Scott Carpenter Middle School Students Honor Late Astronaut

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4)- Students at the namesake school for Scott Carpenter honored the late astronaut with a giant poster.

Upon learning of his death, Scott Carpenter Middle School students created a giant poster and signed a card of condolence for his family.

The school opened as Lipan Street Elementary School in Westminster in 1962, the year that Carpenter orbited the Earth as a Mercury 7 Astronaut.

A local community member suggested naming the building after the Boulder native and sent him a letter asking his permission.

He responded with the following:

Gentlemen:

You have honored me by considering my name for your new elementary school and you have my approval with pleasure.

I feel the name, Scott Carpenter, doesn't lend itself well to this end and the children may have some trouble saying they go to Scott Carpenter School but, perhaps that is only because it sounds a little odd to me.

For 50 years, the building has proudly carried the name of Carpenter  and as word of his death spread, students from prior years have contacted the school to say how honored they were to have attended  a school named after a true American hero.