Wilson Elementary School in Northern California is having is being renamed to Michelle Obama Elementary School thanks to a proposal from the parent-teacher association, according to CNN.
“We wanted to choose someone on a global level,” Wilson Elementary PTA president Maisha Cole explained to CNN. “With a new school and new learning environment, we want our children to think beyond Richmond, to think beyond California, and remind them that they can make a difference locally and globally.”
The school was originally named after President Woodrow Wilson. The Michelle Obama Elementary School will also be rebuilt for the next school year.
“We have the opportunity to have a beautiful new school named after a person who really represents our diversity and values,” Claudia Velez, the school’s principal, told CNN. “Our school is diverse, modern and innovative, and the things that the kids will be doing will prepare them for a very strong and successful future in whatever career they choose.”
The elementary school is one of the multiple schools now named after the former First Lady: There is the Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts in Park Forest, Illinois and two others that include her and her husband, Barack Obama’s, name.