Getting involved

I'm proud of my daughter, Calista. There's a new elementary school going up next door to us, and over the past six weeks there's been an ongoing "name the school" process. The two final names under consideration are "Morningside Elementary," which is dull but inoffensive--the street it's located on is Morningside Drive, and our subdivision is "Meadows of Morningside." Nobody likes that option much, but nobody really dislikes it.

The other name under consideration is "Steve Irwin Elementary." I was on one of the preliminary naming committees, and I have to say the Steve Irwin idea was readily embraced by almost everyone. It's fun. It's good. And the kids that'll go to school there love it. But we were under no illusions that the school board would most likely turn its collective nose up at such a flamboyant name. I explained this to Calista, who'd been telling her friends the school would be named after the Crocodile Hunter. This annoyed her, and she asked what she could do to change the school board's mind. I told her she could speak at the school board meeting before they took a vote, and that's exactly what she did:

I'm Calista Blaschke. I'm in second grade at Comal Elementary.

I want Steve Irwin Elementary because he is my favorite and my class' favorite, too. His TV series were great! He even taught me a lot of things I didn't know and that is why I like it.

Thank you.

Other than some corrected spelling, that's her speech exactly as she wrote and delivered it. My only contributions were suggesting she give her name to start things off and say "Thank you" at the end. While other folks were droning on and on, using every second of their alotted time, Calista got in and out, making her point effectively.

The school board will still most likely vote to name the school Morningside, but even so, I suspect my girl has a bright future in public speaking.

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