Spread Your Wings: Students Become Jordan Mascot

With the mascot costume of Jordan High School being found, the next step was to hold auditions for who would hold the coveted role of Felix the Falcon. Auditions were held during all lunch periods on Wednesday, April 22nd.

6 individuals auditioned, with some pulling tricks like somersaults and cartwheels while wearing the outfit. One contestant even created signature dance moves. The panel of judges consisted of representatives from Student Government and Innovation Lab.

The panel judged based on a rubric with all the qualities needed for the mascot. It had categories like how the costume fit, the energy level brought by the individual, how they interacted with the panel, their comedic ability, and if they had a trick or signature move. Contestants had only a few minutes in the room with the judges, with some requesting hype up style songs for them to enter in and dance to.

Contestants danced and interacted with the panel by giving high fives and encouraging them to cheer. ”I thought a lot of students presented good energy, however, a lot of them did not properly fit the mascot suit. In addition, only a few of the auditions had a special skill, such as a toe touch or back bend, which raised the bar and gave us a clear choice!” Said Navya Mehrotra, a member of the panel.

What the contestants were not told however, was that certain categories factored into their score than others. Costume fit and energy, and crowd interaction had the most weight of all categories. When asked about his experience auditioning, an anonymous student auditioner stated,”I felt pretty nervous going into it, I hadn’t gotten to rehearse my routine yet.” They later went on to say “But being in front of my peers while in the costume was an enjoyable experience!”

Finally, with all the scores tallied and the panel having decided, 3 students were selected to be in the costume. 3 boys, from varying grades, were picked in order to be able to rotate for sports games like football and basketball. The top score was a 27.1. The student identities will be kept secret in order for the mascot to be able to interact with the students and parents with no bias.