The new W.F. West High School Bearcat mascot, shown here, was deisgned by W.F. West alum John Mason and approved by the Chehalis School District’s Board of Directors on June 9.
Amid community backlash on social media sites for the new W.F. West Bearcats logo, school officials said the new image is officially the 2015-16 mascot.
The new Bearcat logo will be added to the vast number of mascots the school has seen over past years and will be the 18th mascot of the district.
W.F. West Assistant Principal Tom Elder said the Associated Student Body group has given the logo its approval, sealing a piece of history the senior class wanted to leave behind.
According to Elder, the school board’s role has never been to approve a new mascot, and instead, at the June 9 school board meeting, the directors received an informational showing of the redesigned logo.
The mascot came to fruition after two years of work by the ASB team and with the help of a 1975 W.F. West graduate John Mason. Mason is a professional design artist and has donated his time and resources to help the students bring their vision to life.
“The kids took time and effort and almost two years in creating a whole school wide plan,” Elder said. “The mascot was a part of that.”
The assistant principal said he has received a lot of feedback from community members, and the ASB group plans to review all of the comments when they meet again in the fall.
“The community is very invested in the school and change is never easy,” Elder said. “I don’t think the kids knew that with something new that there was going to be some questions.”
The input is valued, said Elder. He said feedback received from the students and staff has been positive for the most part. As for those in the community who see the mascot for the first time, he said the feedback was not negative, but not positive either.
He said the change was drastic compared to what the Chehalis community is used to.
A “Save the ‘Old’ Bearcat” Facebook page garnered 1,500 likes in less than 24 hours.
Although many on the page have expressed their distaste for the new logo and the accompanying crest, Jane Pollin, a graduate of W.F. West, said everyone is in a world of change.
“On a scale of my top 100 priorities, I say let my grandkids decide,” she posted. “They are the future; the Bearcat, my past.”
The students who spearheaded the project wanted to leave their own identity or footprint, Elder said.
Through the process, the students should learn a lot, he said.
“They are going to see that change is difficult. I think they are going … to learn that going through any type of process takes time and there could be push back,” Elder said. “I think that’s all great learning lessons we are teaching our kids.”
He said he was proud of the work the kids put into the redesign and said they were true to their mission of creating a Bearcat that better depicts the animal itself.
The logo will likely be replaced in the future, if history repeats itself.
“I think as we’ve seen with any logo, it’s always temporary,” Elder said. “Nothing is ever set in stone, but this gives the kids the latitude and empowers them to create their own legacy while they are here.”
