San Jon board OKs new sports logo

SAN JON - The San Jon Municipal School board approved a new logo that will be used by the school's sports teams and merchandise.

The board also voted Wednesday to continue to keep the boys and girls sports teams on junior-varsity schedules for the next two years.

Business manager Stormi Sena, speaking on behalf of absent athletic director Bobby Kandel, said a logo committee met with a designer a few weeks ago regarding the design that took elements from drafts by two San Jon students.

Sena said a few minor "tweaks" to the logo were forthcoming but wouldn't be noticeable from the design presented to the board.

The logo shows a silhouette of a howling coyote inside a circle, with "San Jon" above the animal and "Coyotes" below.

Sena said the logo is unique to other schools in New Mexico that use Coyotes as a nickname.

"I kinda like it," board President Frank Gibson said.

"I do, too," board member Cynthia Lee said. "It's simple."

The board approved the logo unanimously.

Regarding sports teams, principal Sharla Rusk proposed keeping San Jon's sports teams in a junior-varsity only schedule for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years as they have in the past two years.

"I think that's best," she said. "They're just too young."

San Jon has struggled to field enough players for its teams, often using eighth-graders to fill rosters.

Sena said the only drawback is the arrangement would eliminate the option of qualifying for a state tournament.

Gibson said the district can apply for a waiver from the New Mexico Activities Association to qualify for the tournament. But he indicated that would be a moot point "unless there's vast improvement" in the teams.

In other business:

- The board approved a senior trip to Corpus Christi, Texas, for four days in early May.

The request, made by seniors Sarah Archuleta and Lexxi Pacheco, would involve three seniors and one adult chaperone. Superintendent Alan Umholtz offered his Airbnb site in nearby Rockport, Texas, and waived charges except for a cleaning fee.

- The board approved an updated school wellness policy for 2024-2025 that reflects what the state requires, Rusk said. It sets rules for physical education, recess and lunch breaks.

- Rusk said the school's track program recently landed a donation of more hurdles from Rio Rancho. She said the district now is looking for a storage unit for equipment.

- Rusk went over data regarding students' remedial math and reading courses. She said "I'm very happy with our progress" and was looking forward to seeing proficiency test results later this year.

She said she soon would switch over those math courses from the DreamBox platform to I-Excel, however.