The GECDSB Board of Trustees voted unanimously, at their November 19, 2019 public meeting, to endorse the name Legacy Oak Trail Public School for the new K-8 school to be built in LaSalle.
Background
A committee was formed following the
guidelines in regulation R-PL-01. Members were: Trustee Ron LeClair; Director
of Education Erin Kelly; Superintendent Todd Awender; Principal Shawn Dufour;
Student representatives, Taylor
Briscoe & Kayla Poulin; Staff representatives, Lydia Ardovini & Cindy
Guignard; School Council representatives, Melissa Koszegi &
Yasmine Jasey.
The initial meeting on October 10th began with a presentation of
historical and cultural background of the area in which the new school will be
located and a review of input received from the public survey conducted
June-September 2019.
The precipitating discussion identified a direction the committee
wished to follow in determining possible names for the building. It was consensus
that a name should be reflective of the natural features and history of the
LaSalle community.
The committee was also unified in its commitment that the name of
the school should be distinctive, help create an identity and incorporate a promise
to be upheld by the future action of the school community. The environment, a sense of hope and a desire for peace and harmony
were the predominant themes examined by the committee.
Following the discussion, the most frequently recurring or
interesting names suggested in the community survey were revealed to the
committee.
A short list of potential names was created and further research was
assigned to committee members prior to the next meeting.
Information was shared with the committee at its second meeting
(Oct. 22nd) about Carolinian forests, area waterways and local
agricultural practices.
This information inspired a discussion of the natural assets in the
LaSalle area.
The committee focused on trees as symbols of the natural heritage or
the region, in particular the oak, of which there are 10 varieties common in
the Carolinian Forest zone. The abundance of trails for walking, biking and
hiking in the area also became a topic for discussion.
In order to incorporate these ideas, and the committee’s desire to
establish a promise of future action by the school community the name Legacy
Oak Trail Public School was conceived as the primary suggestion. The secondary
suggested name is Heritage Woods Public School.
Both these names were agreed on unanimously by the committee to be
submitted to the Board of Trustees.
