A Blaze of School Spirit Debuts at Visitation

For the first time in its history, Visitation School in Mendota Heights has an official mascot. The mysterious figure arrived in a "blaze of glory" during the school's recent Merrie Market fundraising event.

Known as "Blaze," the new mascot is a phoenix.  She was revealed to students and parents on Friday, March 4 during the first night of Merrie Market, arriving complete with a spotlight and dramatic music. 

Blaze's debut was the culmination of several months of eager anticipation by students wondering just what the mascot would be.

The idea of creating a mascot for the school was initially introduced several months ago, according to Patty Healy Janssen, director of marketing.

"Students at all levels—Lower, Middle and Upper School—had the opportunity to submit ideas," she said. "An administrative team took all the suggestions and made the final decision."

Wendy Short-Hays, artistic director of VISTA Productions and coordinator of the mascot project, recently learned that unbeknownst to the students and staff, the phoenix has profound significance in terms of the history of the order of the Sisters of the Visitation.

"We had already chosen the phoenix for the mascot and were very excited about it," she said. "Then a few days before Merrie Market, Anne Williams, the director of Salesian Studies, came up to me with something she had just discovered in the writings of St. Francis de Sales, one of the co-founders of the order."

In the passage, St. Francis de Sales wrote about how "our progress in holy life is like the mythical bird phoenix..." and went on to describe how the characteristics of the phoenix are connected to Salesian spirituality.  Short-Hays said that discovery "was just amazing."

The costume for Blaze was designed by Short-Hays, her husband Elliot Hays, the technical director for VISTA, and Beth Nistler Uber, a 1997 Visitation graduate who is now a professional costumer with the Chicago Shakespeare Company.

"It was very cool to be able to work on this project with one of my former students," said Short-Hays.

Although Blaze appears to be covered in feathers, in reality, Nistler Uber created the costume from organza, individually crafting each "feather."

"Real feathers are expensive and very fragile," said Short-Hays. "This outfit will wear like iron, is surprisingly breathable and will fit anybody."

Blaze also has her own logo, designed by three Upper School students who were all "sworn to secrecy" about the selection of a phoenix, said Short- Hays.  The final logo was finished by a professional artist.

Where will Blaze appear?  According to Short-Hays, she is likely to be spotted at sports and community events as well as at school functions like Homecoming and Winter Week.

The identity of Blaze remains somewhat mysterious. According to senior Libby Thornton,  the individual underneath the costume may or may not be revealed.

Thornton is very happy with the selection of the new mascot.

"I think a phoenix is a good choice for the Vis mascot because it is a good mix of the Vis spirit," she said. "It reminds the girls of Fawkes the Phoenix from Harry Potter which greatly appeals to our love of the Harry Potter series. Also, it embodies the Catholic identity of our school because the phoenix has been used as a Christian symbol of resurrection."

While the weeks leading up to the "big reveal" were busy ones, Short-Hays said the outcome is definitely worthwhile.

"It has been a really fun, community building opportunity for our school," she said.