Say goodbye to the Jonathan Turner Titans and hello to the Jacksonville Middle School Crimsons.
District 117 board members held a special committee session on Wednesday to review suggestions from the Jacksonville Mascot Committee.
Consisting of teachers, coaches, principals and athletic directors from Jacksonville, the committee advised the board to use the Crimson name for both the high school and junior high.
Jacksonville District 117 Superintendent Steve Ptacek explains the benefit of using Crimsons at both schools.
“One main reason we want to have it as the Crimsons is to allow parents who buy ‘Crimson Wear’ to be able to use that all the way through high school. There was also some concerns at the junior high that labeling the kids as ‘junior’ might not develop the ownership in the big picture, as just being full Crimsons might have,” says Ptacek.
Ptacek says this process was a great example of the community getting involved with District 117.
“This was originally brought up by the community and was driven by a group of community members. They listened to the community and I think they came to something both sides are in agreement with. For people who didn’t want change, well nothing really changed. It is still the Crimsons. The group that wanted something more defining is getting it with this block ‘J’,” says Ptacek.
The Mascot Committee will reconvene soon to finalize a style guide for the varsity block “J” emblem.
Ptacek feels the board will ready to finalize the mascot details during the June meeting.