Daphne High School students returning to campus in the coming weeks will find two new faces greeting them: a new principal and a newly installed statue of the school’s Trojan mascot.
Dr. Will Duncan is stepping into the principal’s role after several years leading Robertsdale Elementary School in Baldwin County. While the position is new to him, the campus is not. Duncan graduated from Daphne High School in 1993, and he says returning to lead his alma mater carries special meaning.
“I graduated from Daphne in 1993,” Duncan said. “I love to be able to serve Baldwin County, but coming back to Daphne is specifically special. I mean the chance to come back and give back to the community that was so good to me.”
Just outside the school, a brand-new statue of a Trojan soldier now stands front and center, a nod to the mascot that has represented Daphne High School since it opened in 1989. The new statue replaces one that has long been a familiar landmark for generations of students, but Duncan wants the community to know that the original piece is not disappearing.
“I want to tell everybody that the statue is still here. We still have it. We have plans for it and the bricks that were around the old statue, and I’m glad that we’re going to be able to keep that part of history,” Duncan said. “We are going to be moving that and relocating it to the stadium area so it can be part of the tradition of Daphne as well.”
Preserving the original statue near the stadium keeps it visible to students, athletes and alumni even as the campus entrance takes on a new look. School leaders in Baldwin County have increasingly leaned on these kinds of visual traditions, mascots, murals and monuments, to reinforce school identity as enrollment grows and campuses are updated.
For Duncan, the start of the school year is about more than a title change or a new piece of statuary. It is a chance to reconnect with a community that shaped him, while making sure the school’s history stays intact for the students who will shape its future.
“Once a Trojan, always a Trojan,” he said.