After more than a year of public outreach and careful consideration by school officials, a number of logos were presented to the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School student body and faculty as part of a survey that would determine which logos were most representative of the school’s spirit and pride.
Joe Mikos, president of the Vineyard Varsity Club, has been working alongside school members to have public meetings and hear from the community about what they would want a unified logo to be.
Mikos presented the logos to officials at Monday’s school committee meeting. According to Mikos, 80 percent of the student body responded to the survey, and 85 percent of faculty also participated.
More than 90 percent of both students and teachers decided they prefer the letters “MV” as opposed to just a “V,” according to the survey.
“We are hoping to rebrand and unify the school through logos, marks, colors, and font,” Mikos said. “The marks you see in front of you are a result of many hours of discussion, debate, and argument at times.”
A mark is an image or symbol that is used to represent a school sports team or club.
All marks can be customizable, Mikos said, so that instead of just one logo representing all teams and clubs, the various groups can make a logo that is truly their own.
“If you look at the logo with the Island picture on it, instead of saying ‘regional high school’ below, it could say ‘Minnesingers,’ or ‘Spanish club.’
And once the rights to the logos are transferred from the Vineyard Varsity Club to the school, Mikos said, the school can order from any manufacturer.
Assistant Superintendent Richie Smith said the logos were difficult to reach a consensus on within the school community. “People are very serious about this, and we have taken this the furthest it has ever been,” Smith said.
Smith questioned how the school would accept this gift from Mikos, and wondered about the process involved with engaging in a policy for the logos. “These are not our marks yet. We aren’t going to get everyone to buy in on this, but we want to ensure we have consistency as we move forward,” Smith said.
Assistant Principal and Coach Jeremy Light said it would be ideal for different teams and clubs to choose the mark they want, as long as it’s Vineyard purple.
Officials requested that Superintendent Matt D’Andrea receive guidance on how to create a policy to accept these logos, then pass that instruction on to committee members before the next meeting.
Tapping into Tappé
D’Andrea suggested to the committee that the school reach out to Tappé Architects, a design firm that originally helped the school with an $80,000 visioning plan in 2017, and is currently working with the town of Tisbury to create a similar vision and education plan for a new or renovated elementary school.
D’Andrea said the school could extend their contract with Tappé from 2017, and re-engage with them in order to revise the original vision plan. “We could partner with Tappé, create that vision, and draft a building project that would align with that vision,” D’Andrea said.
According to D’Andrea, the vision plan would be “very superficial” compared to the necessary $1.4 million feasibility study that the high school is working toward, but it would be a visual representation of the ambitions the school has for a new building that could benefit community understanding.
D’Andrea said the building committee voted to allocate $55,000 for various projects involved with the school facility in 2017, but that money was never used. “I am asking the committee to revote that money and do this visioning process. Then we can bring it to the whole Island community and show them what we are thinking long-term,” D’Andrea said.
Committee member Robert Lionette asked whether the visioning process would be sufficient in posing this major project to the six Island towns. “We need guidance in presenting this program to our community at large,” Lionette said. He wondered whether it is necessary to earmark funds for a public relations representative that could facilitate a comprehensive presentation to the entire Island.
Committee member Skipper Manter said he worries that the $55,000 price tag for a visioning process will leave the school in the same spot it has been in, and will not remedy the indecision on the funding formula.
“I’m afraid we are going to be no further along in getting the appropriation from all six towns,” Manter said. “The funding formula is the issue. People are aware that the school needs work, but they are concerned about the cost.”
Committee member Kathryn Shertzer said she feels as though the visioning plan is “just a $55,000 carrot that is trying to excite people about the project and move it forward.”
“I feel like we are spending this money on top of the $1.4 million study that already needs to be done,” Shertzer said.
But committee chair Kim Kirk said she disagrees with Shertzer’s comment, and that the entire point of this vision plan would be to educate the Island towns about the process of planning for a new school.
Officials ultimately agreed to use the $55,000 to hire Tappé and extend their contract from 2017.
Can we get rid of the nickname “Vineyarders”. Redundant,awkward and lame. So many better options.
God yes. Why do we not have a name?
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