The New SKA

I’ve been getting e-mails from area residents wondering about the shoe polished cars of incoming Highland Park High School seniors. The traditional SKA (seniors kick butt with an A) has been updated, the S turned into a dollar sign. Many parents had jumped to the conclusion that the dollar sign was an arrogant nod to the wealth of HPISD students.  Rest easy, the lines through the S represent their graduation year, 2011. Just a clever little update to the acronym.

It’s the A you’ll have to creatively explain to curious little ones.

By Merritt Patterson Aug. 19, 2010 | 9:54 am | 30 Comments | Comments RSS
30 comments to "The New SKA"
  1. Rebecca @ August 19, 2010 at 10:04 am
    Last year, I explained SKA to my kindergartner as “Seniors Know All”. I guess this year, I will explain they know all about finance.

  2. mk @ August 19, 2010 at 10:04 am
    I totes thought the dollar sign was supposed to be arrogant. Now I can rest easy.

  3. Kersten Rettig @ August 19, 2010 at 10:20 am
    I thought it was a nod to Ke$ha, that white trash, talentless, flash-in-the-pan “singer.”

  4. Charles Geilich @ August 19, 2010 at 10:25 am
    That’s a creative explanation, but I’m not buying it. Pun intended.

  5. Gary @ August 19, 2010 at 10:44 am
    That’s great but I don’t understand what JGA means, which I see on lots of cars too.

  6. ramsey @ August 19, 2010 at 10:48 am
    I’ll bet that most people, including each senior class, doesn’t know that the SKA was first used by the HP Girls Soccer team in 1994, the first year they won State. I still have the SKA banner that I had shipped to Austin so that it could be displayed in their hotel so that they could see it upon their arrival.
    The saying was actually used before that by the Scots ’76 club team, but that is another story. I also still have a Scots ’76 tee shirt that has SKA on the back.

  7. Kersten Rettig @ August 19, 2010 at 10:51 am
    You should have trademarked it then, ramsey, just like how Pat Riley trademarked “three peat.” Just think how rich you’d be.

  8. Tk @ August 19, 2010 at 10:54 am
    I have definitely been wondering about the “JGA”. I feel I may be a pervert, because the only wording I came up with was pretty vulgar.
    Can any high schooler clarify??

  9. A. B. @ August 19, 2010 at 10:56 am
    If you see a minivan with SKA ’89 driving around that’s me.

  10. Tk @ August 19, 2010 at 10:57 am
    Kersten— then the SKA would have to have a little TM enlosed in a circle after it.

  11. ramsey @ August 19, 2010 at 11:12 am
    Because it was the girls’ idea, the vast riches would be theirs.
    I also had a player print and sell “Hard Rock Cafe – Highland Park teeshirts using the real Hard Rock Cafe logo. She received a call from their attorneys telling her to not make any more. They were pretty cool about her little infringement on their trademark!

  12. WHAT?!? @ August 19, 2010 at 11:22 am
    @ramsey
    SKA was used well before the 1994 Girls Soccer Team. SKA – the S being interchangeable with Scots & Seniors would be placed behind the football banners in tape for example against Waxahachie at texas stadium in 1992. Even was used when ‘The Team With Heart’ was playing.

  13. Kersten Rettig @ August 19, 2010 at 11:59 am
    A.B. = funny comment!

  14. matt @ August 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm
    the anus is on them.

  15. Jk @ August 19, 2010 at 12:23 pm
    Jga- juniors get butt with an “a”.

  16. Selective Omniscience @ August 19, 2010 at 12:38 pm
    SKA = “Seniors Kick A**”

    JGA = “Juniors Get A**”

  17. mgs @ August 19, 2010 at 1:18 pm
    i don’t get the acronym: $…..S to 2011???….does seem Kesha”ish”….or financial to me!

  18. Jgo @ August 19, 2010 at 1:57 pm
    Was “the team with heart” a slogan? I remember One team, one heart. My mom drove around with that sticker for years because she didn’t think the later slogans were up to snuff.

  19. Rodknee @ August 19, 2010 at 2:18 pm
    The 1980 HP boys track team slogan was “Great White Hope.”

    This was many years before the term “politically correct” was established.

  20. Marky Mark @ August 19, 2010 at 2:36 pm
    I thought the double-slash through the S was extremely creative. Couldn’t do it last year; can’t do it next.

  21. E @ August 19, 2010 at 3:08 pm
    Yeah well the next two years are supposed to be SKAR (like a 1 and a slanted 2) and SKAB (1 and 3). I will definitely not have SKAR on the back of my car.

  22. kmom @ August 19, 2010 at 3:11 pm
    My S of 2011 (who of course K’s major A) says the $ is indeed referring to the class of ’11, has nothing to do with moolah.

    Have y’all heard the motto of this years HP Crew team?

    BLADES OF GLORY

  23. Tk @ August 19, 2010 at 3:49 pm
    Oh, I was thinking JGA meant Juniors Give A**. Which I thought was kinda rude. And not something to advertise to all the neighborhood.

  24. S @ August 19, 2010 at 4:02 pm
    @Rodknee- pretty sure the updated slogan is “Great Melanin-Challenged Hope”

  25. Pigskinnie @ August 19, 2010 at 4:07 pm
    The Team with Heart was not a slogan, but rather the title of a book by Creath Davis about the 1984 Scots…

  26. ramsey @ August 19, 2010 at 5:32 pm
    The 1984 boys and girls soccer teams shared a motto that referred to the concept that any player on a soccer team is capable of scoring a goal. Bumper stickers containing the motto, “We Score From All Positions” were banned by the school.

  27. Bagpipe Editor Mark @ August 19, 2010 at 6:44 pm
    The other option would be the update of last year’s SKAX, the X representing ’10, using Roman numerals. This year’s version would be SKAXI, adding an I. But I like the $KA because it can’t be duplicated for another century.

  28. Steve @ August 23, 2010 at 12:01 am
    I get the SKA or $KA but the junior one is weak and vulgar.

  29. charlie @ February 3, 2011 at 4:39 pm
    i believe JGA stands for Juniors Get A**

  30. D. @ September 29, 2011 at 1:34 pm
    Although cleaver, how does that look to have $$ signs on the back of a neighborhood that already is epitomized by uppity behavior? We should be known for our charity giving since we eclipse other cities by a large margin with giving per person. HP is dogged by other cities for our bubble mental attitude for years. I say clean it up and set the record straight about this special place.

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