Many surrounding towns in the area have purchased and designed fiber glass animals or objects, placing them around the town or selling them to local businesses to display. South Hadley has decided to follow suit, and has placed an order for white fiberglass tigers in various poses which will be painted by local artists and distributed around town.

Middle school teacher and involved parent Elizabeth Craven was the individual who began the whole project. Craven said, “The idea came to me when Dr. [Nick] Young spoke about having the schools unite under the tiger mascot.”  Previously, each school had their own individual mascot and set of colors.

The motive behind putting out all of the tigers is to promote what the committee is calling “‘paws’itivity.” They hope to “unite parents, teachers, students, businesses, and artists in one giant project that celebrates all the great things about South Hadley,” said Craven. Young, superintendent of schools, spoke about the town’s public schools using the slogan “Excellence in Academics, Arts and Athletics.”

The committee is looking for volunteers, and some groups such as the cheerleading team have begun to get involved. Sophomore Nicole Mann says they collect donations at halftime during basketball games for the cause. So far she said it has been successful, earning somewhere around $50 per game. “We hand out flyers at halftime, and once a parent came up to us to say how helpful we were being,” said Mann.

Another activity to raise money and awareness for these tigers was a “tape a teacher to the wall” fundraiser. Students and teachers both contributed to this fundraiser competition by donating money to buy tickets during lunches for a few weeks. Teachers volunteered to be in the running for the cause. Social Studies teacher Travis Chaput was taped to the wall on February 28th during all three lunches because his bucket was filled with the most tickets. Students paid $1 for a piece of tape and 190 pieces were purchased, which raised the overall amount of money raised for the project to almost $700. Fine Applied Arts Chairwoman Maureen McNally estimated the cost to be around $1,000 per statue.

In addition, the Class of 2016 is teaming up with the committee to start a “Penny Wars” fundraiser between grade levels to help support the cause. Craven said she hopes “others will volunteer time and experience to the installation of the concrete pads.”

Four statues have already been ordered and are scheduled to arrive sometime in March. The two elementary schools will have a tiger that is lying down, the middle school will have a walking tiger, and the high school will have a leaping tiger. “The idea is that after seeing these, local businesses will buy one and it will be painted in a way that personalizes it,” said McNally.  She said that if the project sees enough success it will host an event which would include a map of the tigers around town.

The Tigers are Coming Committee encourages anyone interested in getting involved with the project to email Craven at [email protected]. Craven said they will be looking for more student participation as the project progresses. They also have a facebook page for those interested in the project.