The following letter submitted to DavidsonNews.net is a version of an email message sent to local school parents by the head of the Bailey Middle School PTA:
To the Editor:
Hopefully by now you know our new high school on Bailey Road in Cornelius has a name – Hough High. It was approved by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education on Tuesday, Nov. 10. (DavidsonNews.net, Nov. 11, 2009, “It’s official: School on Bailey Road is Hough High”) You may have also heard there has been lots of discussion – positive and negative – in the community since the board’s approval.
Some people are upset because of the possibility of the mispronunciation from Hough High to “Ho” High, or to “huff” (a possible substance abuse reference), and the possibility that the naming process was flawed. Any questions and concerns about the new high school should as always be directed to the new principal Terri Cockerham and of course, the Board of Education since they created a planning committee to gather public input.
This is something that affects our whole community. Anyone that may have a child that will attend Hough High. School names are a long-term decision. Your concerns must be emailed before the Dec 8th school board meeting – the sooner the better. Please keep all comments professional whether you are pro or against.
You can do something. If you have comments (pro or con) you are encouraged to do the following:
- Send an email to the school board and school officials, and local newspapers – Why do you think the new high school should be called Hough High? Why do you think the new high school should not be called Hough High? In the subject line put “Please Rethink Hough.”
- Attend an open casual meeting Thursday, Nov 19, 7 to 9 a.m., at Summit Coffee, in Davidson, to talk with school board member Kaye McGarry regarding board issues.
- Stay in the loop before and after the Dec 8 CMS board meeting. The meeting is at 6 p.m. when the new board members will be sworn into office.
To reverse the decision to name the new high school Hough would need to be initiated by the majority of the board or taken to the board by the superintendent per the CMS attorney Sarah Crowder. With all the new information that has surfaced the community may be able to make a difference but you should send your email today whether or not you are pro or against and why! Do not wait or it will be too late!
Janet Wirostek
Bailey Middle PTA
President 2009-2010
Email Janet Wirostek at Bailey.pta@cms.k12.nc.us
COMMENTS
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I am frankly amazed and somewhat amused at all the comments being made about the name given our new high school. I grew up here and was fortunate enough (and old enough) to have been a student at North Mecklenburg during Mr. Hough’s tenure. When the new school was named by the school board, my only thought was “how cool” they named the school after Mr. Hough. Maybe all the people that are questioning this decision should have known what kind of man he was and what he was about. Even we, as cynical high schoolers, never thought of disrespecting Mr. Hough by twisting his name in the manner that it’s being twisted by those “concerned” individuals. My kids and I all graduated from North Mecklenburg, my step-children will one day soon attend and graduate from Hough High School and I’ll be just as proud.
Tough, through, slough, bough, though, dough, plough, trough, lough, cough…
I’m sorry, but I find this new discussion to be ridiculous. I th-ough-t we were honoring a very special educator who demonstrated grace during a difficult time.
Ms. Wirostek’s seemingly unilateral use of the PTA list seems extremely unfair. Will she be “fair and balanced” and offer it to Mayor John Woods, who made such a compelling case in the first place to honor his former principal? Or will she just use it for her group’s singular agenda?
Kids finding ways to co-opt the names of rival high schools is simply par for the course. Just ask my friend Susan, 1982 graduate of J.R. Tucker HS in Richmond, Va.
I feel certain that any confusion with the proper pronunciation of “Hough” will evaporate quickly once it is released.
Plus I can imagine all kinds of excellent cheers rhyming Hough and Rough and Tough, not to mention a great potential mascot of a Big, Bad Wolf.
Well said Rusty. Are there better alternatives, not meaningful, but less controversial. Perhaps Plain High School, but wait, plain rhymes with train, and train rhymes with Jane, and Jane could be a ho, so that didn’t work. What about Vanilla High? No obvious word play, but I guess that it could be viewed a racist….
As a parent of a 6th grader at Bailey, I am sensitive to the naming of my son’s future High School. Principal Hough is someone we should be honoring, and I’m happy to support the name. Any issues with how the name is pronounced is, put simply, a parental duty to be handled for each child. Anyone who makes fun of the name, or students of the new Hough High by association, aren’t worth my son’s time. Let’s not worry about perceptions, and deal with reality. This is his name, he was an important educator in the area, and he deserves the honor he’s been given. My father attended North Meck back in the 50s and has nothing but good things to say about Principal Hough. I vote we end the superficial nonsense and support the new Hough High.
There are few names in this world that cannot be made fun of.
This scattershot email of the PTA president is one thing bothering me about this controversy. It’s here and being forwarded to me though classroom channels. “Pro or con”, we’re being asked to email the board under the catchall subject line “Please rethink Hough”.
Out of all of the names in the world, I thought it should NOT be called the CMS default “under construction name” Bailey High. Bailey, Bradley, Brawley, and Blythe schools are already nearby.
I was hoping for one of the two Bailey Road schools to be called Caldwell because of the nearby Caldwell Station and the Caldwell “town” dot that shows up on half of my area maps. http://tinyurl.com/yc2h9y2 is a Google map of the Area. The closeby county of Caldwell kinda ruins that idea of mine.
-Bryan Stutzman (proud graduate of the S&M Unicorns and Dook)
On a positive note, this process of naming of the new High School has already enlightened the community on what Mr. Hough has done for CMS and what he means to the people who knew him personally.
There are thousands of people within our community who do not like the name Hough High School for the new high school for a myriad of reasons, but at the same time respect and appreciate Mr. Hough based on the information provided by Davidsonnews.net and through others. We need to respect everyone’s opinion and not take personal attacks or mock individuals for what they believe.
There appears to be 3 separate issues
1) Selecting a name for the new high school
2) Honoring a well deserved individual, Mr. W.A. Hough
3) Providing a public lesson to the kids in our community who are watching and talking about this as well.
The public lesson for our kids would be a “demonstration of collaboration” by both sides. Hopefully through our example they will be able witness the importance of collaboration and its benefits. Based on what I have learned about Mr. Hough over the past couple of weeks, if he was alive today, he *might* feel the same.
With a collaborative approach we could do of the following -
1)Name the school Unity High School or Bailey High School(which I think both names were on the committee’s initial short list of 4-5 names) and on the sign out in front of the school have it also read “In Honor of W.A. Hough”
2)Name the stadium W.A. Hough Stadium and set-up an informational memorial in the front lobby of the school.
If we are able to do the above, we would both be honoring W.A. Hough and respecting the concerns of many in the community. Thank you for taking the time read my posting.
Alternately we could just teach our kids to be respectful and not make fun of other people.
After doing a little more research, there may be many more flaws in the names that the school board has used. Point in fact: Stoney Creek Elementary, JH Gunn Elementary, David Cox Elementary, Cochrane Middle School, John Morehead Middle School, Whitewater Middle School. Maybe Mrs. Wirostek and the other naysayers should channel their energies towards renaming all the schools that have questionable names (questionable to some). Do the names of the above schools promote getting “stoned,” supporting “guns,” slang usage of anatomical parts of the body, sexual acts or racially slanted ideals? I think not. After hearing the bantering on the radio today, maybe homeschooling should be a viable option for a lot of people. Heaven forbid if any of your kids ever get made fun of at any time in their lives.
Janet Wirostek apologizes to PTA board and members
EDITOR’S NOTE: The writer of the above letter, Bailey Middle PTA President Janet Wirostek, issued an email apology Friday morning for recent emails and comments that she said may have given the appearance the PTA was taking a position on the W.A. Hough High School naming issue. “As a Parent, I will in the future voice my concerns outside the PTA Involvement,” she wrote. (Text below)
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 9:40 AM
To: (Bailey Middle parents listserv)
Subject: Hough High
Hello Bailey Parents, Teachers, Students and Community:
I wanted to put closure on the communication that was sent out from the Bailey PTA regarding the name Hough High.
My intent was to provide resources for parents, students and the community to express their opinion to the decision-makers whether they were pro or con in naming the high school Hough High.
I thought it was important to keep you informed as to what was going on in the media and CMS and feel that I have accomplished this.
I apologize to the Bailey PTA Board and Membership if it appeared that our PTA was taking a position. This is not the case.
After rereading the subject line I realized that I had made an error in making it sound like we were taking a side. – Please forgive me – It was 2:00am in the morning when I finished composing the email.
As a Parent, I will in the future voice my concerns outside the PTA Involvement.
Whatever the outcome we must stand together and make the best of it for our children and the PTA as a whole.
Sincerely,
Janet Wirostek
Parent and PTA President 2009-2010