An annual event in Perry will have a new name when it returns next month.

The Perry School Board approved changing the name of the Perry Band Olympics to the Kinney-Cook Perry Band Olympics during Monday’s meeting.

Kari Allen, a Perry High School graduate from the Class of 1996, submitted a letter to the board and gave a presentation on Monday.

Perry will host the 42nd Annual Perry Band Olympics on Feb. 21. Allen proposed changing the name to recognize the efforts of Jerry Kinney and Steve Cook.

She said Kinney, who taught in Perry during the early 1980s, created the Band Olympics to give students an opportunity to compete at a contest they otherwise may not have been able to attend. 

Allen added that Cook continued the Band Olympics tradition after taking over the instrumental position at Perry in the late 1980s. Cook led the Perry Band Olympics for 38 years and continues to be involved in the event. 

Allen detailed that the annual event draws over 1,000 students and parents to Perry High School to compete each year.