News-Record.com

I don't think anyone disputes that Ron McNair deserves the honor, Allen.

As I understand it, the issue here is that once again, the school board completely ignores the wishes of the constituency and, after making a unilateral decision, tells the peole to get over it.

Majority sentiment in the Reedy Fork area is to name the school Reedy Fork Elementary after the community. It's not surprising - schools all over the country are named for their local communities. But the Guilford County Board of Education did what it does best - ignore public sentiment and create problems where none existed previously.

From the sound of the Counterpoint article this morning, it seems the issue is the people who's kids are going to this school may not feel this name is reflective of their preferences or feelings. I know it's hard to imagine with our schoolboard, but they may feel something is being forced on them by external interests with a political agenda.

Personally, I agree with Joe Stafford that endless schools named after directions on the compass are bland and boring, but like the guy said in Counterpoint, Joe isn't from their area.

I see those points. But why is it such a big deal? It's not as if Reedy Fork is some long-standing community with historic roots.
It's a Starmount subdivision that could well have been named Mystic Ridge or Wayne Manor or some other innocuous subdivision name.
I live in a subdivision called The Harbor, a name that has zero emotional attachment to me.
In fact, I believe its original name was the Gatepost.
Six of one. Half-dozen of the other.

That may be true, but the name "Reedy Fork" clearly has emotional attachment to the people who live there. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so bothered by this.

The school's name may or may not be a big deal (it isn't to me - they could call it Rocky Balboa Elementary, for all I care). But the people in that community feel that, once again, the school board is ignoring their wishes and forcing something on them they didn't ask for.

And let's reverse the question: Why would it have been a big deal for the School Board to go along with the community and name the school Reedy Fork Elementary?

OK, I'm trying to understand this mentality, which seems bizarre. Answer #1 is the racism answer, but this doesn't account for the similar resistance to Murrow. Answer #2 is that folks are, for some reason, really invested in "Reedy Fork," "Northern," "South by Southwestern," and "Whispering Pines." I tend toward #2, and my hypothesis is this: if School X is named "Reedy Fork" or "Northern," then that confers "community" status on what was before merely a subdivision or area by symbolically organizing space that hitherto was unorganized or organized only by haphazard market and geographical forces. "Reedy Fork" thus fetishistically produces locality in a way that "Slow Food" does: by symbolically embodying an imagined geography.

If we're going to do the Challenger, where are the Ellison Orizuka, Greg Jarvis or Judith Resnick supporters? I think we may be slighting Jews, Gentiles, and Japanese ethnicities here.

Say it ain't so , Joe!

The difference, of course, is that Ron McNair has a local connection. He was an A&T alum.

That would make sense.

"If we're going to do the Challenger, where are the Ellison Orizuka, Greg Jarvis or Judith Resnick supporters?"

Um -- maybe in the towns where THEY WENT TO COLLEGE??

Having a local connection did not seem to help Joe's E.R. Murrow campaign. Go figure.

One is beginning to get an appreciation why the board has opted instead to call the schools by directions of the compass

What happens when we run out of directions?

Allen, you can always break down into 360 degrees of bearing on the compass. You could even then break it down into minutes if you have to. ie: "Seventy-six Degree and Fifty-nine Minutes High today announced their Valedictorian" etc.

Not to worry

"you can always break down into 360 degrees of bearing on the compass"

Would latitude/longitude work better?

This is an outrage! I just got off the phone after talking with Mrs. Stafford and I simply cannot believe anyone would want to name a school after a muddy little creek full of sewage and highway runoff when it could be named after a real American hero who died for all of humanity.

By the way, Mcnair's niece is currently attending A&T University.

Take a look at the school Boards agenda for its meeting next Tuesday. The new Northern elementary name will be up for discussion.

http://www.guilford.k12.nc.us/boe/2007/6_12/memorandum.html

We can also play a game. Open it up and lets play "spot the education item"!

Some continue to say all the people in the Reedy Fork area want the Reedy Fork name. This is not the case. I have been in contact with several neighbors out there that like the McNair name. The Reedy Fork Project Team voted 2 to 1 for McNair. One of the two people voting for McNair lived right in the middle of the development. McNair personifies what we want in role model. Dr. Mack and others have identified that young children need more attention in math and science. The Board of Education should be congratulated to have the forsight to use this great name.

Some continue to say all the people in the Reedy Fork area want the Reedy Fork name. This is not the case. I have been in contact with several neighbors out there that like the McNair name. The Reedy Fork Project Team voted 2 to 1 for McNair. One of the two people voting for McNair lived right in the middle of the development. McNair personifies what we want in role model. Dr. Mack and others have identified that young children need more attention in math and science. The Board of Education should be congratulated to have the forsight to use this great name.

Some continue to say all the people in the Reedy Fork area want the Reedy Fork name. This is not the case. I have been in contact with several neighbors out there that like the McNair name. The Reedy Fork Project Team voted 2 to 1 for McNair. One of the two people voting for McNair lived right in the middle of the development. McNair personifies what we want in role model. Dr. Mack and others have identified that young children need more attention in math and science. The Board of Education should be congratulated to have the forsight to use this great name.

Statman,

I can't find the education item, but this may be a trick question on your part. Is there ever an education item on their agenda?

One speaker against Ronald McNair said the following at the BOE meeting: "our community feels no real identity or special greatness to the name".

That says it all.

They have a pretty narrow sense of community and an uncharitable sense of greatness. I suppose being able to develop large tracts of land makes one greater than an astronaut who gave his life for the love of science and his country?

I know, let's rename Greensboro "Starmount". Though we have no mountains and can no longer see the night sky.

It makes no sense for Joe Stafford, from the Southeast district to come in and change our community school name. He should concentrate on naming schools in his district. The May 10 committee approved Reedy Fork Elementary School. I don't know who changed the vote! The majority of RFR residents want to keep our "community" name. The BOE should assign a number for future schools. Once the school is built, they can name it. Reedy Fork Elementary School was on the original plans over four years ago. The people in the Reedy Fork area of Northeast Guilford County are the ones affected by this. We should be able to decide what happens in our district.

The Reedy Fork area of Northeast Guilford County is steeped in history. It is a historic area that dates from before the Revolutionary War with a grant from the king of England. In 1946, long before Starmount bought the land, the Cone family sold the land to R. Hall, Sr., who renamed the land Reedy Fork Ranch. It truly was a cattle ranch until Starmount purchased it. The name has nothing to do with Starmount. They simply did not change the name when they began developing the residential community. The residents of Reedy Fork Ranch have looked forward to the "community" school for years. It is located in the middle of this great neighborhood and should be named Reedy Fork Elementary School.

Do you know that according to Wikipedia there are presently eight schools in the United States, including a an Engineering building at North Carolina A&T State University, named after Ronald McNair?

According to Wikipedia on the Public Honors for McNair:

Several K-12 schools have also been named after McNair. Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, Ronald McNair Elementary School in Germantown, Maryland, Ronald E. McNair High School in Atlanta, Georgia, Ronald McNair Middle School in Decatur, Georgia, Ronald McNair Elementary School in University City, Missouri, Ronald E. McNair Elementary School in Dallas, Texas (Denton ISD), and Edison Ronald McNair Middle School in East Palo Alto, California Ronald E. Mcnair High School in Stockton, California are all named in his honor.

There would be only one school in the United States named Reedy Fork Elementary.