On Mar 28, 12:05*pm, wrote:
BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Board votes to create Barack Obama Academy
Students lead renaming drive to 'be a part of history'
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Posted: March 27, 2009
7:45 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn

Though the 44th president hasn't yet completed his first 100 days in
office,
a school board in California, at the request of students, has voted
to
rename its facility, making it reportedly the first middle school in
the
country named after Barack Obama.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that several students from
Oakland's
Alternative Learning Community public school waited for hours at a
meeting
of the school board to petition board members for the name change.

The small school of 35 students, which opened in 2007 and enrolls
primarily
African American and low-income students, will be known in the future
as the
Barack Obama Academy.

"To graduate from Barack Obama Academy (BOA) means I am part of
history in
the making, and I want to be a part of history," eighth-grader Mikela
Mosely
said in a statement released by the district earlier this week. "This
is an
inspiration to me and for many generations to come."

Many of the students at the newly named Barack Obama Academy,
according to
the Chronicle, have a history of poor grades, lax attendance and
school
discipline.

Toni McElroy, the school's principal, told the newspaper that the
middle
school offers small classes, supportive counseling, and a focus on
community
service, environmental issues and civic leadership.

The principal also reported that the success of the student-led drive
prompted school-wide celebration the next day.

"These are students that people have written off," said McElroy. "They
were
able to see that if you really push and if you really are motivated
and
consistent that you can make a change."

Last November, students in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island also led a
drive
to have the name of Ludlum Elementary School changed to Barack Obama
Elementary, believed to be the first school in the country named after
the
newly elected president.

Last month, an alternative high school in Plainfield, N.J., became
reportedly the first high school in the nation to adopt the
president's
name, changing from the Plainfield Academy for Academic & Civic
Development
to the Barack Obama Academy for Academic & Civic Development.

News reports on the elementary, middle school and high school name
changes
all indicated the boards voted unanimously following student
presentations.

Earlier this month, an elementary school in West Virginia, however,
opted to
strike the Obama name from its list of three leading candidates for a
new
name following a proposed bill in the state's legislature that would
forbid
naming anything funded with taxpayer dollars after living elected
officials.

I'm watching for the Grand Opening of the Barack Obama Humanitarian
Institute of California (BOHICA).

I'm betting it will be a Grand Opening, indeed.

Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA