Syracuse High is school's official name

It's been a long time coming, but the infamous "High School No. 8" in Davis School District that spurred a controversial boundary study, hot emotions and even a lawsuit now has a name.

Syracuse High School, home of the Titans, will open its doors next fall. Tuesday the Davis Board of Education approved the name, mascot and colors — blue, green, black and white.

The options were proposed, weighed and voted on by future students of the school in recent weeks, and now crews can go forward with painting school colors, constructing the gym floor and creating a school insignia, a process leaders said has been delayed for more than two months due to the boundary brouhaha.

"The students can take away the fact that they were the key factor in determining the name of the school ... they were the significant part in it," said Craig Hansen, Syracuse's principal.

Hansen said the naming process started around three weeks ago when the district solicited community members for suggestions of the name, mascot and colors.

The district offices received more than 1,400 e-mails with suggestions.

Hansen said a popular mascot suggestion was a buffalo or bison. But when it came to girls teams, the "lady buffaloes" just didn't have great ring to it, Hansen said.

Suggestions that made it to the final ballot included the names Legacy, Lake Point and West View, and for mascots, scorpions, longhorns and lightning.

The final ballots were distributed to students in the new high school's feeder schools, and the "Syracuse Titans" got the overwhelming vote.

Hansen said Syracuse Titans fits together well since in Greek lore the Titans and Olympians fought at a place called Syracuse.

"As a school board we could name the school whatever we pleased, but I really appreciate the fact that the high school's students named the building — not city fathers, district staff or board, but the students," said board member Tamara Lowe.

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