After two years of secrecy, Agassiz Christian School was finally able to unveil its new logo Wednesday (Feb. 6) to a gymnasium of parents, students and supporters.
“We went through many different logos and we had lots of different people helping us,” said Grade 6/7 teacher Simon Braun, who had been part of the logo development since the beginning. “We definitely had some times where we went down a path that we wish we hadn’t gone down now, and logos that weren’t good.”
“We were all waiting for the ‘aha’ moment,” he continued. “We figured we were going to see a logo and go ‘That’s it.’ It took two years for us to find that.”
The decision to create a new logo and tag line for the school came out of the school’s strategic plan: from there, the school decided it needed better community outreach and went out to create new ways to share their message.
RELATED: Workshop to build bridges of understanding hosted by Agassiz Christian School
The school of 73 students has been operating in Agassiz since 1964. Originally started as an extension of one of the local churches, but has broadened to include students from all parts of the Christian community.
“We wanted the community to know we are an open and welcoming school, that anybody is welcome to attend,” Braun said. “We were afraid that we seen as just this closed Dutch school that you can’t come to, but we want to make sure we were open to everybody.”
During the unveiling ceremony, two signs were revealed. One, featuring two hands holding a collection of pine cones, will be put up on the school itself. The other, prominently displaying the new logo, will be put up near Morrow Road.
The logo, featuring three vines at its base, incorporated a number of iconographic images within its geometric shape: a rising sun between two mountains, a heart that could also be seen as a book, and arrows that point to heaven and earth.
RELATED: Students come clean with kindness
The ceremony also revealed the school’s new tag line: Discover, grow, thrive.
“If you look way back there on the wall, it says ‘Education with a difference’,” principal Judy de Waal said, pointing to the painting on the wall of the gymnasium. “Now, after many years, we are changing our tag line. Not because that one is bad, obsolete or outdated, but because we wanted to add a little more depth.”
Greg Vander Hoek, chair of the school’s board of directors, agreed.
“We’ve seen that ‘Education with a difference’, that was for the previous generation,” he said during the ceremony. “I hope that the new and upcoming generations jump on to the ‘Discover, grow and thrive’.”
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
