On April 9th, more than fifty current and former Hornettes and Hornette supporters, crowded the Edina school board meeting to protest the decision by Edina High School administrators to change the team’s name from “Hornettes” to the “Fall Dance Team.” The decision, which school board member Idith Almog said was “an administrative decision” and not a school board one, has provoked anger from members of the team, who say that changing the name is “a death sentence,” according to junior Patrice Smith.

Although the school board said it would not discuss the issue of the Hornettes name change, many Hornettes and Hornette supporters, as well as former Hornettes including Mary Pawlenty, spoke out against the change at the meeting. “I was and in many respects still am a Hornette,” she said, saying of the name change that it was a “sad and unfortunate move” and that the EHS administration needed to use “good judgement and common sense.”

The name change came as a result of Edina moving to a “Spirit Squad” model, based on the University of Minnesota’s current program.

Explaining why the Hornettes name was being changed, Dr. Bruce Locklear, EHS principal, said, “They don’t call the Gopher dancers the Gopherettes.”  He went on to say that “the decision had input from a parent committee” that consisted of parents from the fall dancers. John Karlson, father of senior captain Kelsey Carlson, however, claimed in his speech to the school board on April 9 that the parents weren’t fully included in the decision.

One of the parents who spoke at the school board meeting, Craig Gordon, was “concerned that those students … that have spoken up … could potentially feel uncomfortable with the administration.” Dr. Locklear did not anticipate this being a problem, although he said it was “disheartening to hear that coming from a parent.” He said he places “a great deal of credence in his relationship with students” and that he “would not let something [like this] taint my view.”

Junior Caroline Cerf, a Competition Cheer captain for next year, said of the change that “[the Comp Cheer team] is pretty much unaffected.” That statement echoes the opinions of many non-Hornettes, who feel that the reaction to the name change should not be as dramatic as it is.

While the changes affect the football halftime shows, the football team itself seems to be indifferent as well. Sophomore quarterback Erik Veker said the name change “doesn’t affect my performance on the field” and that “the whole thing was blown out of proportion.”

The Fall and Winter Dance teams will still be separate teams, although they will now both have the same tryout date. While dancers can be on both teams, there will be no requirement for fall dancers to dance in the winter or vice versa.

The most significant change organizational change resulting from this decision is that Mrs. Jen Carter, a Spanish teacher, will be managing all Spirit Squad teams. Last fall, she managed both the Comp Cheer teams and the mascot at games.