PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2005)--- While many counties in the nation struggle to find appropriate names for the multitude of new elementary, middle and high schools erected each year, Palm Beach County has developed a unique solution designed to give students a lesson in local history. In 2003, the School District of Palm Beach County invited the Historical Society of Palm Beach County to participate on its school naming committee as a creative way to ensure that new school names reflect the culture, people, events and history of the local communities. Since that time, the Historical Society has helped to provide names for six new schools in the county, bringing history to life and making it relevant for thousands of local children annually.

The committee’s most recent accomplishment is Elbridge Gale Elementary School, which will open in Wellington in August 2006. Elbridge Gale was a professor of horticulture who settled in West Palm Beach in 1884. He became the first local superintendent of schools and his daughter, Hattie, was the first schoolteacher at the county’s first schoolhouse, built in 1886. The committee also succeeded in providing names for two new schools opening this August 10: L. C. Swain Middle School in Greenacres, named after Lawrence Carter Swain, the city’s founder, and Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee, named for the Seminole Indian Tribes of Florida. The committees’ first successes were Jeaga Middle School in West Palm Beach, named after one of the first Native American tribes to inhabit South Florida; Osceola Creek Middle School in Loxahatchee, named after the famed Seminole Indian chief; and Pierce Hammock Elementary School, named after the legendary Barefoot Mailman, Charles Pierce.

“This is a sure-fire way to educate students and the entire community about the diverse history of Palm Beach County,” said Harvey Oyer, Chairman of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. “Students who have a better understanding of the people and events that have shaped Florida’s landscape are more likely to have a greater level of respect and pride for their communities and for themselves. By adding historical value to new school names, we can help to build an affinity between the students, the school and the entire community and promote the valuable role Florida’s history plays in our educational system.”

Oyer, a local historian and fifth-generation Palm Beach County native, serves on the school naming committee and makes recommendations based on the Historical Society’s collective knowledge of the area and research from its collections that span 12,000 years of Florida history. The school naming committee is also comprised of at least three community residents, two students and two appointed School District staff. They propose three names for every new school, and the recommendations are presented to the School Board for a final selection.

For more information about the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, contact (561) 832-4164.

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