Santa steals the show
Long-standing tradition explained: the gift that keeps on giving Ava Hunt
F
ishers High School, at least the building that currently stands, is a relatively new addition to the city of Fishers. Until its reconstruction in 2006, blue was the color that represented all the students attending school in the area. After a secondary high school in town was built, the first student body of FHS bore the responsibility of capturing the essence of what it meant to be a Tiger and how that would be carried on throughout traditions. Luckily, the pioneering class of Fishers High School produced a tradition that is still practiced today: shepherding a four-foot plastic Santa that attends many FHS sporting events. Now, how did this come to be, and who decided that a Santa figurine was an accurate representation of tiger pride? Dad to five FHS alum and caretaker of the tiger tunnel, Tim Rogers, has been around since the beginning and recalls the year that Santa made his first appearance. “Santa started in the second year of Fishers High School,” Rogers said. “We had lost our first two [football] games, and it came to the third game of the season, and we were playing a really good Westfield team. Someone had joked around and thought maybe Santa was needed to give us a victory. So, a student had brought a holiday plastic Santa from their house to that game.” Rogers remembers that game like it was Christmas morning, and he said it was truly magical. Everything that could have gone wrong for Westfield did and that energy didn’t discontinue after that game. “That night, Westfield
Page 22
Tiger Times
huntava000@hsestudents.org
1 1. Fishers student section chants “We got spirit” at the Mudsock football game on Friday, Sept. 10. Photo used with permission of Luke Watson. fumbled the ball, they threw interceptions,” Rogers said. “They even had a blocked punt, and we returned it for a touchdown. The [Fishers] team ended up having a winning record in their second year, which vaulted the team to the success it had over the years.” Success isn’t only experienced by the football team: it is also seen through the climate of the student body. Rogers understands the importance of building a sense of school spirit among a relatively new school and how important traditions are to having a welcoming environment. “The Santa tradition, along with wearing red on Fridays and the tiger tunnel, draws a direct connection between different social groups within high school,” Rogers said. “It’s why we have students enter the tiger tunnel at the entrance of the school every year because we didn’t want just football players to walk through it, we wanted everyone to. The Santa embodies success, winning
and having fun while enjoying your fellow students outside of school.” The Santa tradition has continued over the years and the original Santa is currently in Fishers’ possession, but now it looks a little different. Hamilton Southeastern High School decided to steal it during a game, and while in their control, painted a thick coat of blue paint over it. FHS alum and former spirit leader Jake Whalen remembers hearing about the heist during his time at Fishers. “It didn’t happen during my senior year, but one of the years I was at Fishers, we lost Santa,” Whalen said. “Someone broke into a garage in order to steal it. I remember the environment at school was very depressing that week after and plans on how to get it back were a common topic of conversation.” Since the first kidnapping of the Santa, the idea of swiping the Santa from the rival school
2
3
September 2021
2 P p S
Sp
