Three years ago, Devon Kendall noticed something was missing during sporting events at Spencer-Van Etten High School in Spencer, N.Y., where he is now a senior. There was simply no school spirit.

Fortunately, Kendall has a lot of school spirit--and initiative--and decided to take matters into his own hands. His solution was to revive the school's mascot program.

Kendall began wearing the school's panther costume for every football and basketball game and believes it has made a world of difference. "Students are more interested in sports now," Kendall says. "Having a mascot has brought back our school spirit. It's a lot more entertaining to go to the games than before."

Reviving, or simply revamping, a mascot program can be beneficial to any school's athletic program. Dave Raymond, owner of the Raymond Entertainment Group in Newark, Del., says the key is to take the project seriously and treat it as more than just a kid in a costume.

"If you look at it in terms of having your own version of Mickey Mouse, you immediately see the difference between 'just a mascot,' and a fully developed character," says Raymond, who was the original Phillie Phanatic. "With the right commitment, a mascot becomes a living, breathing extension of your school. Going back 25 years, the mascot was either a walking logo or a guy with a billboard who could only wave. It's progressed into a piece of entertainment."

Raymond says the first step in creating an effective and entertaining mascot is to have a clearly defined story that ties the mascot to the school and community. The story should tell fans who the character is, why it is here, and how it relates to the history of the area.

"Write a story with those elements so people take ownership and feel, 'It's one of us,'" Raymond says. "For example, let's pretend the industry that put your community on the map is coal mining. The school was created sometime during that era and this mascot character is something that was found in an old coal mine. You rescued it and brought it back. If you combine those elements, suddenly people in the community feel connected to the character."

The second step is to create a character design that is memorable, fun, and can be successfully recreated in a three-dimensional costume. The final phase is finding a talented, outgoing person to step inside the suit.

"Are they athletic? Are they in good shape? Can they dance? Do they understand non-verbal communication?" Raymond says. "Find out if they can do flips, hula hoop, skateboard, or juggle. Any of those things would add to the performance. It's also important to make sure they're creative and will be able to come up with entertaining skits."

Once your school's mascot program is up and running, the performer must work on constantly improving. "The most important thing we tell students is to videotape their performance and review it," Raymond says. "How else are they going to be able to see what they look like, what's working, and what's not? For example, a performer might do something that they think projects a certain attitude or emotion, but when they look at it on video, they realize it looks like an obscene gesture. That can happen."

Above all else, though, Raymond emphasizes that mascots are supposed to be fun--both for the fans and the people inside the costume. "The first time I introduced the Phillie Phanatic to the fans, I asked what I should be doing, and I was told to have fun," he says. "If you're not having fun and enjoying yourself, it's not going to work. This is about fun--fun with a purpose--but still fun. As soon as it becomes a job, you won't be good at it."