Who is Huey?

Huey+the+Hawk+showing+off+their+school+spirit+at+the+USA+themed+football+game.

Erica Fleeman, Assistant Principle

Huey the Hawk showing off their school spirit at the USA themed football game.

Sofia Giannone

Who is Huey? That’s a question most kids at Horizon High School should be able to answer, but can’t.

Huey is our Hawk– the school mascot, to be exact– yet, he never seems to get any recognition by students.

This year, nobody at our school even wanted to be the school mascot; students see it more as a nerdy thing to do, rather than an opportunity to hype up our school spirit.

Though part of it may be because of the costume itself, if the student body understood where Huey came from, they may be more interested in bringing him to life.

Horizon High School first opened in 1988. Back then, it was actually supposed to be called Ridgemont High, with red and black for the school colors. Our first principle, a lady named Marilou Henderlite who helped create the school, made the executive decision to call it Horizon.

The school’s mascot came to be when Marilou came to look at the area where the school would be built. Upon arrival, she saw a hawk soaring above the grounds, and that’s what gave her the idea.

Will Salzbrener was the very first student who filled the shoes of Huey the Hawk. He was a male cheerleader who participated in everything. Known to do flips and dance like nobody was watching, he really got the crowd excited for commonly attended events, which is exactly what Huey’s job is.

But this was just the beginning for Huey.

Mr. Tonjes, and our very own principle Kim Brady, attended the school around the time when it first opened. Tonjes stated that he would have loved to be the Hawk if he hadn’t participated in sports at the time.

Trying out for the Hawk has stayed the same throughout the years. But because we have two Hawk costumes this year, the most skilled student could “cheer” at the bigger games, like football, and the runner up would be a backup that could “cheer” at other sports events.

Mrs. Brady brought up the point that though our mascot has always been a Hawk, five years ago, a student named Quade Hamilton wanted to be our mascot but didn’t want to wear the costume.

The principal at the time told Hamilton that he could wear something else, as long as it showed school pride. He then decided to become Silverman, Huey’s long lost body-suited relative. 2015 was the one and only year where we had two mascots, one not being a Hawk.

Huey the Hawk has definitely grown up throughout the years. He may not be as enthusiastic as he once was, but he is still our mascot and the face of the school.

Where the name Huey came from will always be a mystery, but the story behind him can now be truly appreciated.