Grayslake middle school named for environmentalist
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin is out and Rachel Carson is in as the name that'll be placed on a Prairie Crossing Charter School building in Grayslake.
Prairie Crossing recently received permission from Carson's literary agent allowing her name to go on the middle school. Various names for the building had been debated since it opened in the 2006-07 academic year.
In a student vote in November, Carson topped two other finalists, George Washington Carver and Irwin, the late croc hunter and Animal Planet star. Prairie Crossing board members later approved Carson.
Carson was a scientist, writer and ecologist who was 66 when she died in April 1964. She was known for alerting the public about long-term effects from pesticide misuse, according to her official biography, and provided congressional testimony seeking new policies to protect human health and the environment in 1963.
Frances Collin, the Pennsylvania-based literary agent who represents Carson's estate, said schools should be honored when permission to use the name is granted. She didn't have an estimate of how many schools across the United States are named for Carson.
Prairie Crossing Principal Brian Greene said Monday a formal naming ceremony is being planned.
"We are waiting for the weather to warm up to make it an all-school celebration," Greene said.
Students in the fifth-through-eighth-grade middle school read biographies of the finalists before voting on whether the building should be named for Carson, Irwin or Carver.
Former Vice President Al Gore, Earth Day creator Gaylord Nelson and photographer Ansel Adams at one time were in the running for the middle school naming at Prairie Crossing, which has an environmentally focused curriculum.
Prairie Crossing serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade within the boundaries of Fremont Elementary District 79 and Woodland Elementary District 50. The school has 359 students.
Illinois' per-pupil financial aid follows the Fremont and Woodland children if they attend Prairie Crossing, but out-of-area parents may pay tuition for students. Officials are awaiting a decision from the Illinois State Board of Education on a five-year charter renewal request.