Mascot Democracy

As Summers-Knoll re-expands, and our middle school grows, we are making plans to set up some modest levels of competition with other schools of similar scale. In the years to come, some of these will be athletic contests. Taylor and Evan have been working on a proposal for interscholastic competition in 2013-2014.

Looking ahead, we thought it would be fun to adopt a mascot for SK. Michigan has the Wolverines, Huron has the River Rats; who are we? 

We've been taking suggestions from SK kids since the fall, and have thrown in a few faculty ideas. The field is now narrowed to 64 possible nicknames. Over the next two months, we will reduce the field to the one and only Summers-Knoll mascot. Because there is no one like us, our nickname should not be like anyone else's. That is reflected in the list. 

The options will be reduced from 64 to 32 to 16 to 8 to 4 to 1. That's five rounds of reductions, one per week. Each round will be conducted differently, as outlined below. The list of sixty-four is fabulous; see the next post for that.

ROUND I : 64 to 32

April 22-26

Every person in each of the following nine groups fills out a bracket. Each of the nine groups then tallies the brackets to come up with a final 32 for that group. These nine are then tallied to provide the school-wide selections for the round of 32.

{groups: Val’s class; Mrs Carpenter’s; Elaine’s; Chris’; Ms Strickler’s; Jason’s; Karl’s; faculty; parents}

ROUND II: 32 to 16

April 30-May 3

A 32-nickname bracket is posted by Karen’s office. Anyone in the SK community can vote. Each voter signs off publicly, next to the bracket. Votes are tallied and each matchup is settled via pure vote count.

ROUND III: 16 to 8

May 7-10

Each of the seven homeroom classes narrows the field from 16 to 8 through means of their own invention.

The seven homeroom ballots are then tallied. Only students may vote.

ROUND IV: 8 to 4

May 14-17

Faculty and administrators narrow the field from eight to four through means of their own invention.

Grown-ups only.

FINAL ROUND: 4 to 1

late May & early June

At a public session, advocates for each of the four finalists have five to ten minutes to present their case. The final decision, to be made within a week of the session, rests with the Head of School and Athletic Director, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.