Like many teenagers in high school, Northwood seems to be having an identity crisis.
For several years, there has been ongoing confusion as to what the true school colors are. Sports teams are being asked to change their uniform colors to include less black. Many students are asking the same question: what are the school colors?
“[Our school colors are] ‘dark forest’ green and ‘athletic’ gold,” principal Justin Bartholomew said. “Black is not a school color.”
Since arriving at Northwood in 2013, Bartholomew has struggled with defining the school’s brand and making it well known to the students and staff.
“One of the things you have to do when you’re identifying yourself as a school is think about your logo, your motto, what you believe in, and with that comes school colors,” Bartholomew said. “When I came to Northwood, we had black, camouflage, green, white and variations of gold. The identity is really important, because when the school goes out on the field or a competition, how does anybody know it’s Northwood? There is no identity that goes with that. So what we’re working toward is, when this green and gold shows up, you know who it is.”
Some Northwood sports teams have been asked to change their uniforms to fit the colors better. Lacrosse is one example.
“This year, we are getting new helmets that are green; they were black last year,” lacrosse coach Kevin McDaniel said. “But it’s just a transition time again, and I can see that the black is phasing out, which I don’t have an issue with.”
In a recent survey conducted by The Northwood Omniscient, of the 70 total students surveyed, 47 percent said they believe green and gold to be the school colors, while 28 percent think green, gold and black are.
“To me, black and white are accent colors,” McDaniel said. “Black’s not a team color, white’s not a team color—it’s an accent color, so I don’t see any issue with black or white [being used in the uniform].”
McDaniel believes that the reason behind the color confusion is due to the number of principals the school has seen.
“We’ve had so many different principals, so much turnover, that the school has lost its colors,” McDaniel said. “So when a new principal comes in, the colors need to be established. They’ve been fluctuating for so many years that someone like me, if you go through my drawer of lacrosse shirts, you’ll see I have multiple styles of green and gold because I’m just trying to go with the flow.”
The basketball team has also had an issue with their uniforms. However, some students think the black would make a good accent color.
“Our [basketball] warm-up jumpsuits are black and I think Dr. B said that we’re not allowing black to be a color anymore,” junior girls’ varsity basketball and volleyball player Kristian Eanes said. “I know the original colors are green and gold, and I think we should respect the people who made this school and the alumni by keeping them green and gold, but I think maybe a black accent would be nice.”
Another reason Northwood sports teams have had to cut down on using black and white in the uniforms is because of complaints from former students.
“Our coach told us that we had to change because a lot of people like alumni were complaining about the ‘new school colors,’” sophomore volleyball player Candice Overcash said. “They thought we were changing them to include black.”
Eanes is also related to some alumni from Northwood who do not support the inclusion of black in sports uniforms.
“My mom is an alumna, and she doesn’t know why we have black, because the school colors were originally green and gold,” Eanes said. “She feels like we’ve made black into one of the school colors. My aunt was also in the first graduating class of Northwood in 1973, and she hates the black uniforms… I think they’re just saying that black was never really a color, so it shouldn’t be one now.”
Head custodian and Northwood alumnus James Harris, who has been working at Northwood for many years, also believes the colors should stay the same.
“The school colors are green and gold, and that’s what they need to stay,” Harris said. “Anytime you get away from the original, you’re messing up. It would break my heart for anyone to change the school colors.”
Senior tennis player Morgan Sowards believes the team’s uniforms should be consistent.
“I think that if you’re playing a sport for Northwood, every uniform should be either one color or the other,” Sowards said. “It shouldn’t be like soccer has black and white uniforms while lacrosse has green uniforms. I think they should both be green, or at least the same color.”
Baseball coach Thomas Parks has the same idea.
“I think we’re just trying to go with more of a uniform, consistent look, which makes sense because people used to come in with tie-dyed uniforms or camouflage uniforms, which didn’t match,” Parks said.
“But our school colors haven’t changed. They’re still green and gold.”
What Northwood seems to be having an issue with is representation. Bartholomew hopes the school will make a name for itself and that people will recognize the school by its colors.
“This school has been here now for 44 years,” Bartholomew said. “At the beginning, if you look through the yearbooks, you can see the changes. There was one year that they went to another color—yellow—but then all of a sudden that color disappeared. Things can change, and you can make your own traditions, but historically, these were the emblems that defined the school and who we are.”
– By Cassie Navarro