Hall County's newest high school will be adorned in purple and white when the doors open in August 2018 - and the school's new mascot is a bear.
The Cherokee Bluff Bears made their debut at the Hall County School Board meeting Monday night to a packed room of teachers, parents and administrators.
Following some award recognitions, Superintendent Will Schofield encouraged everyone to make a friendly wager with their neighbor about what the new colors and mascot might be. A short video featuring Cherokee Bluffs principal Wes McGee and Athletic Director Kenny Hill showed a simulated SportsCenter program as they pulled out two football helmets showing the bear paw print and new colors from behind the desk.
"The principal and the athletic director, Wes McGee and Kenny Hill, got together groups of parents, groups of students and they've done an awful lot of canvassing. We're so excited that they've announced tonight that it will be the Cherokee Bluff Bears and the colors for the school will be purple and white," said Schofield. "A lot of excitement, we're looking forward to seeing the Cherokee Bluff Bears competing in athletics beginning next year."
It's the only high school team in Hall County with purple as a color, which was deliberate.
The excitement for a new high school was not dulled last month when Tropical Storm Irma swept through, forcing students to miss a whole week from school. Schofield said while three of those days were school from home days, they will take advantage of the professional learning days on the calendar to make up the other missed days. One on March 23 will be turned in to a regular school day, and learning from home activities planned for the February professional learning day, which includes a course on the U.S. Constitution, media bias, personal finance and CPR.
At the beginning of the meeting, several dozen teachers were recognized at the meeting for their involvement in the Teacher Leader Group; Chestatee and Johnson High were also recognized by Jackson EMC for their sportsmanship. Board members also took an in-depth look at testing trend data for varying tests given in the system.
