The student body of John Burroughs High School has voted to change its mascot of an Indian.
By a vote of 981 to 559, the students overwhelmingly felt it was needed to change the only mascot the school has ever known since it opened as a high school in the late 1940s.
The vote took place early this week and ended on Wednesday night. The results were announced Friday afternoon.
“I’m really happy that a lot of people cared what happened to our mascot and were involved and willing to participate and giving their feedback,” ASB President Nadaly Jones said. “I’m very grateful for the whole process and getting to learn so much valuable information and everyone’s point of view on it.”
The process began in September when the Associated Student Body voted to have the current student body determine if the Indian mascot is how they wanted their school to be represented.
In late September the ASB sought feedback and answered questions with a form posted online. They also met with a local tribe to discuss the matter.
Two weeks ago, an open forum was held for students, alumni and the community so their voices and concerns could be addressed.
Jones said the school will now seek a new mascot.
“It is optional, but if they have any suggestions they can make them. Probably in our next ASB meeting we will go through those suggestions,” Jones said of Burroughs students.
Some have suggested that a new mascot might be related to Burbank’s long history in aviation, or perhaps its ties to entertainment.
“A lot of animals were brought up. One member brought up a Red Hawk, which was really good,” Jones said. “A lot of the discussions were animals. I’m interested to see what other students will come up with after hearing the results from the survey too.”
