Jefferson-Lincoln Elementary School Mascot Changed From Patriots to Mighty Tigers

One of Centralia School District’s elementary schools, Jefferson-Lincoln, changed its mascot from the Patriots to the Mighty Tigers in order to be more inclusive, the school’s principal Kelli DeMonte said during a school board meeting on Monday afternoon.

“This came from our staff and some community members that said we should change our logo, three caucasian stick figures that were holding American flags. Very cute, however, it doesn’t necessarily represent our population,” DeMonte said.

DeMonte said that they started by surveying key stakeholders, including current staff, incoming staff and families, and then decided to change the mascot. The school’s colors have also been changed from red, white and blue to black and orange.

DeMonte said the next step is the designing of T-shirts, notepads and other school apparel.

“It was a long process but we feel we did it the right way and went very slow with our decision-making process,” she said. “So, we are the Jefferson-Lincoln Mighty Tigers.”