It’s finally here - Mascot Reveal Week! It’s been a long time coming, but we have arrived at the culmination of this project at last. 

The process actually began in the summer of 2019 with the BEA Strategic Plan refresh where we wanted to have one mascot be the identity of our school district. A mascot is important for several reasons, but most importantly, it’s the image that our students associate with our school family and our identity. This helps with the connectedness of our student body, our school family, our community, and our Buc Pride. However, by Spring of 2020, this project was pushed down the to-do list for obvious reasons. 

However, by Fall of 2021, we were ready to put it at the top of our list yet again! Our District Leadership Team Parent and Family Engagement sub-committee took the reins of this project and put together parameters and a timeline as to how we would get to our new, updated mascot. Many thanks to Dar Holmseth and Rob Norman for leading this charge, and to our student body representatives: Jack Norman, Eloise Blair, Lola Lundquist, Madelyn Ferguson, Parker Meyers, Max Loge, Haley Kalis, as well as staff rep Sara Albright.

We started this process by calling all artists and designers to submit an entry for the new Buc mascot, and we were so excited to have three BEA alumni submit entries. Lissia Laehn, Kristin Woodwick, and Jake Fernholz were the creators of the designs for the new mascot, which were the three designs people voted on. This survey was one of our most popular surveys to date, with nearly 500 people voting! This Friday, we are thrilled to announce the winning design when we hold a Preschool - 12th grade Pep Fest at our high school for all our students and staff. Because we will already have a full gym with our students and staff, the public can see the reveal live via our Facebook page when we livestream the pep fest! There is no need to have a Facebook account to view, simply click on this link on Friday, February 11th @ 1:15 pm: https://www.facebook.com/ISD2860

That evening, we will also be having a table set up in the BEA HS Commons at the Boys Basketball Game where we will be handing out free t-shirts to our parents and community members until they are gone! At a time when the world seems to have a lost a little of that community and human connection, we hope to be able to see many of you Friday night for your free t-shirt while you come to cheer on the Bucs, help us as we celebrate our new Buccaneer mascot, and have some fellowship with your BEA Buccaneer Family!