But the nervousness over a lengthy process that began this past summer was all for naught, as all five members of the school board approved the name of Sam Lawson Middle School. Members of the late Lawson's family and his many friends were visibly moved by the vote.

"I want to commend the board," said longtime Cupertino resident Peter Camarda. "If there was ever a man who deserved to have a school named after him, it's Samuel Lawson."

That was the sentiment shared by many at the board's last meeting on Nov. 23, when the three ranked names selected by the Middle School Naming Committee were presented to the board as an informational item. The 15-member committee, which held its first meeting on Oct. 14, considered eight separate names suggested by members of the public, and came to their rankings through several rounds of voting.

But throughout the process, the Sam Lawson name consistently received the most votes, and dozens of supporters spoke to Lawson's attributes at the Nov. 23 meeting. Lawson, who died in 1999, was the first male teacher in the district when he joined in 1948, and he was later the first principal of Cupertino's first junior high school.

The stories of Lawson's compassion and enthusiasm moved Superintendent Bill Bragg to place an item on the board's agenda that directly recommended the choice of Lawson's name for the new middle school, eschewing further discussion of the other two names submitted by the committee—Louis Mariani and Linwood Acres. Bragg spoke of his own father, who was also a teacher.

"So many educators go through their lives and never know the impact of what they did, but these people came back to talk about Sam," Bragg said. He mentioned meeting a cook once who happened to have his father for a teacher in Downey. "He said, 'Ed Bragg—he changed my life.' That's what I thought about when I heard these stories [about Sam Lawson]," Bragg said.

There was a bit of debate before the final vote, however. The official agenda item listed the name as "Samuel H. Lawson Middle School," but committee member Wendy Armstrong brought up a concern that the committee had discussed in their meetings about the exact name. Lawson went by "Sam," a fact that his wife Marilyn, who was in attendance at the meeting, confirmed.

Board member George Tyson then made a motion to amend the agenda item to Sam Lawson Middle School, which the board passed unanimously. The gathered audience applauded, and Marilyn and son Jay Lawson expressed their thanks to the board.

The site will likely be dedicated near the beginning of the school year.