New year, remodeled building and a new nickname and mascot for Benson Tech

Benson Tech High School will have more than a new-look building when the students return to campus this fall.

After three years away at Marshall High School while the old building was renovated, the Benson Techmen/Techsters will now be the Benson Astros starting this school year.

Benson principal Curtis Wilson said the decision to change the mascot was born from the student body wanting a more gender-inclusive mascot. The Benson boys teams went by Techmen while the girls teams had adopted Techsters.

“The Benson Tech students felt that the name Techmen and Techsters was not inclusive to how some of our students identify themselves,” Wilson said. “The students wanted a nickname and mascot that was not gender specific and was all inclusive.”

As of 2022-2023, Benson has an enrollment of 805 students, and those students were asked for what they believe should replace the Techsters nickname.

A committee of students, staff and alumni were put together to vote on new nicknames with three-four rounds of voting according to Wilson.

After that was complete, Astros emerged the winner and is now featured across the OSAA website for the upcoming fall season.

Benson sponsors teams in every sport offered by the OSAA, except for football, which the Tech school hopes to be changing with the introduction of a freshmen-only team this year.

With a new nickname, mascot and renovated building, Benson and its community are looking forward to the 2024-2025 school year to be a memorable one.

“The excitement is incredible as we have been out of the building for the past three school years over at the Marshall Campus.” Wilson said. “We are excited to return to a remodeled, state of the art high school facility. We are planning for the 2024-25 school year to be an exciting time for Benson tech, its community and the city of Portland.”