De Soto High School got its very own mascot this year. This role was filled by junior Taylor Ramseyer.

Ramseyer got the idea after talking with a couple of his friends about other schools’ mascots last year. He then started coordinating with the school to get it done.

Luckily, DHS already had a mascot costume, though it hadn’t been used in a while.

“I had to find the mascot costume in this back room of the office. I’m not wearing the whole thing, though, just the head,” Ramseyer said.

Ramseyer also had to coordinate with the cheer team.

“During a few seminars last year, I went to the office and talked to the old athletic director. He emailed the cheer coach and just kind of got everyone talking about the idea,” Ramseyer said.

According to sophomore cheerleader Taylor Escobar, having the mascot around will take some getting used to.

“It’s still a new thing… so it’s kind of weird to have the mascot on the sidelines with us,” Escobar said.

Although they have not completely adjusted to having him out there, Escobar says the cheerleaders really enjoy having the mascot at the games.

“He interacts a lot with the crowd and he makes games more fun for the crowd and us,” Escobar said.

Ramseyer puts in a lot of work to interact with the crowd at sporting events.

“During the game, I mostly jump around and pump up the crowd. To get people hyped, I do push-ups when we score, which people really like, and I also dance when the cheer team does,” Ramseyer said.

Ramseyer enjoys a lot of things about being the mascot, but he has one specific thing that is his favorite.

“I really love when little kids come up to me and want a high-five or a picture,” Ramyseyer said.

Principal Dustin Mortenson’s favorite part of having a school mascot is that “he brings a ton of fun.”

So far, Ramseyer has only been to football games, but he plans on being the mascot at least for basketball games too, and possibly other sporting events.