The crowd cheers wildly. Fans scream, throw their fists in the air and wave massive cutouts of football players’ faces on sticks. This is just part of the high school football scene. The school mascot, Charlie the Charger, whose identity remains a mystery to some, dances along to “Hells Bells” by AC/DC and waves to the crowd.
Senior Deshawn Alston is the school mascot for this school year. He was inspired to try out by alumnus Jalen Gipson, who was last year’s mascot.
“I’ve always actually hated mascots since I was little, and the best way for me to get over that was to try out for the school mascot,” Gipson said.
Gipson had such a great experience being the mascot for Northwood that he plans on trying out when he transfers over to a four-year college.
Gipson introduced Alston to cheer and dance advisor Heather Davis, who praises Alston’s performance this year so far.
“I didn’t know Deshawn before he tried out,” Davis said. “He put on Charlie [the costume], and it’s like, ‘Woah!’ I loved it. He does these little dance moves that he has, and I think it’s really cool. I’m so glad that he joined us this year. He was very dedicated and came to the tryouts and made sure to learn the material.”
Alston is also a member of the marching band, which can be heard playing in the stands at every home football game and performing during the halftime show. While he is not playing with the rest of the drumline, Alston is seen cheering on the football team. He is often asked how he balances both.
“Normally during halftime I don’t really do anything as the mascot, so I can just take off the suit and go play with the marching band,” Alston said.
However, Alston has a great time with the audience while he is dressed as the mascot.
“I love messing with people, so by being the mascot, I can go do that and get everyone excited, happy and ready for the game by motivating the team,” Alston said.
Junior Marcanthony Iacono, who has attended many home football games, commented on Alston’s performance.
“I’ve seen him twerking with a bunch of girls,” Iacono said. “He got really into it.”
Very little is known about the history of the school mascot at Northwood. No teachers seem to know why or when the mascot was named Charlie.
“It’s a mystery,” Davis said. “I have no idea why he’s called Charlie…but it does roll off the tongue: ‘Charlie the Charger.’”
However, through investigation and questioning, Davis was able to uncover a very interesting part of social studies teacher Skip Thibault’s past.
“I found out Thibault was actually the first Charlie,” Davis said.
Thibault recalled his experience as the mascot.
“[The senior class] had raised a lot of money and had enough money left over that the senior class officers wanted to buy a gift for the school, and we sat down and we talked about various things we could do for the school, and the students decided that they wanted to buy the [mascot] costume,” Thibault said. “So I sourced it out—I went online, looked at a bunch of different vendors that sold that type of thing, and it was expensive; it was over $1,000 to buy it.”
The first time Thibault wore the mascot suit was at a student awards assembly in the spring. He describes his experience as being “miserable” in the costume.
“It was so hot,” Thibault said. “As soon as I put that head on, my glasses immediately fogged up. I started sweating, and I went up there, and it was a long time ago, so I was much younger and more physically fit at the time. But I had a blast and ran around acting like a fool because nobody knew who I was, but I couldn’t wait to get out of it!”
That was the only time Thibault dressed as Charlie. The students and cheerleaders took over after him and were in charge of the mascot uniform.
“I just thought that was too cool, that he was the first one to actually put Charlie on,” Davis said.
Alston has a few words of encouragement for the next mascot that tries out.
“Just be yourself,” Alston said. “Your goal is to make everybody happy and excited for the game, so just be happy and have fun with it.”
– By Cassandra Navarro