Letter: Name new high school for local hero

I read the article about naming the new high school after Ronald Reagan, and while I have great respect for President Reagan, and miss his leadership, I am wondering if the school board should be looking closer to home when choosing the name for the school. There are several names that come to mind when I think of those who have contributed greatly to the students and staff of the Moses Lake School District. But to me, one name easily jumps to the forefront and that is Jon Lane. For those of us in Moses Lake that cold February day in 1996, we will always remember the tragic and heartbreaking events at Frontier Middle School. Two students and one teacher lost their lives and another student was severely injured, all at the hands of another Frontier student. But further horrific loss of life or injury was avoided that day when one brave man stepped into the room to prevent any more bloodshed. Jon Lane, a lifelong resident of Moses Lake and longtime teacher and coach in the MLSD, risked his life to confront the shooter and get the gun away from him. While the community must always mourn the loss of three innocent lives and the daunting injury of another, we must also remember that the numbers of death and injury could have been much higher if Jon had not been willing to step into that room.

Our community should always be grateful to Jon for his selfless actions. I can think of no better person to name the new high school for than this Moses Lake native, who stepped up and put himself in danger to keep a horrifying situation from further escalating. I hope the school board will strongly consider honoring Jon Lane by naming the new high school after him.

Lisa Barth

Ephrata