The new Titan mascot, adopted last February, has pushed students and athletics to modify old traditions for this school year. 

Students voted for the new official mascot, the Titan, last February after the previous Tomahawk mascot was retired in 2020. As the 22-23 school year is the first with the Titan as a mascot, new adjustments have already been made to accommodate it. These changes were evident at the first football game on Friday, September 9, where instructional support aid and football coach Jon Cahill described the enthusiastic student section as a showcase of the school’s spirit and support for the new mascot.

“I definitely noticed [students] chanting ‘let’s go Titans’,” Cahill said. “Last year we didn’t get that because the mascot was sort of in limbo. We had retired the Tomahawk, but we hadn’t adopted a new mascot until the spring, so hearing it in the stands on Friday night was cool.” 

The cheer team, who typically leads the student section during football games, also noticed the positive atmosphere surrounding the Titan mascot.

“I was surprised,” junior cheer captain Maggie Gorman said. “I did not expect the student section to drop the T-Hawks so fast, but they were cheering for the Titans during the game, and I was kind of shocked.”

The cheer team had to adjust cheers to generate excitement and pride around the new mascot. According to Gorman, she has seen a noticeable shift in how the school views the Titan mascot from its initial reveal in February to now.

“The day that [the mascot] got switched, we had to start using ‘Titans’ in our cheers, and no one really liked it too much,” Gorman said. “Now, I think some people still have to get used to it, but honestly, there has already been a lot of progress so far.”

Additionally, the football program has made efforts to rebrand to the Titans this school year, including brand new uniforms and an increased social media presence. Over the summer, coaches launched fundraisers to afford the new uniforms, and Cahill believes that these changes are valuable.

 “Having the Titan logo on our uniforms really makes it feel like it’s our mascot and it’s part of the team now,” Cahill said.

Many students were wary of the change in mascot when it was first announced, and some of those feelings continue to linger. Due to positive, but still mixed, student reactions, senior and student council member Elenna Peroni understands the tension between tradition and change within the student body. 

“The mascot unites the school as a whole,” Peroni said. “The Tomahawk was a tradition, and it’s been here since the school was built. So now the Titan mascot just has to top the old one to get everybody on board.”

As an Algonquin alumni, Cahill has witnessed the evolution of the mascot firsthand, but feels that the general school spirit has remained the same in all areas, even outside of athletics.

“We have always had a strong school spirit here at Algonquin,” Cahill said. “I was even voted most spirited when I was a senior. Back then it was the Tomahawk, and now it’s the Titans, and I just think that having that school spirit is a huge part of Algonquin, like going out to sporting events, musicals, concerts and showing support for fellow classmates. Having this new mascot allows us to create new traditions. It’s exciting for everyone.”

Although the efforts made by the Algonquin community to incorporate the new mascot into school culture are clear, Cahill believes that there is still more to come.

“I think we are just seeing the start of it,” Cahill said. “The sky’s the limit with what students here can do with their creativity. I’m excited to see what students can come up with to embrace this new mascot even further.”