October 30, 2007
Naming the Madison school that will not be Vang Pao Elementary School.
You remember that Hmong hero Vang Pao was arrested — by us — for plotting to overthrow the government of Laos and that the plan to name a school after of him was therefore shot. We're in the middle of a process of generating the new name, and they've got a list of 87 possibilities. Some are clearly not serious (Brain Dead Madison Metropolitan), some are just not serious (Steve Irwin), some I can't understand (RPA (Romanized Popular Alphabets)), and some just don't have enough to do with Wisconsin (Mahatma Gandhi). But I do like the idea of naming the school for Jeffrey Erlanger (the son of my colleague Howie Erlanger)(I wrote about him here)(more here).
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8 comments:
"Touby Lyfoung" seems like a good compromise with the Hmong.
How about:
"Who Let That Hunt In Our Woods?"
Sorry, a typo:
Who Let That Guy Hunt In Our Woods?"
I do like the idea of naming the school for Jeffrey Erlanger
I do too. I remember that post. Any serious chance of it happening?
Sure. Click the last link: "Jeffrey Clay Erlanger achieved local prominence by dint of his service to the city of Madison working for the welfare of differently abled people, and for the entire community. Jeff Erlanger never let the physical limitations of his body stand in his way. Here is a list of the contributions that created this high degree of prominence in the city. Jeff chaired the Madison Commission on People with Disabilities, chair board of directors of the Community Living Alliance, member of the Madison Economic Development Commission, member of the Governor's Rehabilitation Council, member of the board of directors of Madison Area Community Land Trust, and president of the State-Langdon Neighborhood Association."
I saw that, just wondered at the odds, not knowing how many of the 87 were in the realm of the ridiculous.
Short of rape and murder, with a name like that, who cares what Vang Pao did? Think of the school cheers. What kid wouldn't want to go to VANG PAO!
My elementary schools were Porter Gaud (ok), Richard Henry Lee (didn't know who he was for years), and James K. Polk (boring).
All my elementary schools were named after the streets they were on. I like that method. But it wouldn't work in Madison. Franklin Elementary is not on Franklin Ave., and Randall Elementary is not on Randall Ave, and Van Hise Elementary is not on Van Hise Ave.
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