Update on Columbia Middle School Tiger

Sep 25, 2024

-Helen Gabara

The time of year has come around at CMS for the yearbook club to start work on the yearbook. The annual Art contest to design a tiger for the cover of the yearbook was brought up. There still appears to be interest. Unfortunately, the supervisor of the yearbook had to inform the students, they cannot hold the contest, because decision to change the mascot back to Tiger has not been made. For now, the logo has to be the claymore (sword.) Students chose not to have the claymore on last year’s cover. In the meantime, the students wishing to enter the possible CMS Tiger yearbook cover contest have to wait indefinitely.

Below, I have included my facebook posts, in case anyone is new to the topic. To summarize, a single board member had the idea that Columbia graduates would be more inclined to stay in the district and go to GL, if they were called Highlanders at CMS. He arranged a bonus to the superintendent, Melissa Varley, to change the mascot, and she passed the job to the CMS principal, who worked on getting opinions for 6 months, and retired without deciding to change it.

I don’t see more students staying in the district at the high school level. Those that do stay, do not list “remaining a Highlander,” as their reason for doing so.

Without knowing how far back the tradition and what it meant to students and alumni, the new principal, Mr. Kobliska changed the mascot within months, during the ‘22-’23 schoolyear. Winter of ’24, opinions were brought to light.

Now, we have Mr. Nixon, who has been in the district for more than 10 years, as acting superintendent until September 29, and interim superintendent Dirk Phillips, who will be on board until a new superintendent signs on.

According to emails, in the summer of ’22, the newly hired CMS principal had been tasked by Varley, with the rebranding, and he was thinking of doing it ASAP. I find it hard to believe that with the title of ‘superintendent,’ Mr. Phillips and Mr. Nixon, who said the decision would be easy in light of the newly found opinions, haven’t tasked CMS principal, Kobliska with changing the mascot back. Most recently, Me. Phillips informed me he is leaving this decision to the permanent superintendent, when they are hired.

People in positions of authority should stop taking away the culture and history of those they are to lead.

For reference

Facebook posts

August 29, 2024

UPDATE:

A focus group of about 10 people met with CMS Prinicpal Kobliska and Acting Superintendent Mr. Nixon on July 31. It was discussed that a few years ago, a single BOE member arranged a bonus for the former Superintendent Varley if she rebranded CMS as the Highlander. The survey showed that 58% of respondents wanted to go back tot he Tiger and 20% didn’t care. 20% wanted to stay Highlander. When the meeting closed, after having seen a stack of yearbooks from 3 generations, dating from 1969 starting with a secretary, her children and grandchildren, and discussing again that there are so many Tiger sculptures and paintings around the school, and that everyone identifies as a Tiger, not just athletes, Mr. Kobliska said they will talk it over with staff and making the decision will be easy. Another month has passed. School starts on Tuesday, and no one has heard anything more.

May 21

EDITED May 30.

A new survey from Mr. Kobliska went out to staff and parents of K-8th graders Thursday of the Memorial Day break. My guess is it will skew the results. K-5th grade ‘won’t care’ and 9-12 were not included in order to say, “Keep the Tiger.”

We already know how alumni feel.

Through OPRA, I got the emails between Mr. Geiger and some teachers, Mr. Kobliska and CMS PTO. It seems that Mr. Geiger found out in the fall of ’21, after a survey went out in August of ’21, that staff with a connection and history of the Tiger, were opposed to the mascot change. He said a survey needed to go out to a wider group of people.

It appears not to have happened. He retired Dec. ’21. Mr Hopkins had no emails about it as far as OPRA has indicated to me.

Mr. Kobliska hit the ground running in July ’22 when he was just hired, getting in touch with PTO, asking for information only regarding how much Tiger ‘stuff’ they had on hand. Besides giving that info, the PTO said a survey had been conducted, but families should be included.

Mr. Kobliska said he would get stakeholders together to discuss the issue, but I, as a CMS parent, don’t remember being informed that this was going on.

This issue hasn’t been resolved yet.

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