The Bluebird represents Highlands and has been iconized in Highlands Middle and High school. The mascot has been decorated for sports, holidays, and other school activities that students partake in.
The Bluebird also represents the hardworking students and teachers who do all they can to bring out the best of Highlands’ legacy.
In the 1920s, before the Bluebird, there was the Blue Devil, which was originally named to rival Dayton’s Green Devil.
At some point, the Fort Thomas Ministerial Society objected to the association of Highlands to the Devil whether it was blue or any other color.
While trying to figure out a new name that would be acceptable to the church, the track team was doing very well at the time since they won the Tri-State Championship. It was said they flew like birds, and from that point forward the Blue Devil became the Bluebird.
The exact years that these events happened are unconfirmed, but near the end of the 1920s, sports teams were referred to as the “Blue Tornado”, and finally in the year 1930, the Bluebirds.
However, when the boy’s teams were called the Blue Devils, the girl’s teams and clubs were the Cardinals.
Eventually, everyone was called Bluebirds when the name change occurred. The origin of the Blue Tornado or the Cardinal moniker is unknown.
There were various responses from people in the community about the qualities of the Bluebird as well as how it makes Highlands special.
“If you look at an early rendering of the Bluebird, it’s a fierce bird with band-aids and muscles and all this and I think it represents perseverance and the drive to win. Highlands for a long time had a motto, at least in the 80s and 90s when I attended school here. It was on T-shirts and it would say ‘Play to Win’, and a lot of people would associate that with the football program. But, it resonated through the entire athletic department so I think it’s perseverance and grit really,” Kevin Nieporte said.
The Bluebird is cherished by faculty and students of Highlands. The mascot is a unique symbol of the important moments that students go through with the determination to win and be successful at Highlands.
“It’s not a common mascot. When we went to create our new and improved mascot, we had to create it from scratch because there was not a stock eagle. They would try to give us a blue jay but we know that’s not the bluebird, that’s a blue jay. We actually made it difficult for us to find a mascot so we had to create one from scratch because it doesn’t fit a certain category at these mascot companies. It makes it different that it’s unique,” chairperson of the Alumni Association, Megan Abner said.
