I graduated from Camelback High School in Phoenix. As school names go, this is hardly controversial since the name is after a nearby mountain which resembles a reclining camel. [Our sports team was the Spartans. I suppose we should be thankful it wasn't the Humps.]
The name never struck me as odd until a transfer student from Canada said he thought it was akin to Salamander Eyes High School. Aside from regretting that we hadn't snagged that name, the comment burrowed into my memory.
American high schools often have names that honor figures from history, which is certainly a more respectable practice than the modern tendency to honor the writers of big checks. I'd like to see the historical approach expanded so we see more schools named after Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor, Herman Melville, Jonas Salk, Aristotle, Ernest Hemingway, Ralph Ellison, Steve Jobs, Ambrose Bierce, etc.
And why not move into the fictional? Many a teenager would love a diploma from Holden Caulfield High.
2 comments:
But alas, there is: my mother taught at Salk Elementary School in the Mesa Public Schools system. (Still, a diploma from Caulfield High School would be completely cool!)
Crusty HR Manager,
You have restored my faith in school names. There should be statues of Salk in every major city.
Michael
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