By Sara Gregory
Staff writer
Commons Photos by Timothy Reese

Move over Tigers and Wildcats, this new kitty has claws.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools announced Friday the new colors and mascot for Carrboro High School, the district’s newest school slated to open in August.

The 800 students who will attend the school will be known as the Jaguars. Their colors will be purple, black and white.

“It’s great to have it as a part of the cat family,” city schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen said.

“It just begins to give some identity to the school.”

“The cat family” includes Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools, whose mascots are the Tigers and Wildcats, respectively.

“We thought it’d be fun to be different, but there’s something to be said for unity as well,” said Lavanya Rao, a sophomore who will attend Carrboro High.

Students who will attend the school next year were responsible for voting on the mascot and school colors.

“First we tried to get input from the students,” said Kristina Witcher, a sophomore at Chapel Hill High who sat on the committee that selected the mascot. Witcher will attend Carrboro High next year.

Write-in suggestions from students garnered ideas for mascots such as the Clams, the Rocks, the Worms and the Rainbows - ideas the committee quickly rejected.

“We got a lot of clams. Clams and locomotives,” said Molly Superfine, a sophomore at Chapel Hill High who also will transfer to Carrboro High in the fall.

The committee that worked to select the mascot and colors also received input from all of the schools that have students who will attend Carrboro High.

The mascot and colors could not duplicate those of any other city school or any school in Carrboro High’s athletic division, the Mid-state 1-A/2-A conference.

The committee narrowed the selection to three choices: the Kodiaks, an Alaskan bear; the Cardinals, North Carolina’s state bird; and the Jaguars.

Of the more than 500 students assigned to Carrboro High who were eligible to vote on the mascot and colors, almost 200 cast ballots.

In a close race between the Cardinals and the Jaguars, feline loyalty had the upper hand and won by approximately 15 votes.

“I’m thrilled. I like the Jaguar anyways,” Principal Jeff Thomas said.

“The selection will only add to the pride parents and students have in the school and the Carrboro community.”

Students on the design team said they were surprised the Jaguars won out.

“We were hoping to be the Carrboro Kodiaks, but the Jaguars was definitely our second choice,” Chapel Hill High sophomore William Burgo said.

Others on the committee felt the choice was appropriate.

“I like the Jaguars because it fits in the general theme of cats,” said Kenneth Jjombwe, a sophomore at Chapel Hill High.

Thomas said the selection allows the school to move forward with its preparations for August.

Now that the colors and mascot have been picked, uniforms and athletic equipment can be ordered and games can be scheduled.

“Everything is coming along nicely,” Thomas said.

A parent group already has created spirit wear for the new school. Students presented Pedersen with a white T-shirt that read “Carrboro High School” in purple lettering.

Pedersen pulled the T-shirt over his collared shirt and tie and modeled the wear for the crowd.

Black hooded sweatshirts are also available for students and parents to purchase.

The design team will tour the school construction site Thursday, getting its first glimpse inside the school. In March, the school will hold open meetings for prospective students to learn more about the upcoming year.

Excited as they were about the new mascot and school colors, students and parents said they were still a little nervous about what to expect.

“I’m a bit apprehensive because of all of the changes,” Jjombwe said.

“What classes are they going to offer? What extracurricular activities? That sort of stuff.”

“But it’s a good opportunity to begin something new,” Jjombwe said.

Parent Patti Spaulding, whose daughter will be a junior at Carrboro High, said that while she and her family were anxious, they were excited about the new school.

“You’re always going to have some bumpy things in the beginning,” Spaulding said. “But the people I’ve talked to have been very excited to come here.”

Spaulding said, “A state-of-the-art school, how lucky do you get?”

Pedersen said that the mascot and school colors unveiling was just one more step in the process of opening the school.

“Now you can see the school going up, and the building going up. At some point they’ve got to believe it’s happening.”