State’s schoolchildren help name apple industry mascot, 13 schools win prizes

Fishers, N.Y. – It’s a girl! New York state schoolchildren helped name the state apple industry’s new mascot, meet Katie Crunch.

As New York Apple Association’s mascot, Katie’s duties will include energetically promoting New York state’s favorite fruit. She will also preside over all association outreach to children, including a new website kids’ section coming later this year. Beautifully dressed in red, she sports a jaunty yellow bow tied to her stem, and matching flats.

NYAA launched the mascot-naming contest and a related sweepstakes contest earlier this spring; schools’ entries were due June 2. New York School Nutrition Association was instrumental in distributing contest and sweepstakes information to their members. The winning mascot name was submitted by Victor Intermediate School in Victor, and chosen by an anonymous panel of judges.

“We told schools they could submit a fun name, a healthy name, a creative name – the kids from Victor Intermediate definitely went the fun route,” said NYAA Marketing Director Molly Golden.

In return for submitting the winning mascot name, Victor Intermediate School won $500 in New York state apples and a commercial apple slicer for their cafeteria. In addition, twelve schools selected from among sweepstakes entrants will also receive apple slicers for their cafeterias:

  • Berne Knox Westerlo Central School District (Albany County)
  • Ellenburg Depot’s Northern Adirondack Central School (Clinton County)
  • Gates, N.Y.’s Walt Disney Elementary School (Gates-Chili Central School District, Monroe County)
  • Geneva’s West Street School (Geneva Central School District, Ontario County)
  • Interlaken’s South Seneca Elementary School (South Seneca Central School District, Seneca County)
  • Middle Island’s Coram Intermediate and Longwood Middle School (Longwood Central School District, Suffolk County)
  • Ossining’s Brookside School and Roosevelt School (Ossining Union Free School District, Westchester County)
  • Rocky Point’s Frank J. Carisiti Elementary (Rocky Point Schools, Suffolk County)
  • Sherman’s Sherman Central School (Chautauqua County)
  • Stony Brook’s W.S. Mount Elementary School (Three Village Central School District, Suffolk County)

Note to editors:
Katie Crunch artwork can be downloaded from NYAA’s Flickr site – look for the album named “Logos and Art” – at https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyapplecountry/sets/