Eastipedia: SME Mascot

The tradition of the Lancer mascot began back in 2010, when then-junior Logan Heley and the pep club decided it was time for an upgrade. At the first pep assembly of that year, the mascot made his debut appearance. The mascot was the first of its kind at East.The idea for the mascot came to Heley his sophomore year, but not much was done until his junior year when he was junior class president.

The goal of the mascot is simple.

“[We wanted] to add another dynamic than the cheerleaders,” Heley said. “And to do skits to get people excited to pummel the other team.”

The mascot cost $4,999 and is made of a polyester material. It was funded by the All Sports Booster club, the same one Shawnee Mission South used for their mascot in 2009. According to Heley, securing funds for the mascot did not take long, but the design was a lengthy process.

Each year, a few more new people “don” the costume to cheer on their fellow lancers, but they are never allowed to reveal their identities to anybody. It doesn’t take much to earn the secretive position, according to one of the participants. Going to pep club and signing up is all that has to be done. The only criteria required is being at least five feet eight inches tall, but not taller than six feet.

“Just show up and meet the height requirements, and [pep club] will tell you what to do,” anonymous mascot participant junior Sarah Williams* said.

The mascot travels around the student section of football, basketball games and pep assemblies, interacting with students. According to Williams the best part of being the mascot is getting to “mess” with people when they don’t know who is behind the mask.

“You’re not allowed to talk,” said Williams. “So using hand motions is my favorite way to interact with people.”

The mascot has pumped up the spirit at East and is expected to for years to come.According to Williams, “If you’re going to you have to just go all out.”

*names changed to protect identity