School name to be chosen

Lake Country’s newest school will be named this week.

School trustees will discuss three potential names for the new Lake Country middle school at this week’s board meeting and vote on which one they like best.

The new school is in the preliminary design phase, and construction is set to begin in the spring of 2019.

The planning and facilities committee has selected Hank Grenda Middle, Aspen Grove Middle and Eijiro Koyama Middle as the top three choices. These names will be presented to the board on Wednesday.

Koyama was the first Japanese Canadian settler in Lake Country in the early 1900s.

Grenda is a former teacher and coach in Kelowna and Lake Country who died suddenly in 2006.

More than 300 suggested names were collected from the public in September, with the top suggestion being Lake Country Middle School.

However, that name was thought to be “too anonymous,” said school board chairperson Moyra Baxter.

Naming schools after people provides opportunities for dialogue and learning, she said.

In 2013, a new West Kelowna elementary school was named after Chinese Canadian pioneer Mar Jok.

“We found it has really led to many discussions about China and about the Chinese community,” Baxter said in October.

Naming the school after Grenda would also inspire many conversations about people who have made a difference in the community, she said.