Now that Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen has been properly honored by having a school named after him, Bangor residents should thank some of their neighbors for making it happen. Their work sets a positive example for the entire city.

The Bangor School Committee’s decision to rename Garland Street Middle School after Secretary Cohen presents students with a role model and a reason to aspire to great things. There were grumblings in Bangor when the school committee announced its intention to rename the school that the committee had mishandled the decision. Leave it to students to decide, some residents attending the committee meeting and a few letter writers to this newspaper said. They miss the point.

Too often, young teens especially are finding role models solely among sports figures and entertainers. They don’t choose White House cabinet members because they don’t know much about them. Still, the students who spoke at the committee meeting were well-received by the committee, which then properly took the responsibility for making the decision. That’s what adults charged with looking out for the welfare of children are supposed to do.

Besides, the new school name will not affect just this year’s class or the next, but will have meaning for many years to come. Bangor should be proud of its newly named school and of the people who brought it about.