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Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
Liberty Ranch to be home of the hawks
By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Staff Writer
When Liberty Ranch High School begins its first school year in the fall of 2009, it will do so with its official colors of green and silver as well as its mascot, the Hawk.
Brian Deis, principal of Liberty Ranch, presented the mascot and colors results to the Galt Joint Union High School District Board Tuesday evening, which concluded a search for a unique mascot to represent the district’s new high school.
In coming up with school colors, Deis said that 567 letters were mailed out to students and their parents that invited the families to vote on three top choices for mascots and three top choices for colors, with the option of filling out their own choices if they were not listed.
Some community members have expressed concern over the district’s choice to avoid a color combination of red, white and blue, however, a choice that Deis noted was made to avoid gang color conflict possibilities.
Dennis Duffy, who said that he will have a child attending Liberty Ranch next year, told the school board that choosing red, white, and blue would invoke patriotism, and should not conflict with gang concerns.
“We thought the Warriors are patriotic in nature,” Duffy said, referring to Galt High School’s mascot. In speaking of the choices for Liberty Ranch would continue a similar theme.“The name Patriots came to mind, and Minutemen. The colors came to mind red, white, and blue.”
Voters were given the choice between green and silver, green and gold, or black and white, or they could fill in their own nomination.
The given mascot choices were a hawk, lion, or tiger.
The most popular choice after hawk was the tiger, as 21 percent picked that mascot, Deis said Tuesday.
Eleven percent chose the eagle as their mascot choice, although Deis noted in a meeting last week that Liberty Ranch did not want to compete with neighboring Estrellita High School, which has the eagle as its mascot.
Deis said that Liberty Ranch worked with an athletic supplier and the Sac-Joaquin Section in searching for a unique mascot.
Deis took input from the community and answered questions at that meeting on August 5 at Galt High School’s auditorium.
Parents at that meeting also asked about the possibility of having red, white, and blue, and Deis noted the reasoning that was mentioned Tuesday, that the district wanted to stay away from color combinations that were also gang colors, such as red and blue.
Liberty Ranch’s goal was to pick unique mascots, since it was unsure of which athletic conference it would end up in permanently.
Deis said that while he is unsure of which league Liberty Ranch will join, a decision could be made as soon as this fall.
If it chose a common mascot, then there would be the chance that another school in the conference would have the same mascot.
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