Halve It Component:
My design project focuses on the wellness pillar of Middle School`s framework. 

• Wellness means the state of being healthy, especially when you try to achieve it. That is really important for Middle Schoolers because health is very important for kids in their adolescence. Wellness doesn't need to be only physical. One of the biggest problems at school is feeling safe, which wellness can really help with kids feeling belonging and healthy.

   

Sustainable Development Goal:

SDG 3:Good Health and Wellbeing   

The School Spirit station meets SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) because it changes school spirit from becoming a thing that Middle-Schoolers don't want to do to becoming their favourite thing. For example, it could be a way that more students would want to join in a sport, which is great for their health and could improve wellbeing by feeling included.           

School Context:

If you come into this school you will notice a big problem which is the lack of school spirit. Almost all the kids don't engage with family group activities which is our current school spirit structure. According to the 2026 Middle School survey, 56 out of 87 kids, or 64%, wanted a mascot in their school.This deprives student voice, showing what they actually want in school.

Ancient China

In Ancient China, there are lots of different mascots and totems which all help in different ways. For example, Yin and Yang, Yin is learning and sitting down in class while the Yang is that students need an 1.5 hours per a week of organised  PE. While the school does provide this, not everyone joins in which impacts their health and wellbeing. Ancient Chinese history also refers to symbols as mascots but they are designed more for the spirit of ancient China. While the more modern mascots of China have grown with the country.This shows how much mascots help in different areas.    

Liveability 

Lots of different places embrace livability in different ways, some by the food they eat, others by the work they do but the common element in all places is how much they connect to sport. Studies show that engaging in sports like soccer, basketball and swimming connects to cardiovascular health which helps lower blood pressure and anxiety. One of the other biggest factors of liveability is friends, which helps with sport. 73% of adults agree that sport is a good way to make friends and 47% of adults specifically play sport just to make more friends. By adding a mascot, more people will engage in sport which will help with both major parts of liveability. 

How might we design a Middle School mascot to enhance school spirit, increasing engagement, belonging and wellbeing?

The solution for enhancing school spirit in Middle School is to have a mascot that encourages all Middle School students to join in for sport. Our school mascot could be engaged in most sporting lessons and every major school sporting event and carnival. The ideal mascot design could be based on the image to the right.

This mascot is an owl because of Middle School's connection to owls and how they symbolise wisdom. The owl has been used to represent elements of Living School throughout its existence. The mascot will be around 160 cm tall or (5ft 3inches) to fit the average 13 year old. The materials the mascot suit will be made out of is a sustainable substitute of lightweight foam made out of plant starches which still have the same amount of shock absorption with also some recycled fabric.

Anyone is able to be selected to be the school mascot during sporting events. However, there may be other instances where a student must participate in a particular sport or lesson to be selected. The process of picking the school mascot will be random at every school carnival. You can't be the mascot for two carnivals in a row to encourage sharing and fairness. To be put in the draw for the school carnivals, you need to be able to have confidence through almost clown-like attributes, but also be able to display respect, responsibility, and be able to make everyone feel included and want to participate in sporting events.