Brian Greenspun says name a school for Evelyn Stuckey

Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.

Summer is over. It's back to school again.

It is a known fact that the older a person gets, the fewer back-to-school sales he will have in his future. That is why, I suppose, that those of us who are approaching elder statesman status look upon these times with a certain degree of pride in what we have accomplished and, on the other side of the coin, a certain amount of lament at that which we have not yet done.

I am no different. In fact, around my house I am reminded of that which I have not yet done on a daily basis. Constantly. Without surcease. Without any letup in sight. It is a situation with which I have become quite familiar and with which I have learned to cope for lo these many years.

There are some things, though, which have not yet been done that should have been accomplished a long time ago, that no amount of constructive criticism from the home office can affect. For one such issue, there is a whole other layer of people willing to give advice. That, I am afraid, is the situation in which I find myself today and for which I need help because nothing in my married life has prepared me for the onslaught of the ... Rhythmettes!

For those of you who have never heard of the Rhythmettes, they were once the pride and joy of a young and growing Las Vegas that didn't have that much to be proud of. They performed on national television, they performed in the Las Vegas High School gymnasium and they performed at every venue that, in those days, could and did appreciate these most talented and disciplined young women. Most importantly, the Rhythmettes represented what was really the best of a young Las Vegas and gave purpose, discipline and direction to hundreds and hundreds of young high school students who, as history has proven, have grown up to be the foundations of the communities in which they have chosen to live.

I say this because it is true. And because my sister, Janie, was a high-kicking, in-synced and in-tow member of one of the last high school classes ever to field a Rhythmette squad. I also say this because many of the hundreds of women who wore the uniform and boots of this once and always proud group of Las Vegas' finest are about to set upon me - to share with me their thoughts about what I should do in much the same way as my good wife has done on other matters for almost four decades.

If you follow me so far, you will realize that there are hundreds of 50-, 60- and 70-something women who want me to help, and they will not be shy about the way they ask. After all, they have been trained by the best to go after their dreams and to not let anyone stand in their way. And they have lived most of their adult lives doing just that. So what chance do I have in the face of this impending attack by women who know what they want and who won't stop until they achieve their goal?

The only way out of this is to do not only what they want but also what I know for a fact is the right thing to do. And that is speak up loudly on behalf of one of the greatest educators and leaders of young women who ever graced a high school in our community.

That's right. I am doing what I can to encourage the Clark County School District to name a new school after the woman who created the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes - Evelyn Stuckey.

First, in the name of full disclosure, I attended Las Vegas High School - there were a handful of high schools in the entire county in those days - and, besides having a crush on multiple members of the precision drill team, I was also the master of ceremonies for the annual Rhythmette Revue my senior year. So, I have firsthand knowledge of Stuckey's incredible ability to teach and mold these young women at a time when girls were still fighting over the right or arguing over the need to further their own educations. As a brother, a pretend boyfriend, and a master of ceremonies who could barely see eye to eye with the Rhythmettes because they were all a full head taller, I learned the value of believing in yourself and working as a team. I learned that, not just from my own coaches and teachers, but from Evelyn Stuckey.

So why is Stuckey more deserving than the others whose names have been advanced for schools to be named after them? I can't say that she is because I don't know all the candidates. But what I do know is that in a community that doubles in size every decade or so, there is very little that the newcomers know about our city - their city - that helps them understand who and why we are. In the 1950s and '60s, everyone knew Evelyn Stuckey and her Rhythmettes, and everyone knew that if a young woman was a Rhythmette, she was a person to be respected.

Anyone who could have that much impact over an entire generation of young people clearly deserves to be recognized. And she clearly deserves to be recognized in the milieu of her life's work. Stuckey lived for her girls. She was a classic example of a teacher who was dedicated to bringing out the best in her students - in this case her Rhythmettes. On a broader scale, and long before there was a legal requirement to do so, Stuckey was teaching young women that they, too, could excel on the athletic field if they were committed to the discipline it took to achieve such a goal. At the same time, she helped an entire community, which was searching for its own identity, feel good about itself when everyone else was defining Las Vegas according to their own biases. Stuckey's girls helped dispel the "Sin City" notions as they kicked and danced their way across the television sets of America.

There was no way, people had to think, that a city that could turn out such wholesome and responsible young girls like the Rhythmettes could be as bad as what everyone else was writing. And that was true. This was a wonderful place to grow up during those early days, and Stuckey helped assure those who had yet to come here that this was a decent and respectable place to live.

So, there you have it, School Board members. In my mind this is an easy decision, and I suspect that if you poll anyone else who was lucky enough to grow up here and go to high school here in those earlier days, you will get the same opinion. And if that isn't a good enough reason to enshrine Evelyn Stuckey's good works in a school bearing her name, then I don't know what is.

It is a shame that Las Vegas was so small and that so many of the Rhythmettes have scattered to faraway places, because they would all be here for the meeting if they could. It is a shame that so many of Las Vegas' nearly 1.8 million residents have never heard of her or Las Vegas High School and the Rhythmettes because they could have taken such pride in what she did. And it is a shame that there are so many worthy people and so few schools after which to name them.

But this is an easy one. And since Evelyn Stuckey is not here to plead her case - which she would never do - and since I am trying to avoid the e-mails and phone calls from hundreds of well-meaning and determined ladies who won't take no for an answer, I am asking the School Board to take heed of my plea.

I rarely, if ever, have as good an idea as this one that recommends naming a school after Evelyn Stuckey. That's because she was a rare individual, and this is a rare opportunity to do the right thing.

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