The New Face of Parkersburg South

by Emilia Horton

Last school year, Parkersburg South sent a great Patriot on to a very

bright future. Former senior, Gunner Sands, graduated with his class of 2022,

after proudly holding the title of Patriot and the responsibilities that came

along with it for his final year with us at South.

Since our school was in need of a mascot, a selection process ensued and

a new Patriot was instated. Senior, Zach Parsons, was chosen to represent

the school as its new mascot. A very involved teacher of ours, Mrs. Jamie

Moss, reached out to Zach and let him know that Mr. Duane Nutt wanted him

to try out to be the Patriot. Mr. Nutt is the cheerleading coach, Southside

Psychos sponsor, and is in charge of selecting the Patriot each time a new

one is needed. Zach was interviewed by Mr. Nutt and he demonstrated his

ability to conduct the famous “Give me an S!”cheer which was reviewed by

Principal Betsy Patterson. And the rest is history!.

Before Mrs. Moss reached out to him, Zach had never considered

becoming the Patriot. “Tryouts to become the Patriot aren’t largely

advertised, so I’d never really thought about it.” However, once he truly gave

it some thought, he realized that he would be perfect for the position. “I’m

loud and I like to shoot guns! It was perfect for me!” Zach shared that he has

had to attend at least fourteen practices — as is required for all athletes in

order to play/perform — with the cheerleaders, and learned the proper

technique and form to execute a backflip. Zach mentioned that, if he had

been able to, he would have loved to have been the Patriot for more than

just his senior year. The pressure is on as the mascot of any school, but

especially for the Patriot who has such an important role with the firing of the

musket. Zach touched on his apprehension of messing up or not being able

to reset the musket quickly enough in case of a touchdown close to the end

of a quarter. The opposite side of that being his excitement to raise spirits at

the games by exciting the Psychos.

The Patriot has been a staple of the Parkersburg South High School

experience since it was first established in 1967. The students and staff of

this school have always been known as the Parkersburg South Patriots. Our

first Patriot was David Murray whose picture still hangs proudly on the wall

of Patriots in the school. Since Murray, there has been a long line of Patriots

who have represented our school — not just men, but even a few women.

Ashley Deem held the title in 2004 – 2005 and just a few years later, Chelsea

Schroeder was the Patriot in 2010. The Parkersburg South Patriot is so

special, that in 2013, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the West Virginia

Senate Bill 421 into law, giving both Parkersburg South and West Virginia

University explicit permission to continue to fire off the musket as has been

customary for many years. The Patriot is a longstanding tradition, and we are

sure that Zach Parsons will do it justice!