Marty the Mustang was last seen at the boys’ basketball senior night game on Valentine’s Day, and no one has seen him since. After reports from students that they were traumatized by the mascot, the school system has decided to replace Marriotts Ridge High School’s mascot.
Since the school’s opening in the fall of 2005, MRHS has always had Marty the Mustang as the face of the community, but not for much longer. In the Mustang’s nearly 19-year reign, there had never been any issue, but this year’s mascot has scarred many students and families. From the incessant staring, awkward hugs, aggressive high fives and targeted tormenting, many members of the MRHS community never want to see the horse grace the school halls ever again.
“He creeps me out. I don’t mind the costume too much, but it’s whoever is inside that makes me feel unsettled. Although the large head and plastic eyes definitely don’t help. Personally, I’m ready for the change,” junior Sahasra Pola remarked.
While it is a well-known fact that the mascot is traditionally a senior, the identity of the mascot is still unknown. The administration has been doing everything it can to help comfort the students after their encounters with Marty and are looking forward to revealing his replacement at the spring pep rally.
“The student who is currently the mascot has been terminated, and we are on the hunt for a new student to take on the role for the next year. As for now, it will likely be a faculty member who dons the suit for the reveal in the spring,” Assistant Principal Mr. Vandenberge commented.
Members of the community are glad that their concerns were heard and addressed, and so quickly at that as they felt that this fear wouldn’t be taken seriously.
“I actually felt kinda silly filing a complaint about the fact that the mascot scared me, but I’m just glad that my feelings weren’t invalidated,” senior Zach Vernick said.
Although the costume reveal isn’t for a few more months, it has been rumored that the new mascot is going to be a manafrog, which is a combination of a manatee and a frog. The new mascot will go along with the new school name, Chariot’s Creek. Although many students will miss being a Mustang, they are more than excited to be the Chariot’s Creek Manafrogs.
“I’m a little annoyed that now all of my previous Marriotts Ridge merch is useless, but I still think it’ll be cool to be a manafrog from now on. It’ll definitely be an adjustment though to have a whole new school name and mascot,” junior Amrei Greer mentioned.
After a year of students feeling victimized by Marty the Mustang, it’ll be a refreshing change for students and their families to be able to attend school-sponsored events without having to worry about a run-in with the Mustang. In the coming months, students have the official mascot reveal and school rename announcement to look forward to in addition to a competition to design the school’s new logo.