Petition Created to Name New Middle School After Charles Jones

North Reading will soon have a new middle school – and there are many in town who think the town should honor a long-time educator by naming the school after him.

Former Obama speechwriter and North Reading High graduate Jon Favreau wrote a letter to the North Reading Transcript last week asking that the town consider naming the new school after Charles Jones, who served more than three decades as a teacher and middle school vice principal.

Favreau also created a petition on change.org that has been signed by 386 supporters.

“To this day, I don’t remember my eighth grade history textbook, or for that matter, any of my history textbooks. But I still remember Mr. Jones’ class. I remember choosing a newspaper article for discussion every morning, because that’s how I first became interested in world events. I remember learning every amendment to the Constitution, because that’s how I first became interested in government. I remember memorizing every word of the Gettysburg Address, because that’s how I first became interested in speechwriting. I still have the notes from the first mock trial I ever prosecuted, and the video of a news show my friends and I produced about Civil War battles. And like hundreds of other North Reading students and parents, I still remember our eighth grade summer trip as if it was yesterday,” wrote Favreau.

“No matter how many people I tell about the summer trip, the reaction is always the same: Are you serious? You had a teacher who lugged a bunch of eighth graders on a cross-country camping trip during his summer vacation, for no extra pay? And he did it for twenty-seven years?”

You can read the full letter and sign the petition here.