OHS students create official name for creek
Dec. 12—A group of Oneonta High School students created a name for the creek north of the school's athletic fields to submit to the U.S. Geological Survey to formally designate the creek name.
The city of Oneonta Common Council approved the naming of Lazy Leopard Creek, which originates on the hillside north of the lacrosse field and is tributary to Oneonta Creek, and authorized the city's Environmental Board to make application on behalf of the city to USGS at its Dec. 5 meeting.
Environmental Club adviser and French teacher Janis Labroo and OHS junior Bryson Huber, 16, presented the process of naming the creek to the city's Environmental Board, which voted to endorse the name Nov. 14.
The project of naming the creek began in the spring during the previous school year when Environmental Board member Paul Bischoff reached out to Labroo about involving students with the community.
Club members surveyed the creek to gather some inspiration from the animal and plant life, and one of the things they noticed was the frogs with distinct leopard-like spots, which turned out to be northern leopard frogs.
The male leopard frogs have a unique call that sound like snoring, which inspired the name.
OHS senior Iz Dudek, 17, came up with the name Lazy Leopard, an alliterative name that refers to the frog's sound and spots.
Huber said to the Environmental Board he feels the name expresses the essence of the club.
"Our club is all about ecosystems and habitats, and advocating for these animals that don't have voices to advocate for themselves," he said.
The group considered a Mohawk name, Dudek said, but did not get a response to inquiries to various Native American tribes and organizations.
Labroo said the students wanted to be accurate and respectful in their naming process, so they set side the Mohawk name for Lazy Leopard.
The creek flows behind OHS for nearly a mile and descends though Glenwood Cemetery and Oneonta City School District property, according to information complied online by Environmental Board member Michael Forster Rothbart.
