South Colonie schools look to name new wolf mascots

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- South Colonie Central School District is asking its students to creatively name and create a backstory for the district's two new mascots. The district's rebrand to the Wolves was unveiled in early July, and the school kept its original maroon and gold colors.

The district hopes that the challenge of creating the new mascots' names and backstories will ignite students' creativity. Students are asked to invent a fun and relatable story about where they came from and how the two met.

The change of mascot followed the New York State Board of Education's announcement of changes to requirements for public schools to remove Native American imagery from their mascots or team names. Faculty will help students craft their stories over the coming weeks, and the top three sets of names and backstories will go before the Board of Education for a vote.

The winning name and backstory will be announced later in the fall. Superintendent David Perry said it's been exciting as the district embraces its new identity, and he can't wait to see what students brainstorm. "The mascot naming project allows our students to get involved in this new chapter, fostering creativity and unity," he said.