So Proud of My Sister!

My sister, Mandi, lives in Spanish Fork, Utah. This week, someone she knows proposed a change to a local elementary school's name from "Sierra Bonita" (the name of one of the mountains in Spanish Fork) to "Maple Ridge," because this individual thinks the name "Sierra Bonita" is "ugly."

(Personally, I find it a bit ironic that someone would find the name "ugly" considering that "sierra bonita" means "beautiful mountain range." But that's just me.)

Mandi was not pleased with this pointless and costly measure, so she's taking action. She's set up a facebook page (located here), and a petition (located here) to counter this proposal. I am so proud of her, and hope you will take the time to support her, and sign the petition.

Here's her summary of the action, the flaws in the reasoning behind changing the name, and what should be done.

Title: Keep "Sierra Bonita"
Target: Nebo School District

We support the name chosen by the Nebo School District for the new elementary school

We support our communities history by using the name Sierra Bonita for our new elementary school

We Support Latino children in the community

We support a more inclusive community to help our Latino students feel included and loved. Research has shown that feeling included and loved aides children in achieving their educational goals.

We support and encourage diversity in the community

We do not agree with the suggested name change for the elementary school to be Maple Ridge. We believe that changing the name at this point in the development process would be sending a negative and ethnocentric message. We believe that changing the name at this point will send a negative message, not only to the local Hispanic community, but to all Hispanics.

We do not believe that the suggested change in name has merit. The opposition has stated that the reason for the change is "I don't like the sound of it," and "it's ugly," "we are not a big fan of it," and finally that the kids cannot pronounce it. Furthermore, the opposition says that it doesn't adequately represent our community which lays in the shadow of the Sierra Bonita Mountain.

We believe that it would be an irresponsible waste of educational funds at this juncture to change the name of the school, which would require the school board to create new signs, new letterhead, new logos, and new blueprints for the school.

Please keep the already approved name Sierra Bonita as the name for our elementary school.