By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City School System will strive to be “Champions of Our Future,” district officials announced on Aug. 12 as they unveiled the upstart school system’s new logo and tagline.

In addition to the “Champions of Our Future” tagline, ACS officials also unveiled the district’s new logo, which is a red “A” depicting a torch in the center, during the school district’s first institute day at Thompson High School on Aug. 12.

District officials worked with the O2 Ideas marketing firm to hold branding workshops with school system stakeholders before forming the logo and tagline.

O2 Ideas reveled the logo and tagline to the Alabaster Board of Education during a late July work session.

“I think it certainly hits home with what we are trying to accomplish,” Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers said during the work session.

O2 Ideas representative Roger Ellenburg called the logo and tagline package “the essence of everything we are,” and said it conveys the system’s vision.

“We want to be the best and offer the best so our children can become the best,” Ellenburg said. “We are all champions for our future. Our children are going to be champions and they are our future.

“We can’t just be really good, we’ve got to be the best,” Ellenburg added.

School Board member Dr. John Myrick shared Ellenburg’s thoughts, and said development of the logo and tagline marked a milestone for ACS.

“It’s a joy to me to be living here and to see this come to action,” Myrick said. “We will not be satisfied with just being among the top. We want to be the best.”

City Council President Scott Brakefield said he looks forward to the day the logo is displayed on clothing and car decals across the city.

“I think we have a good chance of having the best logo in the state,” Brakefield said.

Alabaster city and school officials will display the new logo and tagline during Warrior Day at Larry Simmons Stadium on Aug. 16.