Staff and coaches at Medicine Hat High School sport some new game-day gear with the school's new name - the Hawks. From left are football coach Quinn Skelton, new principal Dean Brown, retiring principal Boris Grisonich and athletic director Chad Watson.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
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After months of brainstorming and weeks of voting, Medicine Hat High School has a new name – the Hat High Hawks.
Boris Grisonich made the announcement the school would be changing its nickname in September, saying “Mohawks” and “Kwahommies” would no longer be used.
“After a few years of conversation with our staff and what’s going on in the world, lately the world hasn’t been a real great place, we felt we needed to have more serious talks about our name,” he said. “We don’t believe that 50 years ago we got permission to use that name.”
Hat High’s athletic director Chad Watson says the school narrowed the list of potential names down to eight and decided to let the community have a say in the new moniker. The voting worked in a bracket format with nicknames ranked from first to eighth, and Watson says it was important to have a vote.
“It seemed like I couldn’t come up with a group of people to come up with one name and that’s why we went to a voting system and let majority vote. I was super happy because I think people actually voted using their heart and using their head to make sure they had a name that represents Medicine Hat High School for the future,” he said.
Watson says throughout the entire voting process, 2,387 people submitted a choice – with current students making up 45 per cent of the total. The final vote came down to the Hawks and the Huskies, with the Hawks receiving 60 per cent.
“A name is nice, but we have such a strong culture and we have an identity already. Kids know that, our staff know that – our name doesn’t define us. What we do in this building defines us,” said Watson.
“Having a name for the students, though, I think is super important for them to actually have something to cheer for at games. Our football coach, Quinn Skelton, said at the beginning of the year when they were doing their football huddles and they go to break, not having a name was a little weird after he’s been doing this for 30-plus years. So, I think just having a name to rally around is super important.”
Watson adds they will be reaching out to companies and the community to submit possible logos with criteria they will provide.
“This is our name, this is our future, this is where we are headed. We’re not looking back. We’re going to move forward and we’re super excited to see what the future of Hat High is,” said Watson..
