District starts over with name game

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.

Now that the Clark County School District has the money to build 88 new schools, officials are searching for names.

"We'll get a deluge of applications," School Board member Larry Mason, who is a member of the district's school naming committee, said.

The committee on Tuesday began the process of finding names for 88 schools to be constructed during the next decade. Voters approved a property tax freeze last year that will pay for the new buildings.

The committee plans to name at least seven elementary schools, seven middle schools, two high schools and one alternative school by the end of the year.

Anyone can suggest a school name by completing an application, available by calling 799-8710, extension 229.

The committee considers applications and makes recommendations to the full School Board.

The full School Board may vote on several names as early as its May 27 meeting.

As many as 200 applications for names have been on file in the past. Names must be re-submitted to be reconsidered.

"I'm sure everybody in those applications are well qualified," said Basic High School principal Horace Smith, another member of the school naming committee. "So it's difficult."

The district names elementary and middle schools for prominent, retired educators and community leaders who served in Clark County. High Schools are named for geographic locations or features.

In recent years, schools have been named for slain North Las Vegas Police officer Raul Elizondo Jr., state Sen. Joe Neal, former Henderson Mayor Lorna Kesterson and education maven Elaine Wynn, wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn. Names that have not been selected in the past include Atlanta Braves pitcher and Las Vegas native Greg Maddux, former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren and Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones.

Committee members said they were also considering names for athletic fields, theaters and gymnasiums.

Several Henderson residents and educators made a plea Tuesday for the committee to consider naming a new three-field softball complex near Thurman White Middle School for Stephanie Lynn Craig, a popular Silverado High School freshman and second baseman on her softball team. The 15-year-old died last year after battling a rare form of cancer.

"She left a positive lasting impression on all of us," Julie Hatch, vice president of the Henderson Girls Softball Association, said.

"Her smile is what everyone remembers her for," one of her classmates told the committee.