TURNERS FALLS — It looks like students may have a big say in choosing the next Gill-Montague Regional School District mascot.
School committee members are considering a selection process that primarily involves students.
There was no consensus or vote by the committee during a Tuesday night session on how to select a new mascot, but the group leaned toward ideas that would shift the process to the students at Turners Falls High School and help give them more of a say. The school committee is trying to determine the best way to come up with a replacement for the Indian mascot that it eliminated earlier this year — in a decision that has split the community and that upset many alumni and students.
Depending on what the committee chooses in future meetings, the process could include a student task force or students being able to vote from a set of final candidates. Or some combination of the two.
Beyond who may end up selecting the final mascot, they also discussed a possible timeline, with several on the committee suggesting they wrap up the process before the end of the next school year so the students who have started this process can see the end.
When asked to describe what success would look like, most members imagined something that would unify the community and be embraced by the students.
New member Cassie Damkoehler advocated having a student task force that could either sort proposals or choose top contenders.
Damkoehler said this could be a learning opportunity for the students, and they could look back at the experience in 20 years and remember that they were able to create the new mascot. Beyond that, she didn’t want to force the changes on alumni who aren’t comfortable with it.
“This should just be for the kids,” Damkoehler said. “Let’s use this as a teaching mechanism, let’s talk about this.”
Damkoehler wasn’t the only committee member who wanted to see students involved in the process.
“What I would really like to see is the students have the final say,” Christina Postera said.
Committee member Michael Langknecht said that while the issue does fall under the committee’s jurisdiction, its job is to make policy, and by establishing the criteria for the next mascot, they’ve handled the policy portion and there is more flexibility over who can handle other aspects of the process.
Beyond Tuesday’s meeting, School Superintendent Michael Sullivan called for more feedback from the community through emails, phone calls, Facebook and the district’s website, gmrsd.org. The issue will be on the agenda of the next formal committee meeting, next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Reach Miranda Davis
at 413-772-0261, ext. 280
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