BROOKSVILLE — Some of the suggested monikers for the county's new high school sought to honor Hernando County's prominent citizens.
Others offered a nod to geography, the Nature Coast's natural wonders or the school color and mascot, the Green Hornets.
A few were just plain silly.
A committee charged with narrowing down the list waded through all 169 submissions Monday night and came up with a short list of five.
They decided to stick with geography, said committee member Debbie Walker-Druzbick.
The committee, comprised of community members picked by the School Board, agreed that many of the suggestions relating to county residents and families past and present were worthy, Walker-Druzbick said.
"But we have so many families and people who do so much good in everyday life we just felt it wasn't good to single out one individual," she said.
The school, set to open next fall, sits on U.S. 19. a few miles north of State Road 50. The site is east of the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area, north of Tooke Lake and south of the Royal Highlands community. There is plenty of scrubland in the area and pine trees are prominent.
Hence, the short list:
• Chassahowitzka High
• Highland High
• Northwest High
• Pine Ridge High
• Tooke Lake High
The district solicited names by placing collection boxes at every school and through its Web site.
The short list now goes to the elementary, middle and high schools that will feed into the new school. The students will vote, and the naming committee will keep the results of that vote in mind as they offer a final list of recommendations to the School Board.
Among the proper names suggested were Arthur St. Clair, a former Hernando County slave who rose to prominent positions including voter registrar and militia captain; Alfred McKethan, a Brooksville native and former bank chairman, mine owner and citrus grower; and Samuel Hope, who represented Hernando County in the Legislature in the 1870s.
The names of the four servicemen from Hernando County lost in Iraq and Afghanistan also garnered suggestions, as did "Bierwiler High," in honor of Hernando Sheriff's Capt. Scott Bierwiler, who was killed in a car accident last February.
Committee members pointed out that certain features of the high school such as the gym and football field might be reserved to honor people, said Dennis McGeehan, who will serve as the school's first principal and who also has a seat on the committee.
McGeehan said he was pleased with the short list.
"There are some good names on there and now we'll let the students have their say," he said.
Many suggestions that didn't make the cut will never take the place over the school's front entrance but are worth mentioning for a laugh:
• Alexander High (presumably in honor of the district's last — and controversial — superintendent, Wayne Alexander);
• Buzzing High
• Jimmy's Closer to Home High School
• Kato High (apparently in honor of the sidekick of comic book character Green Hornet)
• Hogwarts High
• Mermaid High
• See-um High
• Stinger High
• The Other Side of the Tracks High.
When asked what the committee thought of the Alexander suggestion, Walker-Druzbick paused.
"Uh, no comment."
Tony Marrero can be reached at tmarrero@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.
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