SR71 in the news today..

Kinda:

District names school for SR-71

PALMDALE – Trustees from the Palmdale School District voted Tuesday to name an elementary school in honor of the aerospace industry.
The school will be called Blackbird Elementary School, after the Lockheed SR-71 long-range strategic reconnaissance aircraft employed by the United States Air Force and commonly known as the “Blackbird.”

“It would be nice and it would be appropriate to honor the aerospace industry” for its role in the Antelope Valley, said trustee Sandy Corrales-Eneix, who made the motion to approve the name.

Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. From 80,000 feet, it could survey 100,000 square miles of the earth’s surface per hour.

On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 set two world records for its class: a speed record of 2,193 mph and an altitude record of 85,068 feet, according to Air Force files.

The Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s on Jan. 26, 1990, citing a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation. Congress returned the SR-71 to the active Air Force inventory in 1995 and it began flying operational missions in January 1997. President Clinton vetoed funding for it in October 1997. The last SR-71 flight came in 1999.

The name “Blackbird Elementary” will wait in line behind two others that already have been approved.

In May, the board named two future schools after past principals David G. Millen and Frederick W. Strasburg.

David Millen worked as assistant principal and principal in the district for nearly 30 years, heading four elementary schools, including Tumbleweed, Sage, Mesa and Cimarron schools. He died in May 2004 following a five-year battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Millen continued working as principal four years after his diagnosis.

Millen received the Principal of the Year award in 2002, and was lauded for his ability to mentor teachers and young administrators.

Fred Strasburg served as principal at Tumbleweed Elementary School for 18 years, from 1980 to 1998. He died of brain cancer in 1999. During his career, Strasburg created programs such as the annual multicultural festival and Telescopes in Education, and coordinated community participation in wiring the school for Internet access.

Strasburg also was well known as a Palmdale city historian. He compiled several video histories of Antelope Valley residents. With help from friends and fellow local historians, he put together a book about the history of the Valley.

The public submitted 450 name ideas to the district’s naming committee, which was formed in anticipation of new school construction in the near future. Despite a recent ebb in population growth, district officials predict dramatic increases of student population in the future – up from about 22,000 to more than 30,000 students.

The committee submitted the full list of 450 names, to the district board, along with a “top 20” list. That package included the name Blackbird.