OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A new middle school in Oshkosh should be named for suffragist Jessie Jack Hooper, according to a recommendation to the school board, which is expected to vote on the matter Wednesday.
Also, the other two finalists – EAA founder Paul Poberezny and civil rights activist Vel Phillips – would have facilities named for them as well.
After an initial survey, the finalists for the new school’s name were finalized. Another survey focusing on just those three was then made public. In that survey, Poberezny garnered 1,532 votes, Hooper 1,457, and Phillips 1,244.
Since the numbers were so close, the committee further discussed the breakdown of responses by internal stakeholders only and looked at the responses from just students and parents. Among those groups, Hooper led with 956 votes, Poberezny with 900, and Phillips with 815. Hooper also led when the field of respondents was expanded to include staff members.
As a result, there are three proposals:
- The new middle school would be “Jessie Jack Hooper Middle School”
- The new science/technology/engineering/arts/math lab at that school would be the “Paul Poberezny STEAM Lab”
- The new middle school media center would be the “Vel Phillips Media Center”
These are biographies of the three, as written by the district:
Jessie Jack Hooper (1865 – 1935) – Jessie Jack Hooper was an American activist and suffragist. Hooper served on the executive board of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association and worked to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Hooper served as the first president of the Wisconsin League of Women Voters and made history as the first woman to run for one of Wisconsin’s seats in the United States Senate in 1922. NOTE: Jessie Jack Hooper received the largest number of votes of the individuals listed below in the initial survey.
Paul H. Poberezny (1921 – 2013) – Paul Poberezny was an American Aviator, military veteran, aircraft designer, and entrepreneur. Interested in aviation from a young age, Poberezny’s first aircraft as a teen was a glider. He served in the Air Forcein World War II and the Korean War and the Wisconsin Air National Guard in an over 30-year military career. Poberezny dedicated his life to aviation and the promotion of homebuilt aircraft, founding the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and EAAAirVenture annual fly-in in Oshkosh, WI.
Vel Phillips (1924-2018) – Vel Phillips was a civil rights leader, legal pioneer, and philanthropist. Phillips was the first African American woman to attend and earn a law degree from the University of Wisconsin’s Law School. In addition, Phillips was the first woman and African American to be elected to the Milwaukee Common Council, was Wisconsin’s first African American Judge when appointed in 1971, and served as Wisconsin’s first woman and non-white Secretary of State for two terms.
The school board meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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