By Tim Binnall
A newly built Virginia middle school has adopted a familiar cryptozoological character as its official mascot: Yeti. According to a local media report, the 'monstrous' choice was made by students and administrators at the Watson Mountain Middle School in the community of Leesburg. Yeti managed to run quite the proverbial gauntlet in becoming the school's official mascot. First, it placed in the top ten of a poll featuring a staggering 78 options. The character then bested the other nine finalists when the student-crafted logo was found to be an overwhelming favorite.
"The design of the Yetis just inspired us," Watson Mountain principal Lenny Compton said, "and we showed it to the kids and they said 'yes, let's be Yetis.'" The four-story building opened its doors to start the school year for the first time on Tuesday with students being met by a costumed version of the friendly monster mascot, which is already smartly emblazoned on all manner of merchandise, as they arrived. Remarkably, Watson Mountain is actually the second newly built school to adopt a cryptozoological character this year as the soon-to-open K-8 Lakeside Academy in Saint Augustine, Florida opted for Sasquatch as their official mascot.