Source: Union School District
A vast majority of students in the Union Public Schools have voted for “RedHawks” as the new nickname for its sports teams.
Redhawks garnered about 80% of the vote, compared to 20% for “Bison.” The vote was affirmed by Union’s board of education this week.
“We are thrilled that the votes came in so resoundingly in favor of the Redhawks,” said Superintendent Kirt Hartzler. “Part of the fun has been figuring out where we were going to land on a mascot, as we had more than 320 people make suggestions. Early on, there was a group of students who had put Redhawks forth as a possibility, and we began to see consensus building early for this name when we started looking at attributes.
“I believe Redhawks strongly positions Union for the future and is a mascot we can live with for many years to come. Thanks to the thousands of students and patrons who provided input as we went through what I believe was a thoughtful process.”
The Mascot Advisory Committee narrowed the choices down to the two finalists after an extensive public search for mascots that had attributes that most closely aligned with Union’s values.
Voting took place among students in grades 4-12 from Oct. 7 – 22, 2021, in schools throughout the district. (See the official voting results below).
“Next comes the really fun part as we begin the design process for the new mascot,” said Chris Payne, Chief Communications Officer for the district.
“We have an artist who is taking all of the feedback that has been collected about the desirable mascot attributes and he will create several different iterations. Once we are satisfied with the choices, we will go back out to the students and they will cast the deciding vote on their favorite design, which will become Union’s new symbol. We want to make sure this new mascot is one that everyone will embrace as we take things in a new direction.”
For a complete synopsis of Union’s mascot journey, visit www.unionps.org/mascot.
One year ago, on Nov. 9, 2020, the Union Board of Education voted unanimously to discontinue the use of the district’s previous mascot that had been in place for over 75 years.
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