2022 Mascot Hall of Fame Greatest Community Impact Award Winner
2023 Best Video Short Award Winner
Buzz Jacket is the spirited mascot of Fort Mill High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina, home of the Yellow Jackets. Fort Mill is a fast-growing community just south of Charlotte, NC, and its high school has built a strong reputation for both athletics and community involvement. Buzz Jacket embodies that spirit with enthusiasm, and apparently with very little regard for cold weather. He earned the 2022 Mascot Hall of Fame Greatest Community Impact Award (High School category) for a single act of freezing, waterlogged dedication that helped raise serious money for a seriously worthy cause. He also returned in 2023 to claim the Best Video Short Award (High School category) for a clever reinvention of the character itself.
Taking the Polar Plunge for Special Olympics South Carolina
Buzz Jacket appeared in a promotional video encouraging Fort Mill High School students to raise money for the Special Olympics of South Carolina through their annual Polar Plunge event, a fundraiser in which participants jump into frigid water in exchange for donations.
The conditions on filming day were as unforgiving as they sound: cold temperatures, snow on the ground, and biting wind. Buzz did it without complaint, even as his costume filled with 40-degree water. Lifeguards were on standby in case the suit absorbed water too rapidly. The commitment paid off — Fort Mill High School finished among the top fundraising schools in South Carolina for the event.
Back and Better Than Ever
In 2023, Buzz returned with a creative video short documenting his “recovery” from an off-season “injury” — which cleverly served as the storyline for transitioning from the old Buzz Jacket costume to a brand new one. It’s the kind of imaginative content that turns a routine costume update into an event fans actually care about.
The Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who held the first games in her own backyard in Rockville, Maryland. Today it serves over 6 million athletes in more than 190 countries — and apparently, a very cold Yellow Jacket in South Carolina is among its biggest fans.
