What's in a name? A lot, it seems if it is going to be attached to a public school.
The New Westminster school district is currently accepting suggestions for names of the replacement for John Robson Elementary - which is being built on the former St. Mary's Hospital site - and the new middle school, which will be built on the Robson site.
District parent advisory council members Paul Johansen and Wendy Harris have thrown out a couple of suggestions, which The Record obtained via email.
Harris, DPAC's past chair, is recommending either school be named after Won Alexander Cumyow, said to be the first baby of Chinese origin born in Canada, according to a Wikipedia profile. The former New Westminster resident fought the injustice that denied Chinese-Canadians the right to vote, the profile says.
There is a well-known photo of Cumyow casting his vote at the age of 88 in 1949 after Chinese-Canadians were finally granted the right to vote.
Johansen, a member of the Freemasons, is suggesting one of the schools be named after Henry Holbrook, a politician and mason, who defied the status quo of his day by trying to protect First Nations' rights.
Board of education chair James Janzen said a number of parents want to keep the Robson name for one of the new schools.
"I've heard from various parents that they'd like to keep the name (for the elementary school), or, on the other hand, I've heard from people who'd like to keep the name on that site. That's why we are having a process," he said.
The last two schools built in the city have been named after the neighbourhoods they are located in - Glenbrook Middle School and Queensborough Middle School.
John Robson - the man - supported common racist policies, although, unique to his day, Robson was also a supporter of the female suffrage movement and education, according to the online Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
Robson was a businessman, journalist and politician, who was premier of British Columbia from 1889 to 1892. (Vancouver's famed Robson Street is also named after John Robson.)
His background has caused Harris to write in the email (she couldn't be reached for comment) that the Robson name should not be carried forward when the new schools are built.
"All of these dead white guys, they all have baggage," Janzen said, adding that almost every elementary school in the city is named after someone whose policies were typical of their time.
A committee comprised of school trustees and representatives of administration, staff and parents from the westside elementary schools will review the submissions. The committee will provide recommendations to the board of education, which will have final approval of the names.
Suggestions for naming the schools can be submitted up to Oct. 31. Suggestions may be submitted via email to community [email protected] or by fax at 604-517-6390 or in writing to: Secretary Treasurer, School District No. 40, 1001 Columbia St., New Westminster, B.C., V3M-1C4.
