School Board Blocks Choir From Picking Name

Sign up for Ankeny Patch's free newsletter | Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter

Hoping for a fresh start, some Ankeny High School parents and students wanted to retire the Visual Adrenaline Show Choir name and others after the community's last year with a single high school, but School Board members said that won't be allowed.

Choir directors and students at Ankeny High School felt that next year's choirs should come up with new names just like students at the new Centennial High School will next fall and had announced that a spring 2013 performance was Visual Adrenaline's last. However, board members decided outside of a regular board meeting last week that Ankeny High School would not be allowed to change the name of any varsity or junior varsity group.

“There was a Board/Administration discussion after the last Board meeting, and the consensus was to leave the Varsity & Jr. Varsity names the same as they have been for 20 years,” said Ankeny Board President Pat Cahill in an email response to questions. “The Board does not have to vote on everything -- we can come to an agreement and give a directive to the administration to honor that decision.”

Cahill cites a 2009 resolution, “Resolution to Move Ankeny High School Colors, Mascot, etc. to the New High School in Prairie Trail Development” as a basis for that decision.

It says: “The name “Ankeny High School” and all mascots, logos, school colors, songs, cheers, traditions, and history will be bestowed upon and embodied in the new high school at Prairie Trail upon its completion and opening in August 2011.”

Parent Sarah Ruba said to go beyond the school mascot and sports teams is micromanagement that school leaders don't need.

“They've never named a club before,” Ruba said. “It shouldn't be a board issue.”

And students and directors want a fresh start said Ruba, whose daughter is a choir member.

The Visual Adrenaline Show Choir, for example, finished third in the nation in a recent competition. But that choir's director has moved to the new Centennial High School and less than half of the group's students will return to Ankeny High School next fall. And unlike local sports competitions, no one will realize that Ankeny high school students have been split in two groups on a national level, said Parent Stacey Sporrer, whose daughter Alyssa Sporrer, competed on the Show Choir team last year and plans to continue as an Ankeny High School senior next fall.

Alyssa Sporrer said she and other students plan to work as hard as they can, but don't know if they can live up to such a high expectation, she said.

“I want it to be great senior year and leave a good legacy,” Alyssa Sporrer said.

Students have launched a petition and parents hope to discuss the naming of the choir at an upcoming board meeting.

Cahill said she will grant their request to speak during a public comment session, but that doesn't mean that board members will vote.

“They just need to call and request to be placed on the meeting agenda. The request would be honored and those who wish to address the Board are given three minutes to express themselves at a Board meeting,” she said.