The new high school in north Minot will be Minot North High School and its mascot will be the Sentinels.

The Minot Public School Board voted unanimously Thursday to select the new name and mascot.

Three online surveys were conducted, with nearly 8,000 people providing suggestions and input in one of the surveys, according to one board member.

Board member Miranda Schuler commented that she personally liked one of the other names but North High School kept appearing at the top of the list as the favorite selection on all of the surveys. The majority of students in the school district also voted for Minot North High School as their favorite name.

Sentinels was also the board’s unanimous top selection as the name for the new mascot.

Board member Bonny Berryman said she was trying to envision what could be used as a logo to represent the Sentinels.

Pam Schumaker, who spoke to the board during a public comment session, said she wanted a school name and mascot of which people can be proud. She said her grandchildren will be attending the new high school. Schumaker did not want the mascot to represent a tool of destruction.

Sentinels is the name of the U.S. Air Force’s new intercontinental ballistic missile system.

School board members pointed out that a sentinel is also a guard and a watcher.

Schuler said she likes one suggestion for a logo that would include a guard holding a lantern, which would nicely match Magic City Campus’s genie with a crystal ball to represent the Magicians. Schuler also said she likes the association with Minot Air Force Base. Schuler said it is a good choice with a lot of meaning.

The board had earlier approved navy blue and metallic silver as the school colors for the new high school.

Voters in Minot approved a bond issue that will pay for new construction and renovation of existing buildings on the site of the former Cognizant property in northwest Minot into the new 9-12 high school. Magic City Campus will be renovated into a 9-12 high school and Central Campus will be renovated into a third in-town middle school. This will mean Minot will have two 9-12 high schools instead of one high school split across two campuses.