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PrintThe committee charged with recommending a name for the new high school discussed three recommendations Monday evening. Rather than pick one name to recommend to the Columbia School Board, the committee opted to narrow the list of choices to three. The panel will pick one to recommend to the board on Nov. 1.
The three recommendations are Battle, Lakewood and Neil Aslin.
The committee had a discussion about naming the school after a person who is still alive, such as Eliot Battle. Criteria for naming a school states that using the name of a person still living "should be avoided." Battle is a longtime Columbia resident and educator. With his wife, Muriel, who died in 2003, he worked to overcome desegregation in Columbia's public schools.
Lakewood refers to the school's location, near Lake of the Woods Road. The committee decided "Lakewood" had a better flow than "Lake of the Woods," according to the report.
Neil Aslin was a Columbia superintendent from 1946 to 1962 and was the person who hired the Battles.His name received the most submissions from the community to the committee, but the members considered the students' potential plays on the name as a setback.
What should be the name of the new high school?
Show Me the Errors 
Comments
The virtues of naming the new school Battle High are many.
1. Battle High = high-minded, high achievement, high standards.
2. Historic couple who helped change the face of Columbia's public schools.
3. Battle High Spartans = sounds like a rallying call right before a game.
4. Puts front and center the best of Columbia. It's not about the Battles, it's about the remarkable people in the community who have lead Columbia forward to become one of the outstanding communities in the country.
I say this as a former Columbian now living in Minneapolis. Columbia is still very near and dear to me. Our history of progress and justice would be best reflected in naming the new high school: Eliot and Muriel Battle High School.
Go, Columbia!