Amesbury seeks volunteers for school mascot committee

Jim Sullivan, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·3 min read

Jun. 13—AMESBURY — The call has gone out for volunteers who will find the next Amesbury High School mascot.

The School Committee unanimously voted to retire the high school's Amesbury Fighting Indian mascot in November and directed Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews to create a mascot review committee that would find a new one.

Principal Danielle Ricci sent an email to students, staff and parents earlier in the week, letting them know her administration is taking applications to find roughly 17 volunteers to sit on the committee.

The committee will be made up of three to four staff members and five current high school students. The latter group would include at least one member of the student advisory council and a representative from the student council.

There also would be three to four parents or guardians of current school district students, three to four community members (one would be a representative of the athletic boosters and the other an Amesbury High School alumni), as well as Ricci, or her designee, and a School Committee liaison.

The committee is expected to host student and community forums, publish surveys, and hold meetings with local organizations that might be affected by the decision.

Interested volunteers would need to complete a Google form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdkjl1EeaQkme-KdFAPSZqGr6e7b32nBqm7nkuXk1esdj-yNg/viewform by 3 p.m. on June 23.

Committee members would be notified of their acceptance by June 28 and a kickoff meeting will be held in the high school library at 6 p.m. on June 30.

The committee is expected to meet regularly once the school year begins in September.

"We will form the committee and have a kickoff meeting. Then, we will come back to the table in September," Ricci said. "I want to make this as accessible to the committee members as possible and, knowing what people's schedules are like during the summer — particularly the students — it makes more sense to wait until school is back in session."

Ricci said committee members must be willing to make the commitment to attend regular meetings, actively contribute and communicate, as well as participate in activities related to the review process.

No more than two options for a new school mascot, team name and color scheme would eventually be presented to McAndrews by Dec. 30.

McAndrews would then make her own recommendation to the School Committee. A final decision on the matter is expected by the end of the coming school year.

Ricci said she has heard many different possibilities for a new school mascot but gave no specifics on the matter.

"Everything I have heard has connections to local history and the Amesbury community. I think it is really important there is local significance to whatever we decide," she said.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.