Arickaree School in southwestern Washington County is in the process of selecting a new mascot, in response to Senate Bill 21-116.
Arickaree Superintendent Lisa Weigel said the district had been hopeful previous agreements with the Arikaree would provide the exception to keep the Indians mascot. However, district leaders have not had any luck solidifying previous agreement documents or communications.
Therefore, the school district is moving forward with changing its mascot and logos by the June 1, 2022 deadline. If not in compliance, schools begin getting fined $25,000 per month.
Like Yuma School District-1, Arickaree is estimating it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to make all the changes inside and outside the building, purchase new uniforms, and change anything else that might have the Indians mascot.
The change needs to start happening soon. One idea for uniforms is to simply have the letter “A” with no Indians imagery. Arickaree currently is in a sports cooperative with Woodlin, with the team name of Indian Mustangs, but the uniforms simply feature “AW.” However, the sports cooperative is coming to an end after the current school year, Weigel said.
Arickaree currently is seeking input from students, staff and community members for a new mascot and logo. A list of proposed mascots still is being formulated. According to the school district, a list of five to 10 nominations will be put before the community, students, staff and school board. Weigel said the plan is to make decisions close to the end of January, so the district can move forward with the change.
The hope is to come up with a new mascot and logo “that will ensure we keep the tradition and spirit that has always been part of the Arickaree school community.”
