POTTSTOWN >> There’s a growing temperament in town, a kind of school spirit on steroids, that all grew out of a T-shirt and onto a full-sized Trojan Man mascot who seems to be everywhere at once.
When Community Relations Director John Armato saw the blue and white “We Are Pottstown” T-shirts on the Trojans for a Cure team at the 2015 Relay for Life, he knew he had found what he was looking for – a simple device that could help grow pride in town and get people to realize that they will better help the town by working together as a team than by complaining individually.
“I saw the kids in the shirts and it was instantaneous,” said Armato. “This is the thing that will work with everybody.”
Walk around town, attend any event, and chances are you will see one of the blue and white shirts and, now we are seeing them around the country and around the world as shirt-wearers send back selfies of themselves and their shirts from London, Paris, Bermuda, Disney World or even races and obstacle courses.
“Trojan nation is everywhere,” is what Armato likes to say.
But as the movement grows, so too do others who want in on the action.
Enter, 2003 graduate and information management systems teacher Dave Woodley.
A teacher since 2008, Woodley is largely responsible for the revival of the school mascot, Trojan Man, as well as the expansion of his notoriety and popularity.
“When I was going to school, the Trojan was a guy who would show up in a tunic at football games and do seven push-ups for every touch down and that was about it,” said Woodley.
But then the old headpiece was dusted off and began to show up in all kinds of places – like Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“That was where Trojan Man made his first appearance,” Woodley said as he looked at a photo of him in the outfit posing in front of the Atlantic. “I was a chaperone at a cheerleading competition and we had male cheerleaders, so they needed a male teacher to go and we brought Trojan man along.”
It wasn’t long before Trojan Man became a familiar figure in Pottstown as well – so familiar, in fact, that Woodley had to recruit a corps of students willing to don the giant head.
“I mean I have a job, I couldn’t be all the places they wanted Trojan Man to go,” he said with a laugh.
Now, after Trojan head scavenger hunts, Trojan Man selfies, trivia contests in the cafeteria and events out in the community, Trojan man is famous and inspiring others to take pride in Pottstown.
At a wrestling match last year, both teams stopped mid-way and watched Trojan Man and the Owen J. Roberts Wildcat compete in a goofy contest to shoot basketballs into a garbage can – it’s harder than you think wearing the outfit.
“And afterwards both teams and the people in the stands even, they seemed more relaxed, reminded that you can have a competition, but you can respect your opponent and make it fun,” said Woodley.
Trojan Man has been found at Manatawny Green mini-golf with other mascots raising money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art trying to set a world record for the most mascots in one place and romping around the Ricketts Community Center, helping to hand-out school supplies to needy children.
“It’s good for the kids who wear the suit too, it gets them outside of their own building and helps them to realize how everything is connected and, when they’re wearing the Trojan Man costume, they are the ones making the connection,” said Woodley.
Now Trojan Man is found at more than just football games. He is at numerous fundraisers, community events, reminding those there that to some degree, everyone in Pottstown is a Trojan.
Like Armato, Beth Yoder said it was the accidental discovery of the unifying power of a T-shirt that helped to spark the Federation of Pottstown Teachers’ expanded outreach into the community.
With contract negotiations dragging on, the federation members decided to order shirts and start attending school board meetings wearing them as a sign of solidarity, she said.
“We were going to change colors every year, but after we all started wearing those lime green T-shirts, we decided it had become our brand and we should stick with the same color,” said Yoder, who is the current president of the teachers union and a high school art teacher.
And later that year, that decision bore fruit unexpectedly.
“I guess the books were the kind of foot in the door,” Yoder said, explaining that she had applied for a grant to pay for the books three times before successfully winning the grant on the fourth try. It paid for a truck load of books to be given out free to children in the community.
At last year’s Halloween Parade, teachers union members handed out books instead of candy and the reaction was energizing.
“The kids were so excited that they got books instead of candy, they came into class the next day with the books telling everyone about it; and it was kind of a trickle down effect,” Yoder said.
“Everyone saw us in our shirts and now they recognize us, and its like all of a sudden we’re one team,” said Yoder who has coached softball for many years and knows the value of team unity.
The teachers have built on that team spirit, making public contributions to Little League and the Pottstown Athletic League, helping to give out free bicycles to Pottstown children at Lincoln Elementary School.
“In the classroom, we had felt like we were missing out on a large part of what makes the students successful,” Yoder said.
“But now, people know us and we can bridge that gap with parents and show them we really want the best for their children, that we care about this town,” she said. “We’re certainly not teaching here for the money because we could make a lot more working in other districts.”
Forging those relationships, a few at a time but as many as possible, is the key to the entire effort to bring the town together, said Armato.
And the shirts and Trojan Man all help with that.
“If you go someplace and you see someone else with a We Are Pottstown T-shirt on, I’ll bet you any amount of money those people are going to end up talking to each other, they have someone in common, they’re from the same town,” Armato said.
(If you would like your own “We Are Pottstown” shirt- the cost is $10 for sizes small through large; $12 for sizes XL and larger- contact Armato via email at jarmato@pottstownsd.org or call his office at 610-323-6274.)
“It’s all about having an identity as a town, about taking pride in who you are and where you came from,” said Armato. “It’s all part of moving us toward ‘One Goal, One Team, One Town.'”
