Committee Formed To Create The First Putnam VITAL School Mascot

Putnam County’s virtual school could soon have a mascot.

A 13-person committee has been appointed to lead the effort. VITAL Principal Shannon Pirtle said just like in-person schools in the system, virtual students also deserve an icon for school spirit.

“We have students that participate in E-sports or our cybersecurity program, we’re offering more and more all the time for our students,” Pirtle said. “So, we need a clear identity. A clear branding or marketing that our students can identify with.”

Community input will play a large role in the process. Pirtle said surveys will be sent out next week seeking your recommendations. Pirtle said the six-member school board and seven community delegates will use the feedback to form a proposal.

“We will keep that alive for about 30 days or so and we’ll publicize it so that anybody that wants to provide feedback can do that,” Pirtle said. “That will give us time to meet with our committee and hopefully get something named by the end of the school year.”

Personalized Learning Supervisor Sam Brooks said the idea to name a mascot came earlier this school year. Brooks said the virtual school is the same as any other school. It is just a different delivery of education.

“We are one of the few virtual schools that has a physical building called the Flex Learning Center,” Brooks said. “It gives our students options to come in life face to face if needed when they need extra help from our teachers in that building. So yeah, we are a virtual school, but we operate in many different ways.”