviate the
nation’s housing crisis. These proposals
involve a renters’ tax credit.
The tax credit would serve as a cap on
the amount of rent and utilities a low-in-
come household would pay (about 30 per-
cent of their income). And it would provide
a tax credit for the balance above that to
local fair market value.
We can call or email our members of
Congress and urge them to support enact-
ing a renters’ tax credit in any new tax
legislation.
DONNA SCHINDLER MUNRO
Bremerton, Washington
Put the two together
just fi nished reading two articles, one on
the impacts of earthquake and tsunami
on the infrastructure (“Research studies tsu-
nami impact on infrastructure,” The Asto-
rian, Aug. 20), and one on the impact and
benefi t of estuary restoration (“New maps
chart possible course for estuary resto-
ration,” The Astorian, Aug. 20).
Put the two together — developments in
estuarine environments are, by defi nition,
subject to earthquake and tsunami dam-
age. They are at or near sea level and are on
fi lls. If we return those environments “to the
I
tides,” and eliminate developments in those
areas, rather than expend money and effort
on protecting them, we will address both
issues.
The estuary will be restored to its more
natural condition and be able to support
diverse wildlife habitat, and there won’t be
money or effort expended to make inher-
ently unstable areas stable during a disaster.
There will have to be money expended
to provide suitable development areas in
locations not prone to damage during major
disasters, and that won’t be trivial.
ROGER OAKES
Seaside