McIntire Bears become Hornets at Friday pep assembly

Part of district-wide shift to sharing mascot, colors

Harvey the Hornet helps Oscar the Bear show off his new Fulton Hornets T-shirt at a pep assembly Friday at McIntire Elementary School. Though McIntire will still use Oscar, the school changed its colors and mascot to black and gold abd the hornet to help foster solidarity and school spirit across the district.
Harvey the Hornet helps Oscar the Bear show off his new Fulton Hornets T-shirt at a pep assembly Friday at McIntire Elementary School. Though McIntire will still use Oscar, the school changed its colors and mascot to black and gold abd the hornet to help foster solidarity and school spirit across the district.

McIntire Elementary students came to school as Bears on Friday morning, but left that afternoon as Hornets.

The school's official mascot became the Hornet during a packed pep assembly Friday morning, hours ahead of the homecoming parade and game against the Boonville Pirates.

As part of the district's "Graduation Matters" program, all three elementary schools will be switching to black and gold colors and the Hornet mascot to build solidarity and school pride amongst students from the moment they enter the Fulton School District.

The Graduation Matters initiative began two years ago when the district was contacted by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to fund a district-wide committee to analyze data and factors contributing to graduation rates.

"One of the things the team felt was important was building solidarity and calling kids the "class of' instead of first, second or third graders," said Jason Whitt, Fulton High School principal. "They also said, "Why do we have different mascots at the elementary schools, and then they're Hornets when they come to the middle school and high school?' They felt it'd be important when elementary-age kids come to events to have Hornet apparel and look up to older kids as mentors."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.