Taconic's Future Identity Will Be Rockets, Thunder or TitansBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
04:12AM / Friday, February 11, 2022 | |
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Taconic High School could soon be the Home of the ... Titans, Rockets or Thunder.
The school's been considering a new mascot name since Braves was dropped in 2020.
On Wednesday, student representative William Garrity told the School Committee that the Taconic Mascot Committee has narrowed it down to three finalists from 10 options chosen through an open community survey in October.
The top three were selected through a second survey sent out to the vocational school's community in December. The rockets, thunder, and titans were the top choices when the survey closed halfway through the month.
The committee met a few times to discuss the three, Garrity said, and is determining how to gather the community's thoughts on the final choice.
"The committee is still deliberating on how the final round of input will be conducted, but we're hoping to have this set up soon so that the new Taconic mascot will be decided by the end of March," he reported.
In August 2020, the School Committee voted to change the high school mascot that was 50 years old at the time. In the prior months, residents had spoken during public comment about racist implications tied to the Native American mascot.
Pittsfield High School's General mascot also came under fire for appearing as a symbol of violence.
At the time, Taconic was one of 29 high schools — down from 40 — in the state still using Native American logos.
On the other hand, some residents felt that changing the mascot would "erase the past" and felt that it honored Native Americans.
The committee has worked with HEARD Strategy and Storytelling, a marketing and communications agency that has offered pro bono rebranding services for schools changing Native American mascots. It reviewed more than 230 options that were submitted through the first survey.
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