June 12, 2023
June 6, 2023
Join the Pep Band, Student Cabinet members, Cheerleaders, alumni, staff, board members, friends, students, and neighbors for the Black Bear mascot Reveal Rally on Monday night, June 12th! The hoopla begins at 6 p.m. in the High School auditorium with surprises and excitement for all!
April 3, 3023
Get ready to celebrate!! Please view THE SLIDES our Student Cabinet members presented at tonight’s Board of Education meeting, and raise a cheer for the BLACK BEARS!!
March 21, 2023
It’s truly an exciting week in our mascot development process: the final ranked-choice survey will be released to GFHS students on Wednesday, 3/22, and to the community on Thursday 3/23! Middle School students will participate in this vote, and elementary classrooms will participate as a group along with the employees, families, alumni, and community members of GF Nation.
The Superintendent’s Student Cabinet has met regularly to analyze data from our two previous student and community surveys: the values definition exchange of thoughts, and the exercise to match mascot ideas to those defined values. From hundreds of data points, the Cabinet refined our values to be UNITY, SUPPORT, PASSION, and GRIT! And from hundreds of additional data points, the Cabinet distilled the final choices for Glens Falls’ new mascot: Knights, Wolves, Black Bears, and Hawks!
It is very important to note that we will remain GF NATION, and continue using that moniker going forward–we are simply choosing a mascot to go with it. The Cabinet has already agreed to keep GF Nation, as it embodies our core values. The mascot gives us an icon to rally school spirit around. Please participate in the process!
Vote for your favorites by March 30th here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/GF-Nation-Mascot
February 28, 2023
The district is working to keep GF Nation connected and unified while defining our next mascot. Before break, members of the Superintendent’s Student Cabinet met to synthesize our top four values from the student and community exchange of thoughts on “what defines GF Nation.” A total of 829 participants shared 404 ideas that garnered 29,447 ratings by other students, employees, families, alumni, and neighbors. From all that data and robust discussion emerged the top core values of UNITY, SUPPORT, PASSION, and GRIT! The process continues this week with our next survey — opened to Grades 9-12 students March 1st, and open to the full community March 2nd — asking “What mascot or icon do you think best represents these values?”
Please participate in the survey by clicking this link: https://www.
February 9, 2023
Dear School Community Members,
We are excited to be moving forward today with the next step in our process to determine Glens Falls City School District’s next mascot!
Today, we explore the question, “What qualities or values should GF Nation be known for?” Families, alumni, employees, and district residents are invited and encouraged to provide their ideas on the characteristics of Glens Falls City Schools … who we are, what we stand for, and our ideals as a school community.
CLICK HERE TO EXCHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS!
Please forward the link to your friends and neighbors, so that all of us can participate in defining the aspirations and ideals that make GF Nation stand out.
Also, be sure to rate how much you agree with other community members’ thoughts HERE. Please try to rate as many thoughts as possible–30 or more is ideal!
This Values Definition Exchange of Thoughts will close at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb 14th, so be sure to respond quickly.
We highly encourage everyone interested in helping determine our next mascot to review these important updates:
- Research: Origins of the Glens Falls Indians (from presentation on 12.12.22)
- Additional Research and Mascot Development Process Outline (from presentation on 1.9.23)
Our overall goal is to keep GF Nation connected and unified as we work to define our next mascot. A timeline of the entire process and links to all Board of Education updates are available here: https://www.gfsd.org/developing-glens-falls-new-mascot/ You may want to bookmark this page and check back often for updates as we move through the next months of this process.
Thank you for being a valuable member of GF Nation!
December 12, 2022
NYSED has ordered all school districts in the state to remove the “Indian” mascot and associated icons (the arrowhead included) from the public school system.
Specifically, the order states, “the court’s decision establishes that public school districts are prohibited from utilizing Native American mascots. Arguments that community members support the use of such imagery or that it is ‘respectful’ to Native Americans are no longer tenable.” The directive goes on to state that “should a district fail to affirmatively commit to replacing its Native American team name, logo, and/or imagery by the end of the 2022-23 school year, it may be in willful violation of the Dignity Act. The penalties for such a violation include the removal of school officers and the withholding of State Aid.”
