By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald
Many people view their school mascot as an identity and a source of school pride.
Think dawgs and yellow jackets, among others.
Effingham County students were challenged with coming up with naming the mascot and school colors for the new Creekside Elementary School, which is scheduled to open for the 2026-2027 school year. The final student presentations at the April 24 school board meeting pitted otters against coyotes against cardinals against crawdads.
“This was the first time we used this process to select a school name and mascot,” said ECSD Superintendent Dr. Yancy Ford. “The Board felt it was important to involve both the community and students in the decision. Schools are the heart of their communities, and we wanted to make sure their voices were included.”
Students had to create a campaign or sales pitch to explain why the mascot they chose would be best for the new school – along with school colors and designs for school uniform tops and accessories, if they desired.
Adults were available and willing to help, but the students just took the challenge and ran with it. Most of the entries came from fifth-grade students, one from a third-grade student; and one from a kindergartener.
Students highlighted their mascot choice’s traits such as resilience, curiosity, intelligence, playfulness, and social skills – all the traits the presenters said students should have while they learn in school.
“I chose Ollie the Otter because you want your students to be playful, curious, social, and intelligent,” said Addie Stearns, a fifth-grade student from Sand Hill Elementary. She chose purple and gold because, “purple is for creativity and gold is for success.”
Juliana Williams, a fifth-grade student from Guyton Elementary lobbied for coyotes because, “They are intelligent, adapt to their environment, and gray coyotes live in Effingham County near Dasher Creek.”
“Cardinals are very protective of their babies, just like a teacher is protective of her students,” Chavez Jimenez said. “A cardinal means that an angel is nearby, so it’s like an angel is taking care of the kids,” he added, pointing to a cardinal logo on the shirt he designed.
Royce White and Roman Darling, fifth-grade students at Ebenezer Elementary presented their pitch for the crawdad.
A small chorus of giggles rippled through the audience at the school board meeting as White and Darling made their way to the podium accompanied by a third person in a crawdad costume.
“While a student and a crawdad seem different, they actually have a lot in common,” said White, at the beginning of his presentation.
Darling added that just like a crawdad that dives deep into muddy waters to explore, students, “always ask questions and discover new things.”
The two boys tag-teamed their presentation continuing with, “Crawdads are resilient,” White continued. “When faced with a tough situation, a crawdad will shed its old shell and grow a stronger one. When students face challenges like failing a test, they don’t give up. They bounce back, learn, and grow stronger each time.”
White and Darling added that students and crawdads are alike because both are independent and adventurous.
The vote was taken by the school board after the meeting and the results were announced on the ECSD Facebook page Friday afternoon.
The board chose the crawdads.
