The name dates back to at least 1939, when it was used to refer to Manhasset sports teams in the Tower yearbook. Contact. During my 13 years of education in the Manhasset school district, I was taught to think critically and to honor and value diversity and inclusion. The Manhasset and Sewanhaka school districts are both receiving heat from community members and alumni to retire the mascots as the Washington Redskins football team announced that it would retire its name, which Native American groups have called a racial slur, and logo. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. We have to ask ourselves what has taken so long? Mahopac reportedly moved to change the nickname earlier this year as West Islip officials in Suffolk County had reportedly removed controversial logos portraying their Redman mascots from the exterior of the high school, but had thus far resisted a name change. It is located off Northern Boulevard at 51 Clapham Avenue, Manhasset, near the Miracle Mile. Other depictions of Native Americans that can be found within the school and around Manhasset. POPULAR POSTS. Last week, Shelter Rock 3rd graders transformed into famous figures for their Biography Wax Museum! They named the high school after a tribe and made the school mascot a Native American. A small but vocal minority of meeting participants only five of 29 Manhasset-affiliated commentators voiced support for the mascot pointed to the name as a point of pride and respect for Manhasset's school traditions and indigenous history, proudly identifying as a "Manhasset Indian" (even though not descended from peoples indigenous to Manhasset and its environs). Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive content! The boys' and girls' fencing teams practice together and compete separately on a coordinated schedule. Ruby Design Company. In my mind, we treat the Indian logo with respect and dignity.. If it sounds completely ridiculous and offensive, it is because it is. "It's a good thing that society evolves and changes and is more inclusive nowadays these are certainly wonderful changes I also see reflected in the Manhasset community present day. The district is coming under fire for their mascot, seen as offensive to Native Americans. Manhasset Public Schools (@manhassetpublicschools) Instagram photos and videos. Trigg plans to keep the petition up as long as it takes to get through to the administration of Manhasset. School board president Kathy. Our desire is to elevate people, not diminish them. We dont believe that a mascot should be represented by people, its degrading, Emma Klainberg, a Manhasset alum and cofounder of MJI, said. In June, the MJI had a meeting with Butera and a member of the school board to discuss the issue of the mascot. You have entered an incorrect email address! Manhasset High School has a 98% four-year graduation rate according to 20172021 data, coming in significantly ahead of the New York state average of 86%. 2% remained enrolled for a fifth year while one student dropped out without a diploma. The school newspaper is called The Indian Ink and there is also the issue of Spirit Week, which has been brought up by alumni. BUDGET VOTE, BOARD ELECTIONS, HS Gym, 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Presidential Service Award Ceremony, HS Auditorium, 6:00 p.m. MP Concert Grades 5-6 Choruses, 7:30 p.m. I doubt Manhasset intentionally means to have a racist mascot, but public perception nationally and locally puts us on the wrong side of this., District Superintendent Vincent Butera said in a statement to Blank Slate Media that he was aware of the petition., I have and will continue to meet with groups of students and alumni regarding this issue in order to gain input from a variety of stakeholders within our community, Butera said. Rumors of a new image circulate throughout the school, but also clear changes have been made around the building, the email said. In 2021, a bill was introduced in the New York State Legislature which would force non-Native schools with indigenous-based team names to abandon their mascot by the 202425 school year, but it did not receive a floor vote during the 202122 legislative session. In her district, this ruling would impact Native American symbols at Cambridge Central School District, Fonda-Fultonville Central School District, and Glens Falls City School. In an update on the petition page two weeks ago, Trigg let Manhasset residents know how close they were to getting through to the administration. They dressed up a white guy as our mascot in a Native American headdress!!! In fact, just the opposite is true. Upstate New York and the North Country take pride in our history and forcing them to replace these historical mascots is prioritizing the Far Left mob at the expense of our students education, Stefanik said. There are four separate curricular instrumental ensembles (Concert Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, Concert Band and Symphonic Wind Ensemble) and four curricular choral groups (Concert Choir, Symphonic Choir, Women's Choir and Men's Choir), as well as keyboard and music theory classes on offer. ", Manhasset High School Should Change the Racist Mascot. We urge the school board and administration to immediately stop proceeding with the backdoor termination of our Indian image and rather speak with the proud Manhasset community before any changes are made.. Phone: 516-307-1045 | Fax: 516-307-1046 |, Manhasset to wait for state guidance before deciding on mascot, MTA announces completion of pocket track extension in Great Neck, Clavin challenged by Nicks for Hempstead supervisor, Port resident appointed dean of Queens College School of Education, Rockensies named Nassau IDA chairman, Troiano replaces Kessel, Williston Park podiatrists feat: business, charity, Honored for living a life of philanthropy, Naomi Watts movie The Book of Henry films in Williston Park. We are communicating a message of inclusivity and dignity for all, Butera told the Manhasset Press. At the request of the school district, which sought to measure input originating from local residents only, the Manhasset Justice Initiative (MJI), a local social justice activism group, created a similar petition with signing restricted to Manhasset-affiliated individuals. Manhasset High School is situated on a hill directly to the east of the opening of Manhasset Bay, in the western part of the Manhasset School District. The Town of North Hempstead, which is based in Manhasset on Plandome Road, also has a logo representing a Native American. There are more than a dozen Long Island schools likely to be affected: the Manhasset, Brentwood and Sewanhaka Indians; the Comsewogue, Wyandanch, Amityville and Wantagh Warriors; East Islip. Persons identifying with two or more races are not included in the count of any of the other categories, except for "Hispanic". She wrote: "Even as a young child in the early 1990s attending Munsey Park Elementary school, I knew that the Manhasset High School mascot, the Indians, was immoral. MJI goes by @ManhassetJustice on Instagram and has more than 500 followers. */. The Manhasset Union Free School District, also known as Manhasset Public Schools, is a public school district serving the Greater Manhasset area of Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. Manhasset Secondary School has been the target of pressure to change the mascot for various reasons. Travis Fortounas is a contributing writer for Anton Media Group. The Island Nows mission is to create an educational platform that educates through simplicity and entertainment. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2023 Theislandnow.com. "Manhasset High School" is used in reference to the building as a whole and to the 912 program; "Manhasset Middle School" refers to the 78 program as well as to the sections of the building used mostly for 7th and 8th grade teaching. Other pro and high-profile teams like the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida State Seminoles have resisted changing their names. Schwenk says they refer to it as the Manhasset name and image. Associations. However, we, as the Manhasset White Guys, will honor traditions more than anything else. The board of Education appears open to changing the mascot, but we need to send a powerful message to the community that racism will not be tolerated in Manhasset, or in any community, the petition read. The ensembles earned top awards at these events. Stat keeping for basketball teams. That included but was not limited to naming the school sports teams as the Manhasset Indians, the school newspaper as The Indian Ink, and having the school logo be a capital M wearing an Indian feather. We will be sharing any updates on this matter at future Board meetings.. [21] By 1969, a visual depiction of a Plains headdress featured on at least some of the team uniforms. In the case of Manhasset Public Schools, opposition to the Manhasset Indian mascot name coalesced in 2020 and 2021, when major league sports teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Indians announced changes. Rumors of a new image circulate throughout the school, but also clear changes have been made around the building, read the letter. [27] With the school facing criticism regarding its team name and mascot, then-Superintendent Vincent Butera discussed the team mascot with MJI activists as well as FlowingWater and a Navajo nation member. The district is a Union Free School District covering all K-12 grades, and is District No. Kellenberg Memorial is a Marianist school on Long Island, alongside St. Martin de Porres Marianist School in Uniondale and Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York . I graduated from Manhasset High School in 2004, and thought that as some time passed, the mascot would change. I am committed to examining this issue in a thoughtful and inclusive manner as we move forward.. The school is located near the Manhasset train station, Manhasset Valley Park and the site of the former Plandome Road School (now Mary Jane Davies Green). Just one block from. [16][17][18], The varsity sports teams at Manhasset High School are known as the Indians. Wow House: $1.95M Port Washington Home With Fire Pit, 3 People Robbed Sunglasses Store In Manhasset: Police, 4 Wanted In Robbery Of Prada In Manhasset: Police. 82.8% of public school parents in Manhasset have a bachelor's degree or greater, 10.8% have some college or an associate's degree, 5.6% have only a high school diploma or equivalent and 0.8% did not complete high school or earn an equivalent qualification. Saint Mary's High School, Manhasset | Manhasset NY In the DOE announcement, Senior Deputy Commissioner James Baldwin said, "arguments that community members support the use of such imagery or that it is respectful to Native Americans are no longer tenable.". MHS Manhasset High School Manhasset, NY USA Wednesday April 26, 2023 1991 [36] Manhasset Secondary School has many offerings, both curricular and extracurricular, in the musical, theatrical and visual arts. I graduated from Manhasset High School in 2004, and thought that as some time passed, the mascot would change. I asked them to seriously consider removing the mascot, Flowing Water, also the founder and executive director of the nonprofit World Alliance of Indigenous Peoples, said. Opponents of the name and logo expressed shame and embarrassment at being associated with Manhasset High School and its athletic programs, also pointing the NCAA's decision to discontinue the use of indigenous group-related names without the approval of local tribes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. The Manhasset and Sewanhaka school districts are both receiving heat from community members and alumni to retire the mascots as the Washington Redskins football team announced that it would. VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES: Family News Summary Thirty-five Manhasset High School class of 2021 student government representatives and varsity athletic team captains co-signed an email accusing the board of education of making a start to change the mascot without consulting the community. As for the 202021 school year, the school had a total enrollment of 1,492 students, with 144.16 classroom teachers on FTE basis) for a student-teacher ratio of 10.35:1. Pick a target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In a letter that was signed by 35 student senior leaders you would hope that over a week the board of education would be able to respond to that letter or even confirm that theyve received the letter.. Butera told the Manhasset Press that the school district is working on removing the Redskins logo from the sports teams and instead use the M with a feather logo. Manhasset residents, Manhasset alumni, and Manhasset youth, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Manhasset students represent this culture with the utmost respect, the letter said. All sports are separated into boys' and girls' with both teams competing in the same season unless otherwise noted. We want to elevate all people, Regent Kathleen Cashin told The Post over the phone. Then-Athletic Director James Amen reiterated that no such change had been made, defending both the shift to the "M with a feather" logo and the retention of the "Indians" nickname: "From time to time, some of the decals on the helmets change. The state DOE released a memo on Nov. 17 ordering school districts to stop using mascots, team names or imagery depicting Native Americans by the end of the . [19] In the prior edition of The Tower, the school's athletic teams are only referred to as "The Orange and Blue", an appellation also used for them in 1939 alongside "Indians". The petition, Manhasset High School Should Change the Racist Mascot, on change.org was started by Jo Trigg, a 2004 Manhasset graduate, and has 3,081 signatures as of publication. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. An Indian logo does remain in Manhasset Secondary Schools lobby, and the schools newspaper is called Indian Ink. Manhasset High School is a very competitive school as their SAT scores are around 1300s. This has gotta go.. Besides terminating alterations to the mascot, the soon-to-be alumni of Manhasset High School authored a rebuttal to accusations that the schools Indian image is racist and derogatory, writing Manhasset students metaphorically and literally wear the Indian name across their chest with pride and passion., Manhasset students represent this culture with the utmost respect, read the letter. It may be expensive to change our uniforms, a petition commenter wrote on Change.org. At sports events, cheerleaders have already started chanting, Lets go, White Guys! [32][33], On November 17, 2022, the New York State Department of Education issued a memo prohibiting the use of Native American mascots by schools without approval from a recognized tribe and stating that any district not in compliance by the end of the 202223 school year may risk being found in willful violation of the Dignity for All Students Act, with penalties including the potential removal of school officers and withholding of funds.[34][35]. Copyright 2023 Newsday. All Rights Reserved. Trigg lived in Manhasset for her 18 years and currently resides in Brooklyn. This is how it starts. All rights reserved. In 2020, a petition demanding that Manhasset cease to use the "Indians" name and mascot was created on Change.org by Manhasset resident and Manhasset High School alumna Jo Trigg, garnering over 3,000 signatures. Ninety-seven percent . Not once at any school or community event have we witnessed the Indian name be tarnished or demeaned in any way, rather, we watch as students and community members proudly boast the name, chanting We are the Indians for anyone in the nearby vicinity to hear..