Enterprise Dispatch Blog

DASSEL-COKATO, MN – Members of the Dassel-Cokato student body, grades 7-12, made themselves heard Dec. 17 and 18 when 773 of them voted on whether or not to keep the old Charger logo that has been in place since Dassel and Cokato consolidated in 1972.
Students got to vote between three new logos, all brandishing a horse as the new DC mascot, or to keep the traditional one. After all the votes had been counted, the students elected a new logo by a healthy majority.
The logo the students picked, which was Choice B (pictured) on their ballots, won by 344 votes. The next closest was actually the decision to keep the old logo, which received 287 votes.

Choice A, which had a white horse on it, received 87 votes, and Choice C, which had a black horse on it, received 55 votes.
Although the students have spoken, the DC school board will still have the final say as to whether this logo change is official.
Although a majority of the students voted for Choice B, the option to keep the original logo had just 57 fewer votes.
This narrow margin is clear in the students’ opinions, and there were several reasons students voted for and against the change.
One of the biggest concerns for students was changing the mascot from a lightning bolt to a horse.
Although a Charger can be defined as a horse ready for battle, some kids still didn’t like it.
“It isn’t as powerful as the Charger (lightning bolt), “DC junior Tyler Koivisto said. “I think the horse was overrated.”
While others had their doubts about the horse, some felt it was a good addition.
“I thought it added a more courageous look, and was more exciting looking,” DC junior Alex Hauck said.
Others, yet, don’t mind the horse, but just didn’t like the idea of changing tradition.
“I think it can represent more power, but it is just going to be a difficult change to accept,” Charger senior cheerleading captain Katie Tenhoff said.
“I voted to keep it the same because that is what I am used to, and that is what we stand for,” DC senior Anna Fitzer said. “I have nothing against the horse, I thought it was a good symbol.”
For students who voted to change the logo, some felt it was just time for the school to progress.
“I feel like we’ve developed as a school, so why not change the logo to show how we’ve developed over the years,” DC senior Carrie Duncan said.
For others, however, the decision to go with a new logo was much simpler.
“It is new and cooler looking,” Charger junior Jay Jarvie said.
While the current student body has spoken, it is important to not that this change also affects alumni.
DC graduate Zach Kaiser was surprised to hear about the logo change Tuesday when he was visiting friends during his college break.
“It is a little bit of a surprise to me,” he said. “But, if that is what the students voted on, then power to the students.”
According to Kaiser, he thinks the new logo will be good, but also agrees that it will take some getting used to for everyone.
“It could be different, but something new is always a good thing,” he said. “If a Charger is a horse, it has some significance, but it will take some getting used to not being the lightning bolts.”