Face of a School
By Anna Kivlan - Daily News staff writer
DAILY NEWS TRANSCRIPT
Dedham, MA
February 22, 2008
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| Photo by Erin Prawoko Above, Dedham High senior Kara Brink talks about the school's new logo and the modifications she made to it. |
Students and teachers rejected Brink's design - a skull in a pirate hat - and another drawing that kids say looks like the character on the New England Patriots' helmet, but wearing a Revolutionary War hat.
Instead, they chose a pirate wearing an eye patch and a tri-cornered hat. That's where Brink comes into the picture again.
The winning design was submitted, though not drawn by, a teacher. A third design was submitted by an administrator.
"A teacher found it," Brink said of the winning design, a more subdued-looking pirate than hers and with a mustache.
Dedham last year rejected its old logo - a screaming Native American with a mohawk - when school boosters complained that it was inappropriate for a 21st century high school. But the school and its students decided to keep their traditional nickname, the Marauders.
Before she entered the contest, Brink didn't know what the word marauder meant. When she learned it refers to someone who raids, she attempted to convey its terrifying connotations.
Brink is not happy about losing the vote. She said her design got 263 votes - more than twice as many as the Patriots' look-alike, which got 118 votes. But the pirate in a tri-cornered hat got 316 votes.
Brink actually had a hand in the final appearance of the winning emblem by adding the "D" to the hat to represent Dedham and changing the color of that hat to maroon.
"I'm upset that mine didn't win," said Brink. "I wish I could have changed (the winning logo) more."
But her work is not done. The school has chosen her to paint the winning logo on its gymnasium wall.
Because Brink was the only student who designed a logo for the contest, the administration wanted her to get some credit for the final choice.
"We wanted her to put her signature on it," said Assistant Principal Jacob Santamaria.
"She put her spin on it, she embellished it," said Sarah Mosca, who wrote an article about the new logo in the Feb. 14 edition of the Dedham High School newspaper, The Dedham Mirror. "She was the only student who participated."
Daily News staff writer Anna Kivlan can be reached at 781-433-8336 or akivlan@cnc.com