St. John Paul II School Name Change Announced

St. John Paul II School thrilled to share new logos and announce the school’s new name
Posted on 11/17/2021
St. John Paul II School thrilled to share new logos and announce the school’s new name

St. John Paull II School community is excited to share their new school logo and sports logo as they move forward with changing their name from Pope John Paul II School to St. John Paul II School. The new logos were chosen with student voice at the forefront through a voting process that saw 278 people respond, with 171 of those ballots belonging to students from Kindergarten through to Grade 6.



New School Logo  New Sports Logo
 New  St. John Paul II School Logo  New Sports Logo for St. John Paul II School


Students, staff and parents/guardians were able to choose between two new logos for their school and two new logos for the Cardinals sports teams. The winning school logo was the Stained-Glass Tree of Life and Organic Cross.

The design represents the Indigenous roots in the school, family roots within the local community and the religious roots of the Kenora Catholic District School Board. It is a timeless tree with flowing branches and roots that evolves into a stained-glass Tree of Life and has the energy of the resurrected Lord who offers hope and the Spirit of love.

Stained-glass is also a reminder of the holy space of church and school. The tree unfolding into a cross shows faith in action. The circular pattern symbolizes unity, the Eucharist, the medicine wheel, and a connection to the redemptive power of the cross as it reaches out to the world. The circle is a reminder of community: we are one body, without beginning and end, connected through faith.

The winning sports logo has a re-designed cardinal in the centre with yellow detailing around the bird’s head and beak.

In 2014, Pope John Paul II School's namesake, Pope John Paul II, was canonized. In honour of that significant recognition, the school moved forward this year with the name change from Pope John Paul II School to St. John Paul II School as well as a re-imagining of the school’s identity through the two new logos.

Quotes:

Tammy Bush, Principal at St. John Paul II School
“It is very exciting for our school community to move into a bright future with our new identity and logos. The students and school community made perfect choices in our new school logo design and sports logo. The designs reflect the excellence we strive for in all areas of learning, growth and spiritual development toward being stewards of positive change.”

Carter Wilson, Grade 5 student, on the new sports logo
“The old cardinal was kind of angry looking, and this cardinal is happy. Our first choice was just a cardinal and the second one has a gold, sunset-ish circle behind the cardinal. I voted for the cardinal with the gold around it because it just adds more colour to it.”

Benjamin Shouldice, Grade 5 student, on students voting
“A name change is pretty big. I’ve had [Pope John Paul II School] for my entire life here, so it’s not often your school is named after a Pope who is then upgraded to a Saint. It’s pretty exciting.”

Hannah Carlson, Grade 5 student, on the new logo and voting process
“I really like it; I think it really looks good. It’s very pretty and I like nature, so I like the tree. I think that was very nice, it made students feel like they had a choice which was very important. I’m glad they didn’t just say, ‘here’s your new logo, hope you like it.’ I feel happy that students could vote and help make this decision.”

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