GLENS FALLS — A new tradition was born Monday evening, heralded by a countdown in a darkened Glens Falls High School auditorium.
The new mascot and logo for Glens Falls’ athletic teams were introduced in a mascot reveal rally, complete with a hype video and a bear costume mascot.
As the countdown proceeded, the members of the student committee who had worked on the new mascot and logo stood on the stage with their backs to the crowd. When the new Glens Falls Black Bears logo was revealed on the screen, they turned around to show off their new red Black Bears T-shirts, as the audience cheered.
“It’s really cool and I’m glad to see it,” said junior Liam Burgess, one of the mascot committee members, as he watched elementary school kids pose for pictures with the new mascot after the rally. “For the most part, everyone’s excited — we knew the mascot was going to change and we were just kind of waiting to see what it was going to be. And now that it’s here, everyone’s happy.”
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“For the past 10 or so years, we’ve had a mascot, but we haven’t been able to use it,” said junior Jack Sweet, another student committee member. “So to be able to use a mascot, have a chant, have an actual person be in a costume, it’s exciting. Everyone’s excited about new uniforms and new equipment.”
In November, the state Education Department announced that it would enforce a policy to require schools to retire Native American-themed mascots and nicknames. Schools would have to change their mascots and imagery by the end of this school year, or risk losing funding and other penalties.
Glens Falls City Schools are now identifying as the Glens Falls Black Bears after months of surveying and collecting public opinion.
Glens Falls’ sports teams had been known as the Indians for the past 82 years. Athletes from Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Dave LaPoint to Jimmer Fredette and Joseph Girard III had worn the Indians’ name and logos. The old nickname and arrowhead logo are now officially retired.
While the red and black colors remain, a new logo — the stern-looking face of a bear, reminiscent of the Memphis Grizzlies’ logo — brings a new tradition to the school, which will also continue using GF Nation.
“We wanted something that embodied our core values: unity, passion, support and grit,” said Skye Heritage, director of communications for Glens Falls schools. “We were really looking for a bear that kind of embodied that, so we’re really excited and pleased with how it turned out.”
The process of choosing and creating a new mascot and logo was primarily student-driven, beginning with surveys from students and the community, all the way through their input in the logo design.
“It’s been great to be part of this process,” Sweet said. “It’s great to help the community and it’s great to take a step forward in this new direction for Glens Falls.”
“It was kind of stressful at the beginning, but it was really important that the Superintendent (Dr. Krislynn Dengler) and the Board of Education gave the students an opportunity to lay the groundwork and have a voice,” Burgess said. “And it was awesome to be able to say, ‘Hey, I like this, I don’t like this.’ It was a really good experience.”
The new Black Bears logo was created by VIP Branding, which Heritage said was part of BSN Sports, a company that provides equipment and apparel to schools, including Glens Falls.
“As a company, they knew that a lot of New York state schools were having to rebrand, and so their design component, which is VIP Branding, offered their services to any school district that was having to rebrand from a Native American mascot — for free,” Heritage said. “So we got all of their design services for free, which is like $15,000 or $20,000. It was the real deal, we had several rounds — ‘Can you tweak the ear? Can you tweak the nose?’”
Heritage said the process of changing from one tradition to another at Glens Falls has been relatively smooth.
“It’s a really passionate issue for a lot of people, across the board,” Heritage said. “Dr. Dengler was really intentional about having the student cabinet be driving this whole process. That right there helps get at the student voice, and students and their families talk, and then it sort of trickles outward from there into the community.
“That’s not to say there aren’t folks with different opinions on both sides, because we have that,” she added, “but I really do think we’re listening to the students, and we’re glad to let them have the loudest voice. We are so proud of them, and I think that they’re proud of their efforts, as well — they’ve really paid off. I think we have a really good-looking logo that everybody hopefully is going to be proud to wear.”