Here we go again.
What should we call the new high school opening next summer near Plant City? Alas, a really good name, Plant City HS, is already taken.
Given the association of strawberries and Plant City, there was logical sentiment for variations on a berry theme, including Strawberry Crest HS. And because the new school sits partly on land sold to Hillsborough County by the Griffin Family, there was a rationale for Osburn M. Griffin HS.
Put it this way. Why not think students first? A sense of school identity is important – and all too infrequently realized. And nothing says community like geography or indigenous trait. That’s why Apollo Beach Elementary or Turkey Creek Middle or Brandon Senior HS works better than, say, Mintz Elementary, Farnell Middle or Newsome HS.
Moreover, we’re all familiar with the surname game. The living are still subject to revisionist embarrassments or modest accomplishments. The pantheon of great (deceased) Americans is limited and, well, taken. How many more Washingtons, Jeffersons and Lincolns do we want? Then the pecking order dilutes quickly to local politicians, captains of industry, school board members and those who sell land to the county for a school.
Strawberry Crest HS? Good choice. And a likely winner with students. The Fighting Smoothies? The Strawberry Blondes? The students would love it. That has to count for something.