new school in Orillia will not be named after Gordon Lightfoot...
http://www.orilliapacket.com/2015/03...chosen-as-name
The proposed name of Orillia’s new high school will leave no doubt where its students are from.
The new facility, which combines students and staff from Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute and Park Street Collegiate Institute, will be called Orillia Secondary School.
The name was approved by the Simcoe County District School Board’s business and facilities committee at a meeting Wednesday night. Trustees are expected to give final approval to the name at a board meeting at the end of the month.
“The name was so important to everyone,” said Jodi Lloyd, trustee for Orillia and Ramara Township and member of the naming committee. “It recognizes the community and the history of the schools in the community.”
Maintaining the history was important to committee chair Jim Sammon, principal of OD/Park Secondary School. There has been a secondary school in Orillia with the city in its name for nearly 140 years.
“As a member of the community and person who chaired the committee, I think it’s a great name,” Sammon said. “It’s something the student body can embrace and then begin to build strong traditions on.”
Driving the push to name it Orillia Secondary School were the students who will be attending there, Lloyd said.
“The students said they wanted a name that identified where they were from,” she said. “This recognizes what the students were looking for.”
“It’s simple, elegant and powerful,” Sammon added, relaying the thoughts of another committee member, “something kids in the community can be proud of.”
Board policy calls for a naming committee to provide three options for a school’s name, including the preferred choice. The Orillia Secondary School committee felt so strongly about its choice, it is not providing any other options for the board to consider.
A variety of names had been suggested before Orillia Secondary School was unanimously selected by the committee, made up of 15 people, including students and staff members of the school and community members.
Lloyd said those suggestions ranged from unique creations to reflect the area, such as West Park Secondary School or Orillia United Secondary School, to honouring Orillia’s famous residents, such as Gordon Lightfoot, Stephen Leacock, C.H. Hale or Dr. Philip Bernard Rynard, who donated the land where Park Street stood and Orillia Secondary School is being constructed.
The committee felt strongly enough about the other suggestions to ask Lloyd to look at other ways to recognize them in the school, such as through the dedication of a music room or science wing.
Construction is ongoing at the new building. Students are expected to fill up its halls in time for the start of the second semester in the 2015-16 school year.
patrick.bales@sunmedia.ca