Griffiths Middle School changes mascot

DOWNEY — After months of discussion, Downey Unified’s Board of Education unanimously voted to change the Griffiths Middle School mascot from the Indians to the Thunderbirds.

The initial conversation to change the school’s mascot began two years ago by former principal Dr. Rani Bertsch and continued with current principal Dr. Anthony Zegarra, school officials said. 

After working with GMS staff, parents and students to arrive at the decision to change their mascot to the Thunderbirds, it was formally presented to the Board of Education at the last meeting on July 7. 

“For the last several years, the image of the Thunderbird has been part of our schoolwide focus logo,” said Zegarra. “The original plan was to enact the name change when our school emerges from construction in summer 2021; however, with our school being remade during this time of construction coupled with recent events, we thought it be the best time to formally recommend the mascot change this summer instead.”

This decision comes after months of discussion between the Board of Education and GMS administration over the current mascot and how to honor and respect native populations. To ensure the appropriateness of the Thunderbirds, GMS sought guidance from local native American Tongva tribe leaders as well as the National Congress of American Indians as they moved forward through the process.

The new school logo was created by GMS art teacher Ed Plant, in partnership with a Downey Unified alumnus. The logo, which was shared with the Board of Education prior to making it official during this Monday’s meeting, would feature GMS’ current color scheme but instead of two feathers, the Thunderbird head will feature three feathers to represent the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students the school serves.

“We look forward to opening our new two-story building, updated classrooms and brand-new gymnasium under the title, ‘Griffiths Middle School - Home of the Thunderbirds’ in the fall,” said Zegarra.