Barnstable High School recently celebrated the renaming of the Astro Park, a project led by English teacher, Martha Swindler and Principal Jason Conetta. The park, previously known simply as the “Cobb Astro Park,” was named by retired astronomy teacher Michael Gyra. The initiative to change the name of the park began when the superintendent stated that the original creators of the garden are not a part of the school anymore. 

   The goal in renaming it is to broaden its usage beyond just one discipline. Conetta and Swindler wanted the new name to reflect on the school’s history and culture. “We felt renaming it would be the best– I wanted the young people or community to come up with a name,” said Swindler.  

   They created a google document in October, and for two full months students and adults came up with name ideas. “I felt that if we want kids to treat the space with respect, then we need to include the kids in the creation of the space,” said Swindler. 

   The duo chose the top 10 names that they thought were creative and were taken seriously. A video was then created of the finalists, who were all given a minute to explain why they came up with the names.

   The most difficult change in this process was when senior Kuan Desa came up with the name ‘AstroWorld’ for the park. “When it came to my attention that the artist Travis Scott had a concert where people were killed and he wasn’t sympathetic to the deaths that occurred at his concert, Mr. Conetta and I felt that would put a bad taste to the name,” said Swindler. 

   The winner however, was freshman Summer Marides, who chose the name now proudly known as ‘Red Hawk Ridge’ as the Astro Park’s replacing name, reflecting the school’s spirit, unity, and inclusiveness. 

   “I just thought about what a good name would be, and incorporate something for the mascot,” said Marides.

   The new sign for the park will be put up over April vacation. “I have a couple of goals before the end of the year, one is to take a picture of the seniors underneath it, as the first classroom will be RedHawks the whole time,” said Swindler. It has also been suggested to have the entire kindergarten or 3rd grade class to have their graduation in the park. “I would like it to include all students here, and to include the other schools,” said Swindler. 

  She is working on having next year’s seniors have the privilege of eating lunch out in the park if interested. “My goals are to make it more accessible to the students and to also make it a place where they feel it is theirs,” said Swindler. 

   She wants by next year to have all 8th grade advisories take a scavenger hunt, and learn the history of the space. Swindler is working on creating a lesson plan for every class to do fun activities to create lesson plans for teachers to take students out in the Red Hawk Ridge.