Canisteo-Greenwood selects new mascot. Here's when you will see new logo, uniforms
A new era is dawning at the Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District.
Students in the Steuben County district voted overwhelmingly to make "Chargers" the new school mascot, replacing "Redskins."
Chargers emerged as the winner after several rounds of voting from ballots that originally included eight contenders.
The finalists were Chargers and Red Dragons, although Chargers topped the voting totals from the beginning, according to Tom Crook, Canisteo-Greenwood school superintendent.
“From the get-go, the Chargers was the front-runner," Crook said.
The Canisteo-Greenwood Board of Education made the change official last week, voting to become the Chargers on July 1.
Canisteo-Greenwood Chargers logo being developed
Crook said the next order of business is the selection and reveal of the school's new logo. Crook said the school is working through two avenues: a student design being developed by a Canisteo-Greenwood junior and one being put together by Hunt Engineers, the district's architect.
“I thought she would be a fantastic (person) to reach out to because she’s a great digital artist," Crook said of the 11th-grader.
Crook said the new Chargers logo will be announced after the district's Mascot Committee and school board offer feedback on the submissions.
The transition timeline for new Canisteo-Greenwood mascot
Canisteo-Greenwood athletes will not be sporting the Chargers logo immediately, however.
Pointing to supply issues, Crook said Canisteo-Greenwood athletic teams won't have new uniforms delivered in time for the fall sports.
“We are not going to be able to order anything for the fall. So in the fall, you will continue to see the Redskins uniform," Crook said. “Once the logo is revealed we are going to order new uniforms for winter and spring (sports). And (by) the following fall, we will have all of the uniforms replaced.”
Canisteo-Greenwood's uniform replacement timing falls well within the state Board of Regents mandate which requires district transition to new team names and imagery by June 2025.
Crook said the cost of replacing uniforms is expected to be between $50,000 and $60,000. District officials said some other minor signage will also have to be removed, but those costs are not expected to be significant.
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Canisteo-Greenwood has been considering mascot change since September
The school board's action came shortly after the Board of Regents memo ordered school districts to approve a plan to retire their Native American-themed mascots by the end of the academic year.
In 2022, the New York state Department of Education alerted school districts that Native American mascots had to be eliminated, with schools that did not comply facing the prospect of losing state aid.
According to estimates, about 60 public schools in the state have Native American-related mascots.
Canisteo-Greenwood’s plan to change its name and mascot has been in the works for many months.
The 15-member Mascot Committee, which includes students, staff, residents and district alumni, began meeting last September and spent weeks studying the Native American mascot issue. The panel weighed more than 100 responses to a school district survey in which 80% favored a name change. The committee also hosted two public meetings for residents.
The committee eventually recommended that the school board drop its Native American mascot and imagery.
"The Mascot Committee, I cannot say just how fantastic they were to go through the entire process," Crook said. "To have the survey that the community could say whatever was on their mind, and then having the community meetings and still continuing to work after the state memo came out. I told them, ‘You have done the work, let’s just keep going and act as if the memo never came out.’”
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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Canisteo-Greenwood students choose 'Chargers' as new school mascot
