Braden River High School receives Chick-fil-A cow

Braden River High's newest student isn't wasting any time building her reputation.

A class clown, she always sits at the back of Dan McLean's history and student government classes. She lifts in the weight room whenever she wants and she crashes volleyball games after school. 

Her first day at the school was Sept. 22, and since she has landed a spot on the cheerleading squad. She already has 104 Twitter followers after creating the account just a few weeks ago.

"She's really outgoing and sporty," Student Government Association President Blake Middleton said. "Everyone loves Clumpy."

Clumpy is a stuffed cow the Student Government Association received from Chick-fil-A a few weeks ago after Braden River won a decorating and money-raising competition against Lakewood Ranch High School at the fast food chain restaurant.

The school received 20% of the dollars it raised from patrons eating at Chick-fil-A. Braden River received $2,100 to use for programs at the school.

And the students received a new friend.

Each day, one of the 82 SGA students takes a turn bringing Clumpy home for the night. Because of her growing popularity, the students felt the fairest way to decide who takes Clumpy home is to start at the end of the alphabet, Middleton said.

But she always has a place to crash for the night.

"It gets really dark in the classroom at night," McLean said. "So she doesn't like to sleep here alone."

The idea piggybacks on the National Hockey League tradition of letting players take turns bringing home their team's Stanley Cup after winning the trophy.

Although Clumpy sometimes sneaks to other parts of campus, teachers aren't letting her miss too much class time.

"It's important that she's a well-rounded cow," McLean said. "She needs her education, too;. She can't just party all day."

She isn't exempt from the school's identification badge policy.

Clumpy sports a Braden River shirt, eye patch and her badge when she isn't carrying pom-pons at a football game.

Although Braden River won the Spirit Week competition this year, that doesn't mean Clumpy always will call the school her home.

If Lakewood Ranch wins next year, Clumpy will be forfeited to Braden River's rival for the rest of the school year.

"We'd hate to lose Clumpy," Middleton said.

If you aren't a student at Clumpy's school, you might still see her around.

Steak 'n Shake and IHOP are two of her favorite restaurants, which she considers to be five-star spots, Middleton said. She also loves watching Netflix and floating on rafts in her friends' pools.

Clumpy will also soon have an Instagram account, which Middleton will manage on her behalf.

"She loves to make new friends wherever she goes," Middleton said. 

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].