By Stephen Dafoe
Morinville – The banner was unfurled on a new era for Morinville Community High School and their Wolves brand Monday morning. After more than a decade-and-a-half of existence, the Wolves brand got a facelift. But the redesign was by the same person that created the original design back in 1994 when the high school opened its doors in Morinville. Graphic designer Raoul Mendoza, a former MCHS student who created the original Wolves’ logo back when he was a Grade 10 student at the school, was called upon to modernize his original design.
“We wanted to create something that was just a little more updated and current that the kids would get excited about,” Acting Vice Principal Janelle Hobbs said, adding she picked up the task of overseeing the project from Vice Principal Wade Michaels, who began the initiative last fall.
Hobbs said MCHS has wonderful athletics and extracurricular programs and the new logo gives the students a common theme to rally around. “It’s not just the picture of the wolf,” she said. “It’s the idea of the wolf and what the wolf stands for and what it means to be a Morinville Community High School Wolf as well.”
But while the old and new logo clearly depicts a wolf, MCHS staff was sly like a fox about unveiling the new design, teasing students with posters and banners around the school stating “It’s Coming Mar. 21.”
“We just thought it would be nice to have something to talk about, trying to get kids talking about what was going on,” Hobbs said. “That’s why we kept it under wraps, so there would be something to talk about. It’s a tough time of year. A lot of kids are ready for spring break. They’re tired of winter. So it was a nice time of year to give them something to be talking about, something for them to be looking forward to.”
Although the students may have been talking about what the big reveal was Monday morning, there was considerable discussion on what the final logo would look like, at least the words that accompany it. The new logo design uses the word Morinville rather than the letters MCHS, something that was hotly debated, but ultimately the decision was made to use the community’s name to separate the school from other MCHSs in the province, including Memorial Composite High School in Stony Plain.
Hobbs explained now that the logo is official; it will become part of the standard letterhead for school athletics and will be rolled out into school athletic uniforms as those uniforms are reordered.
