The ABCs of Name-Calling

What’s in a name? About three months, 100 phone calls and letters, a few petitions and a lot of local history. At least that’s what has gone into Santa Ana Unified School District’s process for naming up to 14 campuses that will begin popping up over the next five years.

The district launched the name campaign in July, calling on residents to offer suggestions. Officials were clear on the matter: They want to choose names that mean something to the community.

Some people called in multiple times with multiple choices. Others sent in petitions. The results show some serious soul-searching on the part of community members and offer insights into who they think has contributed most to their lives.

The majority of names submitted were local historic figures. Only a handful had no connection to the community.

There was Edith Gilbert, a former Fremont Elementary School principal, who, during the 1920s, took many Latino children--and their families--under her wing. If a family needed food, clothes, even help paying the bills, she was there. One local called her “an angel to the community.” She died in 1975.

Another beloved name: Earl Engman, who for 40 years worked as a teacher, coach, administrator, and some say most importantly, a mentor. Many described Engman--a former pro-football player and Olympic athlete in track and field during the 1940s--as a “larger-than-life” figure.

“I met Earl Engman in 1969, and little did I know the impact he would have on my life,” said Robert Harrel, a former Santa Ana High School student and track team member. “He was kind, caring, and he was known for his great bear hugs. He was a second father to me.”

Jane Aatencio said her grown children, now 29 and 32, still refer to Engman--who died in 1993--as “Uncle Earl.”

“All the kids just revered him,” Aatencio said in her phoned-in nomination to the district. “He was the epitome of what a good role model was. . . . Earl was Santa Ana Unified.”

And there was Juan Pablo Grijalva, the area’s first rancher, who settled in Santa Ana in 1797.

“His low-tech efforts launched two centuries of water management that spawned vast orange groves, locked the river in a concrete jacket and quenched the thirst for a metropolis of nearly 3 million people,” said a sixth-generation cousin, Edward T. Grijalva.

This week, the school board considered dozens of suggestions--and one board member offered a few of his own. Former students, teachers and parents waited patiently late into the night to offer nominations--so many, the board decided to hold off making a decision until the meeting Oct. 24.

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Other districts have gone through similar processes. Capistrano Unified School District last year held a months-long campaign seeking the community’s input before naming Tesoro (which means treasure in Spanish) High School, scheduled to open next fall.

“We sought names from everyone,” said Julie Jennings, Capistrano’s director of communication. “We had, I’d say, almost 100 suggestions.”

Irvine Unified School District solicited community input for Canyon View Elementary, which opened this year.

“Generally, what occurs is the school will start out with a project name, and then we’ll go through the formal naming process, and the community is involved with that,” said Brigitte Campa, a facilities technician with the district. “Many times the school will take on the name of the neighborhood or the village.”

If the Santa Ana school board follows the recommendations it received from the community, the district’s new schools will be named after people, not places. That’s what board member Nativo V. Lopez said he would like to see.

“We heard from a lot of folks who have been around for many years and have their own local heroes and heroines, and I think that should be the basis for the board’s decision,” Lopez said. “What I enjoyed most was hearing from the people whose lives have been shaped by our local teachers and coaches, who are in many ways the unsung heroes. They shaped our youth to become sports stars and teachers, themselves. We had a very brief but very rich snapshot of our community’s history.”

A handful of residents asked the board to consider naming a school after Ruben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times reporter who was killed while covering civil unrest in East Los Angeles during the 1970s.

“It would be a name the students could relate to,” Albert Martinez told the board. “It would be a motivation for them to find out more about what was happening in the ‘60s and ‘70s and what we need to do to continue our progress.”

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Some names popped up over and over--Gilbert, Engman and former Santa Ana school board member Mary Pryer among them.

One group sent in a petition signed by 18 people who wanted a school named after Pryer, who served on the board for 18 years. Dee Runnells said Pryer “led the way for reform” in the district.

Pryer “was dedicated to all the students and was instrumental in bringing in fundamental schooling to our district,” Runnells said in her nomination entry.

Pryer, who is 79 and still lives in Santa Ana, is humbled by the nominations.

“I think there are probably people who are more deserving than I,” Pryer said. “There were a number of things going on at the time, a number of educational issues, and I was just trying to steer us back to something more fundamental.”

Board President John Palacio proposed naming a campus after the Segerstrom family, who first farmed bean fields and then later developed the land into South Coast Plaza and its surrounding area. The Segerstrom family is a strong force in Orange County and a benefactor for a number of philanthropic organizations. Henry T. Segerstrom, the force behind South Coast Plaza, in August donated $40 million to the expansion of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Palacio also suggested honoring Gene Autry, the famed silver screen cowboy and longtime Angels baseball team owner; Vern Evans, a former Santa Ana mayor and trustee for the Rancho Santiago College District; Walt Disney, the legendary creator of Mickey Mouse and Disneyland, and local veterans. And, while board members are at it, he suggested they consider naming some of the district’s existing facilities--the Bill Medley Auditorium and Bobby Webster Swimming Complex at Santa Ana High School, to name just two ideas. Medley, a former Righteous Brother, and Webster, a former Olympic gold-medal diver, both attended Santa Ana High.

Palacio also proposed renaming a portion of Walnut Street that runs in front of the high school auditorium after the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll group, the Chantays, and a portion of Parton Street as Diane Keaton Lane. Several members of the Chantays attended Santa Ana schools, as did Keaton.

“I think the district can use this as an opportunity to implement some capital improvements to our existing facilities . . . and give some historical recognition to people who have given to Santa Ana or become successful after graduating from Santa Ana schools,” Palacio said.

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And the Nominees Are...

Santa Ana Unified School District asked residents to suggest names for campuses that will open in the city over the next five years. Here’s what the list looks like:

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Multiple Nominations

Earl Engman (teacher, coach, administrator), Edith Gilbert (principal), Mary Pryer (school board member)

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Educators

John Bennett (teacher, principal, administrator), Clara E. Blackwell (school board member), Dick Coury (coach), Grace Crary (principal), Ralph Davidson (principal), Howard Harrison (teacher, principal, superintendent), Dick Hill (coach), Margarie Hopkins (teacher), Richard Jones (teacher), Alice Kiersey (teacher), Frances Larson (teacher), John Carey MacFarlane (engineer, teacher), Lester B. McNight (coach), Zelma Miles (teacher), John P. Mullen (teacher), Lanny Palagallo (principal), Robert D. Peterson (superintendent), Enriqueta Ramos (community college trustee), Jenny Lasby-Tessman (astronomer), Gertrude Winchester (teacher, principal)

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Community

Gates Burrows (architect), Tom Dooley (doctor), William Foulkner (architect), Harold Gimeno (architect), Hector Godinez (postmaster), Rodolfo Gonzalez (author), Juan Pablo Grijalva (rancher), Lorin Griset (former mayor), Donald Lind (veterinarian), Dean Miller (business owner), Ruben Salazar (journalist), Robert W. Selvidge (farmer), Willis D. Selvidge (farmer), Eddie West (journalist)

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Killed in Line of Duty

Paul Abraham (Vietnam War casualty), George Aguirre (Vietnam War casualty), Roger Fortune (Vietnam War casualty), Daniel A. Hale (police officer), Steven Jenkins (Vietnam War casualty), Ed R. Jensen (police officer), Michael Martin (Vietnam War casualty), Nelson A. Sasscer (police officer)

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Famous People

Susan B. Anthony (suffragette), Sir Winston Churchill (British prime minister), Isaac Curtis (pro football player), the Rev. Billy Graham (preacher), Diane Keaton (actress), Robert Kennedy (attorney general), George Meany (labor leader), Eleanor Roosevelt (first lady), Loretta Sanchez (congresswoman), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (suffragette), Harry S. Truman (U.S. president)

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Others

Don Adams (Costa Mesa community activist), Manuel Esqueda (founder of Los Serafines de Orange County), Col. Nelson M. Holderman (soldier), Lillie King (community activist), Jack K. Mandel (judge), Brig. General Frank D. Merrill (soldier), Gary Peebler (student), Chathren Quick (civic activist), Frank Rodriguez (police officer), Jacob Ross (former county supervisor, assessor), James W. Towner (county’s first Superior Court judge)

Source: Santa Ana Unified School District