Should girls teams drop the k in Wildkat? Principal says yes

For decades the Columbia Falls sports teams have spelled Wildcat with a k to differentiate between the boys and the girls teams.

That may be coming to an end.

At a recent school board meeting, principal Scott Gaiser suggested the school drop the k entirely, and simply spell Wildcat correctly, with a c. Girls teams would be distinguished like other schools do — by calling them the Lady Wildcats. Already, some Columbia Falls coaches are referring to their teams that way.

Gaiser suggested to the board that the school undergo a formal branding process.

But board member Mike Nicosia suggested the school survey the student body before it made changes. He noted that in the past, the school had suggested dropping the k, but the students wanted to keep it.

Board member Larry Wilson wasn’t too concerned about the k, but he did have concerns about the school’s logo, which he said looks an awful lot like the Montana State University Wildcat logo.

The k in Wildcat comes from decades ago, when the girls teams were originally called Wild Kittens, as girls sports were added at the high school. It was eventually shortened to Wildkats.

Now, in some school functions, the school mashes together the c and k in its spellings, which looks odd, but signifies both boys and girls sports together.