The Next Syosset Team Name/Mascot

In November 2022, New York State Department of Education regulations required school districts to commit to replacing their Native American team name, logo, mascots and/or imagery by the end of the 2023 school year. The Syosset Board of Education voted on a resolution in May 2023 to eliminate the use of the name Braves and any vestiges of the name (such as "Brave") as required by NYSED. Since that time, we have taken a number of steps to select a new team name and mascot to represent our school district. 

Team Name and Mascot Selection Timeline:  
The District has created a Mascot Selection Committee to serve as representatives of the larger community and assist in the creation of a community-wide survey that will aim to identify the key values we want our team name/mascot to represent. The committee is made up of 243 volunteers from across the District, including alumni, parents, students, staff, and community members.

Meeting summaries: 

• November 14, 2024: E-mail inviting all members of the Syosset community to sign up to join the Mascot Selection Committee. Invite also posted on social media pages and District website. In total, 243 people signed up to be a part of the committee. 
• December 10, 2024: First meeting of the mascot selection committee with approximately 60 attendees (30 in-person and 30 remotely)
  Meeting Presentation 
  Watch a recording of the meeting 
• January 9, 2025: Community-wide ThoughtExchange Survey launched to gather ideas for new mascot. Survey closed January 17th. 
• January 23, 2025: Meeting of the mascot selection committee (approximately 30-people were in attendance) to review the results of the survey and determine list of names to go to the next phase of the process. The list is comprised of nine team names.Meeting Minutes
• February 5, 2025: Community-wide survey distributed to select the final four names. The community decided on: Storm, Titans, Thunder, Sabres. 
• February 6 - May 1, 2025: District steering committee begins work with graphic design firm to establish draft renderings to represent each of the four team names for a final community vote. 
• May 7, 2025: Meeting of the mascot selection committee (approximately 15-people were in attendance) to review the first drafts of the renderings. 
• May 19, 2025: Meeting of the mascot selection committee (approximately 15-people were in attendance) to finalize the renderings for a final community vote.