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Wallflowers need not apply for the job of school mascot.

No matter which character they portray, mascots from schools throughout the region describe themselves as the class clown.

"I like expressing myself," said Nolan Plumley, 16, a sophomore at Williamsburg High School. "I get to act goofy and not get in trouble."

This is Plumley's first year as Williamsburg's Blue Pirate. The day after he was chosen as the mascot, he made his debut at a pep rally.

"I mock the cheerleaders - I've made up dances for some of their cheers," Plumley said with a laugh.

The Blue Pirate is the essence of Williamsburg's school spirit, said Todd Dishong, high school principal. Dishong brought the mascot back in 2008 after a several year hiatus.

"We have school spirit, and we gotta get out and show our pride," Dishong said. "We haven't won a lot of games this year, but our guys work hard, we need to get out there with the band and Nolan and get the fans excited."

Like Plumley, Andrew McCleary, a 17-year-old junior at Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, loves the attention he receives as the Golden Tiger. He attends football and basketball games in costume.

"I was drawn to being the mascot because I (am) really outgoing and fun, so I figured that this would be perfect for me," McCleary wrote in an e-mail. "I think that the best part of being the mascot is being able to make other people have fun and get more excited about our school sports."

The mascot "is an icon," said John Anderson, the assistant cheerleading coach at Altoona Area High School, where sophomore Alex Gehl, 15, dons a Mountain Lion costume to pump up the crowd.

"When you look at the mascot, it represents the athletic program," Anderson said. "Without the mascot, there are a lot of faces you could associate with the program."

As Mountain Lion, Gehl said he likes "messing with people," from the fans in the stands to the cheerleaders.

"I take their stuff," he said, laughing, "but I always give it back. ... I like getting the laughs."

At Central High School in Roaring Spring, the Scarlet Dragon is part of the cheerleading squad. This year's dragon is Shelby Burns, 17, a senior at the school.

"It's a lot of fun and really cool," Burns said. "Especially when little kids come up, they're all smiley and excited to see you."

Burns was never a cheerleader but said she's always supported the school's athletic teams, and the games have a completely different feel now that she is the mascot.

"It's all about school spirit," she said. "And it's cool to be in the center of that."

The Scarlet Dragon gives students "something to rally about," said Central High Athletic Director Chuck Gojmerac.

"It's a good way to get the crowd going before our games," he said.

He would know. Gojmerac wore the costume at a football game in 2006.

"It was actually a lot of fun," he said. "Putting on the mask, you take on a whole different persona. It's like you get to live in another personality for a couple of hours."

Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.