School Mascot Debate: Anyone Remember the Meadowdale Chiefs?

Recently, the State Board of Education urged school district's to stop using Native American symbols and imagery as mascots. But it seems that the Edmonds School District was about 14 years ahead of the curve on this one (sort of).

In 1998, when Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood got a new school building, students, staff and community members voted to change their mascot from the "Chiefs," to the "Mavericks," the mascot they still use today. 

Patch wonders whether anyone in the Edmonds Patch community remembers this name change, or were involved in the name change. Tell us in the comments.

The Seattle Times reported in 1998 that the change was made after complaints by students, and administrators said that students picked Mavericks from 40 suggestions.

The State Board of Education actually passed a resolution in 1993 -- five years before Meadowdale became the Chiefs -- asking schools to change the Native American imagery in their mascots, but of course, there still remains plenty of them in Washington: Sammamish Totems, Clover Park Warriors, Moses Lake Chiefs. 

While the board can't require schools to change their mascots, but it strongly encourages schools to drop the symbols, in part, to change negative perceptions of Native Americans.

The State Board of Education's resolution past last week cited the American Psychological Association's research "documenting harm to Native American children, called for the immediate retirement of all Native American mascots, symbols, images, and personalities..." (Read the rest of the resolution in the PDF attached to this article.)

Do you remember the Meadowdale Chiefs? Do you miss the old mascot? Or was this a change for the better?