Falcon chosen as school's mascot
Crimson Bear, meet the Falcon.
The falcon will be the mascot for the planned high school at Dimond Park, and the school colors will be blue and silver, the Juneau School Board decided Tuesday.
The board followed the recommendations of Juneau's middle school students, who voted on the mascot and colors.
The 1,070-student school, now in an advanced stage of design, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2006. The mascot of Juneau-Douglas High School is the Crimson Bear.
Yes, there are falcons in Juneau. But most of them are just feeding in the meadows in the spring on their way north, said Brenda Wright, president of the Juneau Audubon Society.
The American kestrel, which is "fairly common," and the gyrfalcon hunt here in the spring, and the merlin occasionally nests here, she said.
Other mascot names to make the final ballot for the new school were cheetah, fox, thunderbolt, tiger and wildcat. Students also considered black and silver and black and gold as color combinations.
A committee of school district officials and two middle school students organized the process for choosing the mascot and colors, and edited the nominations down to 22 mascots and 13 color suggestions. The top six mascots and top three color combinations made it to a final ballot.
"In the second vote they came up with a clear winner," said School Board President Mary Becker.
The decision is important, she said.
"We're talking about colors and a mascot that will live with the school for 50 years. ... The students took it very seriously at both (middle) schools."
The school colors will guide Juneau architects Minch Ritter Voelckers in selecting the colors of the building's trim, lockers and carpeting, Becker said.
The school's name hasn't been decided yet. By the School Board's own rules, it must be geographical in nature. The board expects to decide by April, Becker said.