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North Branford High School Traditions Changes? Thunderbird Mascot and Purple & White colors in Peril.
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NOVEMBER 20, 2003
North Branford Board of Education Meeting
We presented our case to the Board of Education this evening. We requested the Board consider creating a charter or decree, to make PERMANENT the colors of Purple and White, the original emblem and motto, the name of NORTH BRANFORD HIGH SCHOOL, and the Thunderbird mascot.
Next month, at the December 18th meeting, one or more of the Board of Ed members will make this an agenda item and it will be voted on in the near future. Hopefully, that will put an end to all of the controversy and questions regarding our traditions and colors.
Thanks for all your support. I will continue to post all new information and comments on this site.
Laurel & Mike Caprio
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The following information was presented to the NB Board of Education, and the room was filled to capacity for the meeting.
“My name is Laurel Caprio. I am a North Branford resident and I attended North Branford High School through 1971. I am here this evening to address the issue of NBHS purple and white colors and Traditions.
This is not a commentary against any one individual or the High School sports team. We all fully support our NBHS athletes and we are proud of their accomplishments.
Our ultimate goal this evening is to assure NBHS alumni that their own history at the high school will be preserved and the tradition of the Thunderbird mascot and Purple and White school colors remain intact.
I have a document for each of the Board members that describes in detail, how the High School traditions were selected, what the traditions are, and who originally decided on these traditions.
This information was assembled from NBHS Alumni, the Atwater Library and from the Quinnipiac Tribal Council.
The first graduating class of NBHS chose on behalf of all future students, a mascot that symbolizes strength and ferocity, colors that reflect value and sincerity, a motto that recognizes the reality of growing into adulthood, and most importantly a seal that reflects the name of our school, North Branford High School.
The North Branford Class of 1965 worked diligently in their efforts to provide future NBHS students with traditions they could be proud of. Change to these traditions without equal consideration for prior graduated students is crass and disrespectful.
Everyone who holds dear the Purple & White colors and the Thunderbird mascot is taking a stand. Something that we should have done 12 years ago when JOSTEN’s ring manufacturer offered NB Class rings in multiple-choice designs.
So at this time I would like to propose to the Board of Education a suggestion. I propose that the board mandate a charter or create an official decree stating all of the traditions initiated by the Class of 1965 be adopted permanently by NBHS, its students and its faculty. The Board of Education is the only administrator who can enforce our legacy and make these traditions untouchable.
IF the board does not address this issue, then they will have to bear the burden of unhappy constituents, comprised of residents and business owners, many of whom are huge financial supporters of the various sports organizations and scholarship funds in North Branford.
In the last two weeks I have received numerous calls in support of this proposal. Here is a line or two from several of the comments sent to me from NBHS Alumni who could not be here this evening.
NORTH BRANFORD HIGH SCHOOL TRADITIONS
A few weeks ago the Totoket Times ran a letter in its Editorial section from a local resident who wrote about the change of uniform colors for the NBHS football team. This article caught our immediate attention. My husband Mike Caprio and I are NBHS graduates (1971), and our children are graduates of NBHS (1989) & (1992).
We all wanted to know “who changed our school colors and why”? Would the next change be the Thunderbird? Would a NBHS 38 year tradition change permanently? Or was this just the whim of an individual who “didn’t like the color purple” or thought the “black uniforms are really sharp”.
Instead of name-calling and adding to gossip, I decided to contact those who would answer my questions directly. While waiting for Dr. Perry to provide me with specific information, I decided to research the REAL meaning behind the NBHS school colors. This is some of the info I gathered from NBHS Alumni, the Atwater Library and from the Quinnipiac Tribal Council.
North Branford High School officially opened its doors in the fall of 1964.
The first graduating class for NBHS would be 1965. In the prior year, those students were taught in the Jr. High School Building for their sophomore and junior years. The new high school was close to completion. Decisions for naming the school and choosing mascot, colors, ring design, motto, and seal needed to be made.
The controversy with naming the high school was huge. Town officials and residents were clearly divided between the name of North Branford High School and John F. Kennedy High School. Students mobbed the town meetings and were told they had no say in the decision process. However, some students were permitted to speak on behalf of the student body and express their opinions in naming their new high school, North Branford High School.
The New Haven Register published articles about the “disrespect” shown by the North Branford students because of their alternate choice. The mid sixties was a turbulent time in our nation and individuality and “non-conformist” attitudes reigned among teens and young adults. The student’s effort proved positive for them and NBHS was so named.
Now that the name of the high school was settled, other choices needed to be made regarding school traditions. Elected student council representatives formed a committee that would complete the task. The high school principal was becoming irritated by the length of time the students were putting into all of their choices. So students stepped up the deliberation and student meetings were held after school and at student’s homes to accommodate the many hours of debate and research.
When they finally concluded their efforts, the North Branford High School student body was presented with the following; Name, Mascot, Seal, Motto, and Colors.
Because the town of North Branford is in the center of the Totoket region of the Quinnipiac Native American tribe, students chose the THUNDERBIRD as their mascot and the revered tribal colors of Purple and White for their official school colors.
The Quinnipiac Indians and many of the tribes in the New England coastal areas created elaborate beaded vestments and adornments. Most of the beads were formed from the Quahog shells and the shells of the Spinney oyster. These shells are primarily found to have purple and white colors.
Purple was a highly valued color, because so little of it grew in the shells. This color and those beads were held in such high esteem that it was presented in the exchange of gifts and worn during ceremonies of importance. The color Purple was so highly regarded and was so well respected, it was presented in the form of elaborate adornments and belts to the early colonists of Connecticut and New England.
The New England THUNDERBIRD is very different than the Southwest Indian version. While the Thunderbird in New Mexico has ties to the elements, the New England Thunderbird is a being much feared by the Indians and according to Quinnipiac Tribal legend is a giant, half man half bird who swoops down on its prey and destroys them.
Quinnipiac Tribal lore describes Sleeping Giant Park as the burial place of the body of Hobbomock who was slain by the mighty Thunderbirds. It was this Quinnipiac culture hero and stone-giant, Hobbomock, who also built the now famous “Giant Steps”, a stairway of stone that leads 325 feet from the base of a traprock formation to its summit at East Rock park in New Haven.
If you have a class ring, get it and take a good look at it. The following information is what the NBHS Class of 1965 worked so hard to put together for all of us.
On one side of the ring you will find your Mascot, a Thunderbird, with the year of your graduation. On the opposite side of the ring, you will see the NBHS Seal. Within that seal you will see a Fleur delis pointing upward or “North”. Next to it you will see a bundle of “bran”. (Are you getting this?) Running across the seal and under the Fleur delis and bran you will see droplets of water or a “ford”. This is North Branford. There is also a Nutmeg image, a symbol of the State of Connecticut.
Completing the seal is the NBHS motto, “Quid Erimus, Nunc Fiemus”, or “What we are to be, we are now becoming.” One of the students studied Latin and chose the phrase specifically for NBHS. Finally, a stone of amethyst crowns the top of the ring signifying our school color.
All of this work and all of this effort and nowhere is this information documented. If someone has copies of early issues of the THUNDER, perhaps they might find these facts stated in an issue or two. Otherwise, there is not a word of information written.
In 1965 there were 98 students who graduated. Less than 67 of those students are alive today. Several didn’t make it to their first reunion. They served our country in the Viet Nam War and died while preserving democracy for all of us.
The Class of 1965 worked diligently to provide future NBHS students with traditions they could be proud of. We should honor them by continuing with the traditions they put in place over 38 years ago.
On November 20, 2003, I will attend the Board of Education meeting to ask them to consider making the Thunderbird mascot and the colors of purple and white permanent North Branford High School traditions. Please join me there, or email me at LaurelCaprio@hotmail.com with your support.
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This is a quote from Dr. Robert Wolfe, Superintendent of North Branford Schools, at the December 18, 2003 Board of Education Meeting.
“I would like to provide the Board with an update on the issue under public comments regarding football uniforms. During the past month I have spent a considerable amount of time talking to High school Administration, the Athletic Director, coaches, members of the Touchdown Club and also citizens who were in the audience and those in attendance at the last Board of Education meeting whom I initiated a call to.”
“I attended the football Banquet and had a further opportunity to speak to the representatives of the Touchdown Club and a number of people who were in attendance at that Touchdown Club meeting.”
“Before I get to the decision, which the administration made relative, and inform the board. There were a couple of other things that came to be. “I too believe that tradition is very, very important”. I have talked to the High School Administration and we will add to our Student Handbook some text and perhaps graphics related to our mascot of the High School so that clearly the colors of Purple and White and the mascot of the Thunderbird will be acknowledged in the Handbook.”
“The other thing that we made is a determination on is that we do want our teams on the field to look Purple and White rather than all black and we will not enter into a policy or practice whereby we ask individual teams to vote on colors. Because we think that is inappropriate.”
“The football team will take the field next year with Purple jerseys with White numerals. Now they will continue to have black pants and they will have their Purple helmets. But they will basically on the field look like they are a Purple and White team.”
“The cost to do that is $2500.00 dollars. I have had a conversation with the Past President of the
Touchdown Club. They will probably, or most likely make a contribution to that and I have also had a conversation with several NBHS Alumni and have asked them for their support to return our team back to Purple and White on the field.”
I would like to commend Dr. Wolfe for his diligence in maintaining traditions created by the first North Branford High School graduating Class of 1965.
Including all original traditions in the North Branford High School Student Handbook is the ideal way to preserve the Purple and White school colors, the Thunderbird mascot and the North Branford High School seal and motto.
Providing this information to current and future students will guarantee North Branford High School Alumni their traditions will remain staid and true.
This is a sound solution, and one that will be documented in the Board of Education Minutes archive for any future dispute.
By the way, it is not surprising to me that so many North Branford High School Alumni pulled together once again to stand tall for an issue that is held so dear to their hearts.
“THE PURPLE AND WHITE THUNDERBIRDS
FROM NORTH BRANFORD HIGH
GO DOWN THE FIELD, AND NEVER YIELD
THE THUNDERBIRDS REALLY FLY!” - provided by, Cindy Czekala Deming, Graduate 1970.
Thank you all for your support. Please bookmark the site of www.NorthBranfordHighSchool.com for Alumni updates. Laurel & Mike Caprio .
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