Students from Juneau’s three high schools have selected the Thunder Bears as the mascot of the consolidated football team.
Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain and Yaakoosge Daakahidi High School students were emailed an online survey during school hours Tuesday. All surveys needed to be submitted by the end of the school day. The other two options included the Capital City Senators and Orcas.
Bridgett Weiss, the Director of Student Services at the Juneau School District, declined to share exactly how many votes each mascot received.
“I can say that it was a very strong voice” for the Thunder Bears, she said.
The students also voted on the color scheme of the new football team. Black, silver and white won out over purple, black, white and blue, red and white.
The mascot and color scheme options were finalized in mid-January by a committee of students, adults, parents, football players and cheer team members.
“I think we definitely focused on kid voice through this whole thing,” Weiss said.
The football cheer team will also adopt the same mascot and colors in the fall.
A press release sent out Wednesday by the school district stated there are not enough football jerseys in stock at either school to outfit the new team.
“The district will continue to make decisions on equipment, uniforms, helmets and schedules with minimizing cost in mind,” the release stated. “All of the color options presented to the students allowed for some use of existing equipment in the overall color scheme.”
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
