Pictured are Autumnskye Seagrave and Katarina Pattison, the two Cassadaga Valley students who are working on creating marketing materials for the district’s “Make The Valley Proud” campaign. Submitted photo

SINCLAIRVILLE — Cassadaga Valley Central School is looking to improve district pride through a new campaign, “Make The Valley Proud”.

Superintendent Tammy Mangus said that the idea of improving the district community’s pride for the school began already during her interview process before taking on the Superintendent role.

“When I was interviewing, many of the interview teams discussed that they wanted to improve district pride,” Mangus said. “As part of my entry plan, I detailed my commitment to lean in, listen and learn more to create a campaign to show everyone what Valley Pride could be if we were all invested. Throughout these first few months, I have repeatedly asked people what they hoped other people would say about us when they learned that we live, work or attend Cassadaga Valley Central School District. Through the collection of responses to this question, our ‘Make The Valley Proud’ campaign was born.”

Throughout this process, something that Mangus said quickly became clear was that the local school community has an “unflinching” devotion to the district. To ensure things done by the district match what they wanted people to say about them, Mangus said four key intentional actions were created to proudly assert that “These Cougars Can Roar”. The roar part of the title creates an acronym, meaning the following; Respect – the district respects their guests and each other, Ownership – This is their school, and they are proud of who they are and the things they do, All-in! – the district is “All-In” with heart and focus on their goals and are accountable to the outcomes, because they all believe in their potential, and Responsible – members of the Cassadaga Valley school district are all stewards of how folks view them, and want to make the district proud.

“The campaign is still in the design phase, with two student leaders, Autumnskye Seagrave and Katarina Pattison, creating the marketing materials we will need using their graphic design savvy,” Mangus said. “They will be designing signature posters regarding the ROAR characteristics and will also design templates to feature students and staff who ROAR.”

This leadership opportunity began with a marketing meeting where the students asked critical questions about the campaign to ensure that the product they created would meet the needs of what the school aspired to create, Mangus said. The campaign is set to launch with the district’s fall newsletter and will feature a staff member who clearly shows that they can “ROAR” through the actions they take. Mangus added that in mid-winter the school will be asking for students to identify other students to show similarly how they can “ROAR” through their actions as well.

Mangus reported that when asked about the project, students said that they are excited to have the ability to work on it and be involved in making designs for the school, and that having the opportunity and chance to show their creativity is a privilege.