"The foundation for moral leadership is the Truth."
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"The foundation for moral leadership is the Truth." |
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Horbelt Yes, Watts Yes, Reagan No. The naming of our new school should unite Barnegat, not divide it.
Having a school named after someone is a big honor for that person, and his/her memory. This decision should not be taken lightly. Once it is done, it is hard to take back, and in most cases it shouldn't. Robert Horbelt served our community for many years, and the School Board at the time decided to honor him, and it was done. Now, many children have called Horbelt THEIR school. The MAN Horbelt probably means nothing to them, but the SCHOOL Horbelt does. This should not be taken away from the children that love their school. They should be proud of the Horbelt name because in a way, THEY are Horbelt. Mr. Horbelt didn't do anything so egregious that he should have his name taken down, because that could affect the children -- and that's who we should be thinking of BEFORE WE NAME A SCHOOL. That brings us to the proposed new elementary school. QUITE SIMPLY, THAT SCHOOL SHOULD BE NAMED AFTER FRED WATTS. A school should be named after someone who did something directly for the community that it is in. Mr. Watts more than deserves it. Fred Watts loved Barnegat, and Barnegat loved Mr. Watts. His dedication as town Historian alone is deserving of this honor. He actually went into our schools to teach our children about Barnegat's rich history. A new school should not be named after former President Ronald Reagan. At the time of his death, I could see why this would look like a good idea. But now it is simply the wrong thing to do in a town that is so divided like Barnegat. The new school should bring us together, and that is exactly what the Fred Watts elementary school should do. Now some people love Ronald Reagan, and some hate him. And that is EXACTLY why this school shouldn't be named after him. Answer these 3 simple questions and see for yourself; 1) Tell me why we should name the school in honor of Ronald ReaganIf you love President Reagan you many not be too found of President Kennedy. Now on the other hand, President Kennedy is a hero to many. But it would be a mistake to honor JFK just like it would be a mistake to honor Reagan. As a political figure, good or bad (and we could debate that forever)...Reagan or JFK would divide our town more. The taxpayers don't need this, and most importantly the children don't need this. What we DO need right now is leadership to stand up and do the right thing. If you answered the 3 questions, I'm sure you didn't say anything bad about Mr. Watts in question #3. He actually did something for our town, and he can do something again for us. His name can unite us, and right now THAT is what we need. Disclaimer: We are not responsible for all views posted on this website. Authors are solely responsible for the content of their articles. Linked material is the responsibility of the party who created it. Commenters are responsible for the content of comments. The opinions expressed in articles, linked materials, and comments are not necessarily those of DowntownBarnegat.com |
There's been a lot of talk about changing the name of Horbelt Elementary School to honor our late town Historian, Fred Watts. This should make us think carefully before our NEW elementary school is name after former President Ronald Reagan. The reason to strip the Horbelt name from the Elementary School is because retired Superintendent Robert Horbelt allegedly had school district personell perform work on his automobile while on district time. Mr. Horbelt was repremanded eventually. This all took place over 20 years ago, and the school was named after him when it opened in 2001.