"Go Dinos! / Allez les Dinos!" That's what students and their families will be cheering when they root for the home team at Morden's newest school. 

Dinos has been selected as the school team name for Ecole Discovery Trails, set to open this Fall. Because the word “Dinos” is bilingual used in both English and French languages, Principal Samuel Jerema says the name is a great fit for the dual-track school.

According to Jerema, the dinosaur was a common theme among community responses and has been echoed more recently in the community and from student input. 

"Students, community members, teachers, education assistants came together on a committee to look at hundreds of submissions, literally hundreds of submissions, in which there was tonnes of dinosaurs, mosasaurs, lots of other ideas as well but the committee settled on Dinos."

Once the name was chosen, the committee discussed the vision for the corresponding school logo. The end result is a stylized tyrannosaurus rex in shades of blue and green with the school’s name across the middle, designed by Brooke Nelson.

"We had no idea, really, how Brooke was going to be able to bring it all together and bring it to life," said Jerema. "The energy. The tyrannosaurus rex is really coming out of the shield, he's got a lot of energy. He's fierce but not scary. I think she nailed it."

"Go Dinos! / Allez les Dinos!"

Boasting fun and vibrant colours, the t-rex remains fierce, and Jerema is confident the middle school students won't feel like it's too childish. Additionally, the colours used in the logo will give students and the community a hint of what the school colours will be, to be unveiled when students return for the fall term. As for the logo itself, it'll take up residence in the middle of the gym floor. 

"It's going to help people get excited," said Jerema. "It's not just a new school, it's Ecole Discovery Trails and we have an identity that encapsulated there. It's fun, energetic, up for adventure.

I really think that having that logo in place and talking about it, the why and the vision, it's more than just a dinosaur. It's exciting, it's a new school. We're transitioning from grade schools in Western School Division and, who are we? We don't have an identity...To start something fresh with an identity, with a team name, I think they'll feel a strong sense of belonging. We don't have to wait to create that. It's here. We're walking into it."

With files from Robyn Wiebe