Pupils urge board to keep new colors, mascot

Pupils had also wanted to change the new high school's name to Central.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Several hundred city schoolchildren have asked the school board not to rescind its decision to make the new East High School colors light blue and silver and the school mascot a panther.
A group of senior female students from The Rayen and Wilson high schools appeared before the board of education last week bearing a letter as well as a petition signed by about 300 students urging the board to stand firm on its decision.
The women wore white T-shirts emblazoned with "East Football" in the new school's colors and bearing a likeness of the panther mascot.
The letter was signed by Rayen seniors Brittnie Mascarella, Talia Hullum and Bianca Diaz and was prompted by a resolution proposed at the board's Jan. 9 meeting that called for a reconsideration of the colors and mascot.
It proposed another student vote on those issues, but it was pulled from the agenda with President Michael Write saying the proposal would be assigned to a board committee for review and recommendation.
The resolution said a large number of East alumni and alumni associations questioned the "validity and fairness" of the earlier student ballot to pick a mascot and colors because it didn't include the old East mascot (golden bears) or colors (dark blue and gold) as an option.
It even said that an East alumnus is willing to pick up the "reasonable" cost of a new student vote.
East High School was closed and converted to a middle school in 1998. The middle school kept the golden bears mascot and dark blue and gold colors.
Adopted new mascot
But that school has now also been closed and the pupils moved into the new P. Ross Berry Middle School, which has already adopted the new panther mascot and the new blue and silver school colors.
A new East High School is under construction at a cost of about 30 million and is scheduled to open this fall.
The student letter writers said they were part of the group that organized the student balloting on the mascot and colors two years ago.
"This was done by students for the students. We were allowed a voice in this process and this was our decision and choices," the letter said.
It pointed out that the process started with a student summit at Youngstown State University that drew representatives from every side of the city. There was a lot of initial arguing from North Side and South Side students about putting their school mascots and colors on the ballot.
"When we saw how this divided us so much, the students decided that it would be better to start a new tradition with a new mascot and colors," the letter said, noting that the decision was made to eliminate all existing Youngstown mascots and school colors from the ballot.
Everyone at the summit felt it was in the best interest of the pupils to start their own traditions, the letter said.
Who gets to vote
Those at the summit also decided that only pupils in fifth through ninth grade from across the city would get to vote as they are the ones who will be attending the new school.
"We ask you not to drudge up those bad experiences we had getting our proposal through," the letter said, recalling that the group drew negative comments from people in the audience when the student recommendation was presented to the board.
The school board later formally approved the student vote results.
"We have accepted the fact that the new school will be called East, the colors are North Carolina blue and silver, and the mascot is the panther. For two years, we have promoted the name, colors and the mascot," the letter said.
It also noted that the pupils had wanted to suggest that the new high school be named Central, rather than East, to make it a complete new start, but were told they couldn't make that proposal.
"If you are going to reopen this issue, they why don't you also let the student[s] vote on the name Central High or East High?" the letter asked.
School officials have said the new building's interior has already been painted blue and white and the panther mascot emblem is on the gym floor.
To change the colors and mascot now would cost as much as 500,000, one official said.
gwin@vindy.com