Friday, November 7, 2008

So now that there's a new president-elect and he's made everyone's life better by pursuing personal achievement, how long will it be before people start making good on actually living better lives and doing better things? Can it be safe to assume that children in 30 years will learn to read and write at Obama Elementary or the Obama High School will be fighting for a place in the State Playoffs this time of year? For once, this isn't meant to be sarcastic. Seriously, since most new schools being built are named for whichever suburb they happen to sit in, is it passe to name a school after someone like a president?

Of course, many of us went to a school named simply for the suburb it belongs to and there's nothing wrong with that. It eliminates the issue of whether an individual wants their education to be received in a building named for someone they might or might not respect or even consider significant. This, of course, is of particular issue when a school is named for a Confederate General or something like that. It would, however, be interesting to find out how long after their presidencies ended that schools began to be named for Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, etc. Granted, Kennedy is probably a bit of an exception because of the whole assassination thing.

Tuscaloosa city schools made a masterful move by naming a new high school after Paul W. Bryant a few years back. Unfortunately, due to restrictions stemming from the integration of Tuscaloosa schools, none of the same school mascots can be used in that system in the future. In cruel twist of irony, the old Tuscaloosa High School's mascot was the Black Bear. That ruined the immaculate notion of the Paul W. Bryant Bears taking the field. Instead, the "Stampede" and their navy and gold color scheme do.

So, if there are Obama High Schools in the future, will the mascot be the "Changers" or the "Hopers" or maybe the "Husseins"? One thing is for sure, though. When Wasilla High in Alaska chooses a new mascot, how can it not be the "Palins"?

1 comment:

Patrick Copeland said...

Could This be a sign of things to come?