Much to the surprise of students and staff, the new and official mascot of Warren Hills Regional High School made a debut appearance in late December, the day before winter break.

The development of the mascot began in the spring of 2016, when the Warren Hills administration decided to have a contest, where high school and middle school students had the opportunity to design a mascot.

Since the idea of a new mascot was conceived, it was intended that it would be similar to a superhero, and the mascot would be gender neutral.

Special Education teacher, Mrs. Jodi Edmonds was a part of the Excellence by Design group when they announced the contest and was part of the teacher committee that chose the finalists and winner.

Edmonds said there were about 20 to 25 different designs initially entered, then the committee looked through the entries and picked the top six.

Once the finalists were chosen, the drawings were hung up in both schools for one week, and on that Friday, all Warren Hills students had the opportunity to vote for their favorite design in their homeroom.

The winning design was by a student from the middle school at the time, Nirvani Mangru, who was in 8th grade at the time, and is now a sophomore.

“I had mixed feelings about being a finalist for the contest,” Mangru said. “My friends thought I would win, I wasn’t as sure.”

This is not the first time Mangru’s work has been recognized. A few years ago, her artwork was featured on the student handbook as well.

It is planned that the mascot will attend as many school activities as possible, such as pep rallies, home sports games and  Community Day.

“We would like for the mascot to attend all school functions,” Edmonds said.

The actual student or students who will wear the mascot costume has not yet been decided. In the near future there will be tryouts for the mascot position, like cheerleading.

It is planned that the mascot position will change seasonally, in the event that the whomever is acting as the mascot during the fall season would like to play a winter sport.

“We want to make sure our tryouts are well thought out and we get the right students to perform,” Principal Christopher Kavcak said. “If established correctly, our mascot will become a symbol of our school, much like Mr. Met and the Philly Phanatic.”

Kavcak also spoke about the long term plan for the mascot.

“The goal is to have our mascot be a lasting symbol of the school,” he said. “This is why it is important to not rush in getting the mascot out there, but to carefully plan and bring the mascot out with a strong foundation.”

A name has not yet been chosen for the mascot–that may be one of the last decisions needing to be made for the entire project.

“It doesn’t have a name yet,” Edmonds said. “It’s just our Blue Streak!”