MLSD board approves Chief Mo mascot and name change
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 9 months AGO
Greg Kittrell represented the committee tasked with finding a new name and mascot for Chief Moses Middle School in a presentation to the Moses Lake School Board Thursday.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Chief Moses Middle School teachers and school personnel stop to talk under the facade at the school’s entry. Moses Lake School Board members voted to change the school’s name Thursday.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | June 12, 2022 3:16 PM
MOSES LAKE — Chief Moses Middle School will become Columbia Middle School at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, and the mascot will be changed from the Braves to the Red Hawks. Moses Lake School Board members unanimously approved the recommendation of a district committee at the regular meeting Thursday.
Jeremy O'Neil, the district’s chief operating officer, said the process of renaming CMMS took a little longer than choosing new mascots for Moses Lake High School and Frontier Middle School.
“There’s been an ongoing process many months in the making,” O’Neil said. “The impetus being, our partners at the (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) said that we needed to make some changes, and we’ve done that with the high school and Frontier. The wrinkle with Chief Moses Middle School is that the school name also needed to be addressed.”
Former Frontier Middle School and Moses Lake High School teacher and coach Greg Kittrell presented the committee’s recommendation to the board.
Kittrell said the committee deliberated and came up with three options for the new school name and three for the mascot. They then put the options to a vote.
“For the name of the school, Columbia Middle School, or Sunrise Middle School or Desert Lake Middle School. Those are our three choices, with Columbia Middle School way out in front of everything else,” Kittrell said.
Coming up with a mascot was slightly more challenging, he said.
“The mascot was a little different - a very tight vote among the three. The Red Hawk was the top vote-getter,” Kittrell said.
The remaining options for the mascot were Coyotes or Mustangs.
The need for the mascot and name changes come after legislation was passed in Olympia requiring any school or other public entity using a term from indigenous culture to request permission from the nearest tribal authority to continue using the name. Earlier this year, the twelve tribes of the Colville reservation put out a blanket response indicating they felt the use of native terms was inappropriate and harmful to Native American youth.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.