Meet Howie, Midwood’s Anonymous Mascot
Howie, the new mascot, greets students.
Photo Credit: Tanisa Rahman
By VICTOR ZHENG
“Why doesn’t all of Queens know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man?” Howie the Hornet said. “Trust me, I’m the last person you think of when you wonder who the mascot really is.”
Howie the Hornet, Midwood’s official mascot, was an idea created by last year’s student government to increase school spirit for the general student population. “I dress up in the suit and basically greet everyone,” Howie explained.
During the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, this idea came into execution. Ever since, Howie the Hornet has remained anonymous and plans to continue doing so.
The role was open during December of last year. When Howie first auditioned, they had planned to do it just for fun.
“Anyone who knows me knows I have an infectious energy, but last year I lost that giddy side of me,” Howie said. “I thought maybe signing up to try out as mascot could both be a good way to humor myself as well as my friends. But it’s quickly become more than something I do to give people a good laugh.”
The mascot attends many school-wide events, such as Homecoming and football games.
Vivian Chong ’20 wants to see the mascot even more. “I think that in the future, the mascot can definitely be used to raise school spirit,” she said. “I still think that many students are unaware, however. From my personal experience, I haven’t seen the mascot other than at school-wide activities. I don’t blame the school, but we don’t have many school-wide activities other than volleyball or football games.”
During Halloween, the mascot appeared on fellow Hornets’ Snapchat stories giving out candy in the lunchroom.
“I mean, what is a mascot?” Mayor Tanisa Rahman ’20 said. “It’s supposed to be a symbol of your school and if you see it around, how are you not going to feel united? It might seem goofy, but it reminds us that there’s a time and place to have fun, and that time is now.”
Student Government plans to continue working harder on “putting the mascot out there,” as Rahman ’20 put it. “We’re definitely working on a lot of stuff, but that’s for you to find out.”
Being a mascot might seem like an easy task to many, but it can actually be very hard to execute. Not only is it time-consuming, but it also comes with its own challenges.
“It’s definitely a lot to do, and it often becomes challenging because you have no peripheral vision and can only look down at your feet,” Howie said. “In addition to that, you have just such enormous feet. Walking just becomes impossible, but it’s all worth it. It’s the look you get to see on people’s faces when they see you for the first time. It’s a second of confusion followed by roaring laughter or just plain excitedness. All of that is just priceless to me, and I think that’s the best part of it all.”