What’s in a nickname?

Principal Carter Burns insisted that, as of this week, he had never heard of it. But every one of a dozen Jewish students at Blue Valley North High School contacted for this story had.
It’s the school’s nickname, at least within the local Jewish community — “Jew Valley North.”

The term seems to be much like the so-called “N-word” — a joke for those within the ethnic group to bandy about on occasion; potentially hurtful if used by an outsider with malicious intent.

Of course, it’s ironic that merely having a substantial Jewish minority within the BVN student body has led to the nickname. Nobody thinks that Jews are a majority at the school. After all, Jews account for just about 2 percent of all Americans.

But it’s a fair guess that Blue Valley North has the highest percentage of Jewish students of any metro high school. That’s borne our by anecdotal reports from current students, as well as the Jewish Federation’s 2008 demographic survey. A map in that study had a thick cluster of dots representing Jewish households in the area around BVN.

BVN sophomore Gabbie Fried guesses that 30 percent of her classmates are Jewish.

Senior Abby Fromm, a cross-country runner and co-editor of The North Star student newspaper, thinks it’s more like 20 percent.

Principal Burns wouldn’t hazard a guess, but he expects absenteeism to be greater than normal on Monday, which is Yom Kippur.

“We always notify the staff about certain religious holidays, and things to look out for,” Burns said. “For instance, during Ramadan, there are Muslim students who are going out for athletic teams, but who are fasting, and we let the coaches know how to accommodate them.

“In reference to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we know that these are holy days and that families have expectations of their kids during the evenings … and we try to make sure that major exams are not scheduled on those days.”

Burns said BVN is proud of its “very diverse population, (in terms of) different religious groups, as well as racially.”

“We do a lot of thing to keep people aware of and promote respect for all different religions and races,” he said.

Jewish Neighborhoods
Perhaps part of the reason for the “Jew Valley North” nickname is that the school sits in what is, arguably, the Kansas City area’s closest thing to a 21st-century Jewish neighborhood. At 12220 Lamar Ave., it is just a stone’s throw from Village Shalom, Congregation Beth Torah, The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and the Jewish Community Campus.

And the students at BVN today are primarily “echo boomers” — the children of post-World War II Baby Boomers.

Thus, the names of many longtime local Jewish families can be found among the BVN students recognized for past state athletic and academic championships on plaques in the gymnasium — Bodker, Sight, Searles, Hermanson and more. This fall, two of the four BVN football captains are Jewish — Zach Mallin and Matt Shapiro — as is the captain of the dance team that performs at halftime, Rebecca Gasser.

Interscholastic athletic competition is one setting where “Jew Valley North” could conceivably be uttered in an offensive way.

But Marvin Szneler, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee, said he’s never received a complaint about such a thing.

“The kids have commented that it’s a positive thing, not negative,” said Sandi Fried, who is the mother of Gabbie, plus two older children who have already graduated from BVN. “There are so many Jewish kids that it feels like a Jewish school.

“Of course, if a kid from (Blue Valley) West says it …”

Gabbie Fried, 15, said she has heard the “Jew Valley North” nickname since she was in middle school.

“It depends on who says it,” Gabbie said. “When my Jewish friends call it Jew Valley North, we’re joking.”

Gabbie said it’s more often adults who take offense at the term.

Abby Fromm, 17, agreed.

“It’s mostly the Jewish kids who call it that,” Abby said. “I am not sure that Christian kids would feel comfortable saying that.

“I am not offended. But sometimes adults think we are being made fun of.”

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