The Page Middle School Panthers are now the Dust Devils. The change in mascots became official when Page Unified School District entered its new school year on July 1. The middle school’s colors will still be red and black, and the Dust Devil logo will share similarities with the Sand Devils logo.

The decision to change the mascot came last school year, in an effort to provide continuity between Page Middle School and Page High School: Dust Devils mature into Sand Devils.

“The main idea behind it is to create unity between the schools and in the community,” said Megan Moore, PUSD’s athletic director. “The goal is for our students to become Sand Devils. This helps create that culture and will make us more unified as a community.”

Several other districts in northern Arizona have transitional mascots. In Tuba City, the middle school Braves become Warriors as they enter high school. In Chinle, the Bobcats become Wildcats. In Monument Valley, the Colts become Mustangs.

The decision to change mascot was made with a great deal of input from the Page community and stakeholders, part of which included a survey asking parents, students and others if they wanted to keep the Panthers mascot or become the Dust Devils. Over 80% of respondents voted to become Dust Devils.

After the decision was made to change mascots, Page Middle School administrators worked with its student council to get input about what the new Dust Devil logo should look like. The initial concepts were then sent to a designer, who used their ideas and created two versions of the logo. The student council student chose their favorite version and made further suggestions to improve it.

The designer is still working on the final version of the logo and is expected to be finished soon. In the meantime, Page Middle school will use a temporary logo of two interlocking Ds, which will appear on the jerseys and uniforms as its teams begin the fall sports season.

“I’m very excited about this,” said Kevin Anderson, Page Middle School assistant principal. “I think it will be great to have a unified look for the schools.”