By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The School Climate Committee on Nov. 16 recommended that Massena Central Board of Education keep the name Red Raiders and find a new mascot that is not the former chieftan head.

The committee, which has been working since the beginning of the school year, was formed on the heels of growing racial tension among the student body partially attributed to the lack of a mascot and the continued use of the former Indian head logo by some groups.

Keri Zaza, a member of the climate committee and counselor at the junior high, said they want to form a subcommittee specifically devoted to finding a new mascot, since the main committee is working in other divertsity-related areas as well.

“We decided we’re not really a big enough cross-section of the population and we needed to create a third committee,” Zaza said. “We want to add a community member, we want to add a student-athlete, there’s going to be a coach who’s going to be asked to be part of it.”

Superintendent Pat Brady said a timeline he has showing the history of Massena school mascots indicates the name Red Raiders was not originally intended in a racial sense, so that will stay.

“Our research showed the term Red Raider was not born from a racial standpoint,” he said, adding that it was a reference to the color of uniforms. “When the chieftan head was added, that symbol is what created the racial issue.”

Board President Pat Bronchetti, Jefferson Elementary teacher Siera Thomas, who is a climate committee member, and Brady all said they do not believe that the new mascot is erasing history.

“To make a point, because there’s a lot of strong feelings about people who grew up with this, and I’m one of them. It’s still my history, and you’re not taking it away,” Bronchetti said.

“We’re not taking away anyone’s history,” Thomas said. “The kids now, they’re getting something to be proud of.” She said racial tension “would be alleviated if we can give them something to be proud of.

“Every couple years it keeps cropping up and they (student body) want to feel they’re one community.”

“That’s part of the school’s history and that’s not going to change. Many people were inducted into the school Hall of Fame when the symbol was the Raider head, the chieftan head, and that will remain,” Brady said. “This is a new start.”

The climate committee has also been working to address Native American history and culture in the school curriculum.

Brady said that can be a challenge because there isn’t a statewide plan to teach Native American history and culture. He said he recently met with the state Native American education director and found the 13 schools in the state that receive Native American education funding have to come up with their own lesson plans.

“It will be a challenge with this committee,” Brady said. “Not any of (the 13 schools in the state) have organized Native American culture to infuse in the school and there isn’t ant curriculum at the state level … What it often comes down to is many teachers have worked on curriculum … but when that teacher retires, it goes away.

“Part of it I think is the oral tradition … handed down over centuries, really, and hasn’t been written down in any organized way.”

High school principal Sarah Boyce, who is also on the climate committee, said they are working to get more Native history and culture woven into school lessons. She said they now do a Native American day at the high school, which is Tuesday, and that may get expanded to lower grades.

“I ask seventh graders ‘do you know why there’s a reservation next door?’ And they have no idea,” Zaza said.