Otters and wolves to roam the halls of Kennewick’s newest elementary schools

Kennewick’s two new elementary schools now have names and mascots.

Elementary #16, which is under construction in Clearwater Creek, is officially Amon Creek Elementary. Its mascot is the Otters.

And Dual Language Elementary #17, being built at the old Desert Hills Middle School site, is Fuerza Elementary. Its mascot is the Lobos.

The Kennewick School Board on Wednesday night unanimously named the schools.

Board members followed the recommendations of the schools’ naming committees, which included students and parents.

Amon Creek will be a traditional elementary, while Fuerza Elementary will house the district’s dual language program.

Fuerza means strength in Spanish, and lobos is the Spanish word for wolves.

The schools will open in August 2018.

The district reached out to the community to help come up with names and mascots, receiving hundreds of suggestions for each school.

Under district policy, the school names could be inspired by: individuals of local or national prominence in education, arts and sciences, politics, military achievement or statesmanship, or who’ve made other notable accomplishments; past U.S. presidents or U.S. senators/representatives from Washington; geographical characteristics of the area where the building is located; or other important events or achievements.

After Amon Creek, the top name suggestions for Elementary #16 were Mountain View and Clearwater Creek.

The top mascot suggestions after otters were jackrabbits and rattlers.

After Fuerza, the top name suggestions for the dual language school were Unidad and Hawk Ridge.

After lobos, the top mascot suggestions were falcons and cheetahs.

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Otters and wolves to roam the halls of Kennewick’s newest elementary schools."