STAMFORD – While alumni of Stamford Central School may continue to lament the loss of the former school mascot, an Indian, those returning to school this fall are ready to embrace their new mascot, a bear.
Following a lengthy process to narrow the choices, which involved all of the community stakeholders, including the public, the new mascot was approved by the school's Board of Education after members were presented with the process involved in the final recommendation - a bear.
"This new identity was chosen because it reflects our community's core values of 'strength, hard work, determination, and support'—which were identified in a ThoughtExchange survey," said SCS Superintendent Dr. Glen Huot. "Additionally, bears are historically revered in many Native American societies for their power, resilience, and wisdom making them an excellent symbol for our students."
The change was made because the state Education Department required school boards to commit to adopting a resolution no later than June 30, 2023, to eliminate all uses or displays of Indigenous names, logos, and mascots. The SCS BOE approved a resolution and adopted a second resolution that the district would no longer display or use Indigenous names (or related imagery – e.g. Indian) , with a commitment to eliminate the use or display by June 2025.
"The district did not need to adopt a new mascot," said Huot, "We had been using just an S, which we could have continued, but the student body determined to move forward with the selection process to come up with a new one."
The first step of the process asked the school and community to determine what drives the school's history and traditions and what do they aspire to be known for. Once that was done, they began to narrow the suggestions and options, according to Huot.
"The students know there is a new mascot and they were involved throughout the selection process," said Huot.
Once the choices were narrowed down to nine, it was up to the students to narrow it further, he said When they got the list down to three, they began vetting the proposed mascots, to make sure there were no secondary meanings or connotations that were not appropriate for the district or the core values as identified by the surveys. The bear was one of the final three and the student body voted on the bears
"This new identity was chosen because it reflects our community's core values of "strength, hard work, determination, and support”—which were identified in a ThoughtExchange survey. Additionally, bears are historically revered in many Native American societies for their power, resilience, and wisdom making them an excellent symbol for our students," said Huot
There are no other bears in the the league, unlike eagles, mountaineers, lumberjacks and wildcats.
The next step of this transition involves re-branding and creating a new Stamford Bears logo and/or symbol. Our school colors will remain purple and white to honor our history and traditions. The alma mater will also not have to be amended.
"This was a truly community-driven process designed to bring everyone together. The Stamford Bears embody our collective resilience and spirit, and this change will help foster renewed school pride," said Huot.
"I am thankful for everyone who participated in the surveys, with a special thank you to our Student Council advisor Megan Eklund and our students for leading the charge. Once the new branding is finalized, I look forward to seeing our students wear the Bears logo with pride as we celebrate a new chapter while honoring our history."
The bear logo was approved by the BOE on June 11.
Once the students decide what the new logo will look like, it will likely be sent out to a graphic artist to design it. However, it could come from someone within the community as long as all the rights to use it were provided legally.
