What about Arthur Collins High?

   The Cedar Rapids School Board followed the local tradition of naming schools for presidents when the city’s youngest high school was named after President John F. Kennedy. But a Nov 14, 1965, Gazette story revealed that four other names were suggested for the school:

   “In a letter to school board members, President Ernest Pence listed five possible names for the new school. The names were not his ideas, he said, but were suggestions made to him by taxpayers.

   “The list: John F. Kennedy, Arthur Collins, North High, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln.”

   At its Monday, Nov. 15, meeting the board chose “John F. Kennedy” as the school’s name by unanimous vote.

   President Kennedy’s youngest brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, spoke at the school’s dedication on Oct. 7, 1967.

Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts (Mass.) is pictured speaking at the dedication Saturday of Cedar Rapids' new John F. Kennedy High School in northeast Cedar Rapids. The senator is a brother of the late President for whom the school is named. Shown in profile in the foreground is Robert Fitzsimmons, principal of the school.