Petition to change the Farmington High School Mascot

I am starting this petition on behalf many concerned students and parents in our community whose children will be attending the new Farmington High School. We would ask that the school district thoughtfully consider the following information as to why we believe the mascot of Phoenix should be carefully reconsidered.

After first hearing about the mascot of Phoenix, I was practicing some cheers for the upcoming school year with a couple of my neighbors just for fun. We cheered, "Go Phoenixes!" However, it didn't sound right to us, so we looked online to makes sure that we were saying the pluralized word of Phoenix correctly. We quickly discovered that although Phoenixes is an acceptable way to say it, another pluralization is Phoenices. So we changed our cheer to, "Go Phoenices!" Which is when the concern began to set in.

We were horrified to hear that the phonetics of the word Phoenices are far too close to the word penises. I don’t mean to be crass, but don’t want there to be confusion around the point I am trying to make.

It has been stated that we will only refer to the mascot in the singular form - Phoenix. I think that’s a great idea in concept, but see reality playing out far differently. Nearly all school mascots are referred to in the plural form (Darts, Vikings, Braves, Wildcats, etc.), so when you think about cheering, “Go Phoenix!” It sounds a bit strange because it is grammatically incorrect. As happened to my neighbors and me, high school kids will take a quick trip to Google or WordHippo to learn that Phoenices is a plural form of the word. There are many people who find this type of thing funny, and all it will take is one person to figure it out before it goes viral. However, the reality is that this has already started to happen in our own community as word has gotten out about this oversight. We are already being referred to as the Phoenices.

With this scenario playing out, there will be a never ending barrage of references to male anatomy directed at our children as they participate in any kind of sports against other schools. In an effort to be funny and get under the player’s skin, opposing student bodies will most certainly chant things such as, “Go Phoenices!” That will just be the beginning as it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out how vulgar this could get.

I’m confident that the district does not want to bear the responsibility of our children being bullied as a result of our school mascot. With the understanding that a change of this magnitude, especially after a public announcement could prove difficult, we plead with you to consider a mascot change toward something more in line with our wonderful community, and away from this well intentioned, but potentially dangerous choice. Let’s do this now before any serious monetary or emotional investment is expended.

We would ask that you give all students a chance to vote again and select another mascot. One that better represents this great community of Farmington. This way you aren’t simply throwing away the votes of those who voted for Phoenix, but giving them a chance to still have a say in the mascot name.