Chippewa Secondary School recently changed its team name from the Raiders to the Ravens. The official announcement that Chippewa was now the proud home of the Ravens came on September 27, during a Terry Fox Pep Rally at the school. However, there were other options, so let's see what your top pick would have been in the poll below.
When students voted on the new moniker, “Ravens was the number one choice by a significant number of votes,” explained Krista Tucker Petrick, the principal of Chippewa Secondary School.
Folks have been asking about the other options, and thanks to Tucker Petrick, we now have that information for inquiring minds.
The options on the ballot were: Chargers, Comets, Heat, Jets, and Ravens.
See: Chippewa announces new school nickname
However, three did not make it past the first two voting rounds. “In the first round of voting students overwhelmingly wanted Chargers or Ravens,” Principal Tucker Petrick clarified, “voting indicated that the other three were not nearly as popular.”
“The second vote was between Chargers and Ravens” Chippewa’s principal continued. “As you know Ravens was the winner of that vote. The process was designed to give students the choice of their team name, and the other three were not strongly supported.”
Tucker Petrick noted that, in time, the gym floor will be replaced as it’s soon due for an upgrade. At that time, it will be determined if a Raven logo – still in the works – will be painted on the floor. “There are no plans at this time” to re-do the floor, she said, but there will be direction from the school board’s facilities department.
As for the Raider memorabilia, it has not disappeared, Tucker Petrick assured. “There is an abundance of Chippewa Raider memorabilia displayed in the school. There are banners in the gym, trophies in the hallway trophy cases, and yearbooks in the library. There is also memorabilia that needs to be sorted and catalogued,” she added.
“The rebranding is not intended to erase the history of Chippewa Secondary School,” Tucker Petrick emphasized.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
