No one gives a second thought as to why their mascot is the __________________ until someone asks them.At the beginning of the year, the supervisor of the Pleasant View Newsletter suggested that we find out the reasons behind our middle school mascots: the Blue Jays, Indians, Beavers, Pirates, Generals, Cougars, Spartans, Trojans, Wildcats, and Bulldogs. Now-at the end of the year-we know the reasons behind many of the mascots, although some remain unknown. For those that remain unknown, as much information as we can gather is written below.
CARVER COUGARS
Carver's mascot was originally going to be the Peanuts as a tribute to George Washington Carver, who the school was named after. According to Vice Principal Gosnell, the first students to attend Carver had three choices on its name and mascot. In the end, the mascot wound up to be the Cougars.
CENTRAL BULLDOGS
To quote Vice Principal Wittmer, "The Bulldog was chosen by a committee of students and was named 'Pug' by the students. I believe the look of the logo and that Bulldogs are known for strength, stamina, and persistence all played into the students electing the Fighting Bulldogs as the mascot."
CHEROKEE INDIANS
The Cherokee were a group of American Indians that traveled the Trail of Tears. School legends say that Cherokee (the school) is built close to the place where the Cherokee (the American Indian tribe) settled during their trek. Naturally, the mascot the "Indians" was chosen by the Board of Education.
HICKORY HILLS SPARTANS
The only thing that could be said for sure about Hickory Hills' mascot is that it is the Spartan. No additional information has be found, so the origin remains a mystery.
JARRETT TROJANS
Jarrett was named after J. H. Jarrett who was a contractor and Board member. An old edition of "The Jarrett Broadcaster" says that a student body vote sponsored by Student Council resulted in the Trojans being Jarrett's mascot. A few of the original names include Cobras, Jets, and Rockets.
PERSHING GENERALS
Named after General John J. Pershing, it would seem fitting to have your mascot be named after the Missourian soldier. For more information concerning how mascots are chosen (and to find the possible process Pershing went through to chose its mascot), see the end of the article.
PIPKIN PIRATES
Another mascot that remains a mystery! Pipkin itself is named after Lewis Pipkin, who was a lawyer. Perhaps he dealt in a piracy case?
PLEASANT VIEW BLUE JAYS
Pleasant View is named after the area where the school stands. The exact reason on why they are the Blue Jays remains unknown. However, if you look out of the office windows at any given time, there is an abundance of blue jays flitting around...
REED BEAVERS
The reason behind Reed's Beavers is unknown as well. Reed the school was named after W.A. Reed, who was a pharmacist and a Board member.
WESTPORT WILDCATS
Another school that was named based on its location, Westport has the motto "Best in the West." According to Pamela Bodine, "The mascot of the Wildcat symbolized their constant diligence and pursuit of excellence." Westport originally was an elementary school built in the 1940s and combined with Study Middle School in 2013. The same mascot-the Wildcat-carried over during the merge.
How are mascots chosen in general?
According to Christine Parker-the first principal of the recently established David Harrison Elementary, “I opened David Harrison back in 2009 and part of that process included coming up with a school mascot. I was instructed to send a letter to the Wanda Gray and McBride communities and ask them for their input. I was asking them what we should name our school as well as what our school colors and school mascot we should have. I saved all the letters I received and met with my Core Team of teachers in the basement of Crighton House, which is where my office is located while the school was being built. From those letters came the idea to name our school David Harrison, after the local children’s author. We also went over the suggestions for the mascot and didn’t find anything that my Core Team really liked. One of my Core Team members suggested the Huskies because it would go along well with Harrison (since they both started with the letter “h”.) We all agreed and decided on the Huskies, because not only did it ring well with Harrison, we also thought, ‘who doesn’t like dogs?’ It ended up being the PERFECT mascot for our school!”
From a suggested website, school monikers and mascots are chosen by committees that will recommend possible names that will favor people's names who are associated with the place or building of the school. For example, Cherokee was named after the Cherokee tribe who settled around where the school is now, so the school's moniker became the Cherokee. The Board of Education can also give naming rights to other groups if they choose to do so.
As one of the final sentences, I would like to thank all of the principals, assistant principals, Board members, bored members, and all of the people I forgot to mention who I also contacted who also made this article possible.
If you would like to point out any errors or have any information concerning any of the mascots, please send an email to pvpressnewsletter@gmail.com.
CARVER COUGARS
Carver's mascot was originally going to be the Peanuts as a tribute to George Washington Carver, who the school was named after. According to Vice Principal Gosnell, the first students to attend Carver had three choices on its name and mascot. In the end, the mascot wound up to be the Cougars.
CENTRAL BULLDOGS
To quote Vice Principal Wittmer, "The Bulldog was chosen by a committee of students and was named 'Pug' by the students. I believe the look of the logo and that Bulldogs are known for strength, stamina, and persistence all played into the students electing the Fighting Bulldogs as the mascot."
CHEROKEE INDIANS
The Cherokee were a group of American Indians that traveled the Trail of Tears. School legends say that Cherokee (the school) is built close to the place where the Cherokee (the American Indian tribe) settled during their trek. Naturally, the mascot the "Indians" was chosen by the Board of Education.
HICKORY HILLS SPARTANS
The only thing that could be said for sure about Hickory Hills' mascot is that it is the Spartan. No additional information has be found, so the origin remains a mystery.
JARRETT TROJANS
Jarrett was named after J. H. Jarrett who was a contractor and Board member. An old edition of "The Jarrett Broadcaster" says that a student body vote sponsored by Student Council resulted in the Trojans being Jarrett's mascot. A few of the original names include Cobras, Jets, and Rockets.
PERSHING GENERALS
Named after General John J. Pershing, it would seem fitting to have your mascot be named after the Missourian soldier. For more information concerning how mascots are chosen (and to find the possible process Pershing went through to chose its mascot), see the end of the article.
PIPKIN PIRATES
Another mascot that remains a mystery! Pipkin itself is named after Lewis Pipkin, who was a lawyer. Perhaps he dealt in a piracy case?
PLEASANT VIEW BLUE JAYS
Pleasant View is named after the area where the school stands. The exact reason on why they are the Blue Jays remains unknown. However, if you look out of the office windows at any given time, there is an abundance of blue jays flitting around...
REED BEAVERS
The reason behind Reed's Beavers is unknown as well. Reed the school was named after W.A. Reed, who was a pharmacist and a Board member.
WESTPORT WILDCATS
Another school that was named based on its location, Westport has the motto "Best in the West." According to Pamela Bodine, "The mascot of the Wildcat symbolized their constant diligence and pursuit of excellence." Westport originally was an elementary school built in the 1940s and combined with Study Middle School in 2013. The same mascot-the Wildcat-carried over during the merge.
How are mascots chosen in general?
According to Christine Parker-the first principal of the recently established David Harrison Elementary, “I opened David Harrison back in 2009 and part of that process included coming up with a school mascot. I was instructed to send a letter to the Wanda Gray and McBride communities and ask them for their input. I was asking them what we should name our school as well as what our school colors and school mascot we should have. I saved all the letters I received and met with my Core Team of teachers in the basement of Crighton House, which is where my office is located while the school was being built. From those letters came the idea to name our school David Harrison, after the local children’s author. We also went over the suggestions for the mascot and didn’t find anything that my Core Team really liked. One of my Core Team members suggested the Huskies because it would go along well with Harrison (since they both started with the letter “h”.) We all agreed and decided on the Huskies, because not only did it ring well with Harrison, we also thought, ‘who doesn’t like dogs?’ It ended up being the PERFECT mascot for our school!”
From a suggested website, school monikers and mascots are chosen by committees that will recommend possible names that will favor people's names who are associated with the place or building of the school. For example, Cherokee was named after the Cherokee tribe who settled around where the school is now, so the school's moniker became the Cherokee. The Board of Education can also give naming rights to other groups if they choose to do so.
As one of the final sentences, I would like to thank all of the principals, assistant principals, Board members, bored members, and all of the people I forgot to mention who I also contacted who also made this article possible.
If you would like to point out any errors or have any information concerning any of the mascots, please send an email to pvpressnewsletter@gmail.com.
