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The Gryphon has been named the mascot of the town’s future high school, Greater Fort Erie Secondary School. Special to The Times/Postmedia Network
A mythical creature will unite two school communities.
“The Gryphon is symbolic of the bringing together of two legendary beasts—the lion and the eagle—representing intelligence and strength,” Fred Louws said.
Louws, who will become principal of Greater Fort Erie Secondary School when it opens in September 2017, unveiled the new school’s mascot during Monday’s council meeting.
The decision to build a new high school in Fort Erie was a result of an accommodation review which recommended the closure of Fort Erie Secondary School and Ridgeway-Crystal Beach High School in favour of uniting all of the municipality’s students into one facility.
“This symbolism (of the Gryphon) parallels the bringing together of our two community high schools, Fort Erie Secondary School and Ridgeway-Crystal Beach High School, into Greater Fort Erie Secondary School,” he said.
Mayor Wayne Redekop said he liked the school’s new mascot.
“I like the gryphon because if you look back in mythology it’s a predatory creature. I think that shows that the teams that we send out who will be using this name will be aggressive and powerful,” Redekop said.
Louws also unveiled the school’s new colours which are gold, slate grey, cherry red and dark red.
The search for a mascot began last December when students from both high schools and Fort Erie’s feeder schools were asked to submit suggestions for school colours and narrow down list of mascots.
Kim Yielding, a spokeswoman for the District School Board of Niagara, said the response from the community “was excellent, resulting in over 50 different mascot suggestions.”
The suggestions included everything from Hipsters, to Grumpy Cats and Dragons.
Submissions were narrowed down to three finalists: The Giants, the Gryphons and the Guardians.
“Some of the criteria that was used to narrow the broad range of choices included eliminating names that were already represented by mascots in area schools, mascots that had been suggested a large number of times and how it fit with the school name,” Yielding said.
Louws said he was “pleased” Fort Erie’s youth was actively involved in sharing their opinions and “ultimately choosing the Gryphons.”
Sarah Ferguson
Fort Erie Times
sarah.ferguson@sunmedia.ca