SJHHS brings a new face to the phrase RFTB. Stanley and Teddy proudly represent the school, but a new mascot joins them this year in honor of the school’s 10 year anniversary.

After brainstorming all summer, principal Jennifer Smalley and activities director Brooke Valderrama found a female Stallion to debut as SJHHS’s third mascot. The costume is complete with large eyelashes and a yellow bow.

According to Valderrama, this new mascot comes with a new storyline as well. Stanley and the mare will act like “Miss Piggy and Kermit, where she really is in love with Kermit, but she is playing hard to get,” said Valderrama.

Regarding the name of the new mascot, many have started referring to her as Stella.  “Ideally, we were going to have a school wide vote and have kids put in names,” said Valderrama.

She said, however, that Stella has been the majority of what students have been submitting.

The situation is similar to when the name “Stanley” was chosen years back. “The cheerleaders were calling him Stanley, and that just stuck. Everyone started calling him that,” Valderrama said.

Brianna Diiorio, who plays the mare, has started her freshman year by sharing her confident and goofy personality with the school. “I’m probably just going to make the biggest fool out of myself, and people will laugh at me,” Diiorio admitted.  

Diiorio has a background in dance and is currently involved in the drama class at SJHHS.  “That class has really helped me get out of my shell which I think gives an extra layer of confidence to being the mascot,” she said.  

At the tryouts, the students were taught the fight song cheer by three cheerleaders and asked to perform it in the costume. Out of the 8 people that attended, according to Valderrama and Pep Squad Director Emily King, three students, Carson Marchello, Rhiannon Thelander, and Diiorio, stood out among the rest.

“We looked at [their] ability to be funny and engaging and just let loose and dance around and be energetic. Energy is the main key to being a mascot,” said King. The students also had to tackle the challenge of refrained vision from the mask and the inability to talk. “Once you put the head on you are silent, and you have to show your emotions through your hand motions,” King added.

According to Smalley and King, next year’s tryouts will be held in the spring so that the newly recruited students will be able to attend mascot camp over the summer; this is the first time SJHHS is sending the mascots to camp for additional training. “They will go with cheer, but they have their own classes and training that they do,” said Smalley.  

Alongside the cheerleaders, these mascots bring excitement and add to the school spirit of various events. “The duties of the mascot are to represent the school and really engage the audience,” said King.

Principal Smalley has seen the impact that the mascots have already made on the SJHHS family and has come up with an additional way these mascots can inspire prospective students. “They [the mascots] were at Back to School night taking pictures with little kids, and I think they would be cute going out to our middle schools and elementary schools like ‘you are going to be a Stallion, and here is the Stallion to welcome you,’” Smalley said.