Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on December 8, 2025
GRANGEVILLE, ID – Grangeville and Clearwater Valley School District trustees selected new logos late last month after more than a dozen designs were submitted by patrons, students and staff.
The new logos are part of the deconsolidation of Mountain View School District, which will dissolve at the end of this school year.
A driving factor of the split was that the two high school communities felt they had different needs, said Superintendent Alica Holthaus.
“In creating these school districts, we need to build that sense of identity and meet those needs of patrons,” Holthaus told EdNews.“It should be a school district of the people.”
The two districts are currently in the process of soliciting feedback to write their mission, vision and value statements.
Clearwater Valley
Lori Counts, a paraprofessional at Clearwater Valley Junior/Sr. High School, designed the district’s new logo.
“I was talking to some students encouraging them to enter a logo, trying to get some school spirit and some pride,” Counts, 65, said. “And I thought if I’m going to encourage them I might as well turn one in myself.”
Counts began thinking about what a district logo should encompass. Clearwater Valley School District has three schools, two in Clearwater Valley and Elk City Elementary about 60 miles away, connected by the South Fork of the Clearwater River.
Along the river are dense forests so Counts brought all the elements together to create a logo she hoped would encompass all aspects of the district.
A ram (Clearwater High’s mascot) and an elk stand along the riverbank with a forest surrounding them.
“All of that together equals the Clearwater Valley District,” Counts said.
She drew the original logo in pencil then created a color version. When Counts heard her logo was selected, she was surprised, especially with a handful of other logo options considered by trustees.
“You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Counts said.“It’s an honor to represent our district and I just felt very overwhelmed.”
The logo was then digitized to be used districtwide. Counts plans to save her original pencil drawing “forever and a day” as a keepsake.
Grangeville
Michael Stevens, director of technology at Mountain View, designed the winning submission for Grangeville’s new logo.
An alumni of the high school, Stevens was thrilled to have his design selected.
“School spirit is a personal thing for me,” Stevens said.
He still holds the triple jump record at the high school and now coaches track. He has worked at the district for the last seven years.
When the contest was announced, Stevens knew he wanted to submit a design. He immediately thought of the school’s mascot.
“In Grangeville, I feel like the community really rallies around that Bulldog mascot,” he said.
Historically, the Grangeville Bulldog mascot has been portrayed as just a face, Stevens said. He looked back to the 1950s and found few examples of the full bulldog.
He tried his hand at a few designs in that traditional vein but nothing felt original or authentic.
“I thought, well, maybe I just need to reimagine this,” Stevens said.
So he worked on a design that featured the full bulldog standing next to a large G. He showed the logo to some older alumni and to a few students who all liked the clean but unique look.
Stevens used Dally, a generative AI tool, and Canva to make the design, which was chosen by trustees last month.
