Athletic Director Ben Drake makes presentation on scholar athletes to School Board

Scholar athletes and the Jamestown High School Football team were recognized for their efforts at the Jamestown School Board meeting Tuesday night.

Athletic Director Ben Drake said studies have shown that inter-scholastic athletics improve graduation rates, school attendance, decrease discipline issues, and there’s a correlation with improvement with grade point averages. He said this was the first year they can remember where every one of the high school’s varsity teams were named scholar athlete teams, “During the first ten weeks of the school year, take the top 75% of every roster and if it comes out to a 90% or better, you’re named a scholar athlete team. And we always have a few teams but this is the first year that we could remember that every team in the season was a scholar athlete team, so that over 75% of our varsity athletes this year had a 90% or higher GPA in the Fall.”

Drake said 18 students were named All Western New York Scholar Athletes, “And in order to do that, you have to be a senior and you have to have a cumulative GPA of 90% or higher from your first six semesters in high school. And so 18 of them is a lot. We always have a handful. Some seasons we’ll have more than others but 18 is quite a few so I just want to recognize them.”

The Jamestown High School Football team was recognized for their accomplishments this season and the players offered their thanks to the school board for all of their support for the team.

Jamestown High School Individual Fall All-WNY Scholar-athletes:

Cecelia Eklum (girls tennis) – winner

Rylie Loomis (girls volleyball) – winner

Nick Miraglia (football) – winner

Jaymin Morano (boys cross country) – winner

Ben Anderson (football) – honorable mention

Madison Arthurs (girls tennis) – honorable mention

Skyela Banse-Fay (girls soccer) – honorable mention

Mia Brown (girls tennis) – honorable mention

Colton Cappalino (boys cross country) – honorable mention

Nicole Carlson (girls volleyball) – honorable mention

Regan Coombs (girls volleyball) – honorable mention

Hannah Grey (girls volleyball) – honorable mention

Rena Huntington (girls tennis) – honorable mention

Cadance Main (girls volleyball) – honorable mention

Nicole McGrath (girls tennis) – honorable mention

Natalie Reinhardt (girls swimming) – honorable mention

Haileigh Rhodes (girls soccer) – honorable mention

Annika Spitzer (girls tennis) – honorable mention

Human Rights Commission member and Jamestown Justice Coalition organizer Justin Hubbard expressed frustration by the lack of response from the school board following a unanimous statement from the city committee recommending the district change both the mascot and the “Red Raider” name. He said in by voting to change the mascot, the board admits that what the district had done for decades was racist, “That is what you’ve admitted by saying that needs to be changed. It’s been changed before. I don’t understand why now we’re still doing half-measures and you refuse to go to the finish line when it comes to this. You cannot disassociate the name ‘Red Raiders’ with the horrible caricature that was there when I was in high school. You cannot do that.”

Autumn Dahlgren said the board needs to do its due diligence to change the name, “It is impossible to separate the name and the imagery and expect this to have a meaningful impact on our relationship with our Seneca neighbors. In one of numerous conversations with representatives of the Seneca Nation over the past year and a half, one person stated that ‘removing the imagery and keeping the name would be as if we stopped turning the knife in their back but never actually pulled it out.'”

Student Ex-Officio School Board Member and JHS Senior Annika Spitzer said Jamestown High School has many beautiful traditions but the name is not one, “I just feel like a student’s voice needs to be heard in this. And I think it would be beautiful for us to take a new step in the right direction. And instead of holding on, or clinging onto something that just doesn’t need to stay, I think this would be an awesome opportunity for us to progress, to set an example for everyone else to finally join the pack of making good change.”

School Board Member Pat Slagle said he thinks a conversation on the issue can continue, “I think as the committee moves forward with deciding what the new logo should be, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that we also continue to discuss the name and what that may look like. Especially if there’s movement at the high school that they no longer feel that that name represents who they are and who they want to be. I think it warrants further discussion.”

Slagle invited the Human Rights Commission and Jamestown Justice Coalition to be part of any of those conversations going forward.

The resolution gave the approval to the District to hire a graphic designer and a trademark attorney for a logo and mascot redesign as well as approved discontinuing the use of the “J with the feathers” on school buildings and athletic fields, and to replace all uniforms provided by the school with the imagery. School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the “J” on the back of Jamestown High School will be changed as part of the planned capital projects while a number of uniforms have already been replaced at the modified level.

Board member Nina Karbacka had made the motion to change the name of “Red Raiders,” “I feel that though that name had historically not represented Native Americans, it has represented Native Americans for 50 years and is very closely associated with that. And I feel that our board and school system has a strong feeling of inclusivity and respect for our students and that name does not reflect that.”

Board President Paul Abbott said he supports keeping the “Red Raiders” name as it’s been in use since the 1940s, “I look to what the origins were that our committee brought forward to us. That we were the Red and Green Raiders, that we previously had a panther as our logo, that it was shortened to Red Raiders. It is unfortunate, hindsight being 20-20, that it evolved the way that it did.”

Board member Pat Slagle said when changing the mascot was being discussed in 2014, the idea of changing the name of “Red Raiders” was brought up, “At that time we didn’t have the research or history of the committee working, so I was torn of the same idea. Red Raiders – Do we keep that name? Is it based on Native American imagery or connotations? And I think Coach Drake came forward with some evidence dating back to the ’40s and that helped convinced me that the name is not tied to Native American imagery.”

Board member Joe Pawelski, who sat on the Mascot committee, said they’ll be seeking community, faculty, and student input on what the new logo and mascot should be.

The Jamestown School Board also swore in Frank Galeazzo as one of its new members and Nina Karbacka as a returning member at its Reorganizational Meeting Thursday. Paul Abbott was once again selected as Board President.

Two new ex-officio student board members were appointed to the school board as well. High School Seniors Madison Arthurs and Annika Spitzer will serve now until June 30, 2022.

The Board also approved combining the Boys’ Swimming team with Falconer High School and the Girls’ Swimming Team with Southwestern High School. Jamestown High School will be the host for the combined Boys swimming team while Southwestern will be the host for the combined Girls swimming team.