The students in the Lancaster School District have spoken. The selected the name Lancaster Legends to replace the former and controversial Redskins name.
"The winner of our election is the Lancaster Legends," announced one of the high school students following a final vote count. The announcement of the winner was followed by applause and cheers.
High school, middle and elementary students voted Tuesday and Wednesday. The final tally was announced shortly after students closed the voting at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Lancaster High School cafeteria.
A student committee operated the entire process, from gathering student designed names and logos, to the final seven and voting that included help from the Erie County Board of Elections, which provided computerized voting machines to protect the voting.
The Lancaster Legends received a total of 1,106 votes from students who participated. The Alphas was first runner up and the Knights was second runner up. The new logo includes a Knight.
The Legends logo was created by an 8th grader.
"It's crazy. I'm shaking right now," said 14-year-old Korissa Gozdziak.
She designed what is now part of a new era for the district.
"I was really trying to think of names that I thought represented Lancaster and sounded nice," noted Gozdziak. "I talked to friends who live out of state to get their unbiased opinion and they liked legends."
"When I think of Legends, I think of Knights of the Round Table, so I decided I would make it a Knight and I thought it represented the strength of Lancaster," stated Gozdziak.
Student organizers and those who stuck around for the final vote count congratulated one another. Even students who didn't select the Legends name were happy with the process.
"I"m excited about. I was happy with any response really. I liked all of the names," said Connor Carrow, Lancaster sophomore.
There was relatively a large margin between the top vote.
"I"m excited about. I was happy with any response really. I liked all of the names. I'm very excited. We are definitely pleased with how the whole process went. Definitely a large margin between the top two," said Claire Emerson, Lancaster senior.
The Lancaster School Board is scheduled to meet Monday, June 8th to finalize the new mascot name.