On Friday, Oct. 11, the Summit High School Boys varsity football team took down Bend High School with a score of 21-6 in a game players, coaches, students and parents across Bend fervently anticipated. 

With kick-off at 7 pm and a tailgate for Summit students, tensions and pressure arose, immediately torn down as players rushed through a sign hand-crafted by Summit cheerleaders. A student sang a quick national anthem interrupted with students shouting “storm” over “brave,” and the game was no longer about sports.

Storm football went in winning and that intimidation played the game for them. Bend showed up but not necessarily out. Was the win predetermined?

Before the opening of Summit in 2001, Bend was the top dog, or in this case, the top bear. With the majority of students in Bend, Oregon attending the school, its domination was in the name. It was Bend’s high school. Sure others existed, but Mountain View was a small, “country” school and no one even considered the existence of private academy sports. 

Not only did Bend High’s reign end in 2001, but according to Bend residents, humor and affordable housing also faced its death. Money-soaked development leaked into the Deschutes National Forest and Cascade mountains. Now known as Tetherow, Broken Top and Aubrey Butte, famous athletes, actors and business entrepreneurs moved in and their nepotism flowed into the nearby school. To them, they were the Summit of the town.

Of course, with big houses and big people comes big funding. Sports teams began to get more attention, more uniforms and more over-invested parents. With this money tide came the rise of the rivalry.

“I kind of think that it brings that drive to win and like the friendly banter between friends at different schools too,” said Bend Senior High School student Nathaniel Guthrie.

Twenty-three years later, the two high schools continue their not so friendly tug-of-war. 

“I feel like a lot of the rivalry just stems from people not liking people at that specific school, so it’s kind of just like if you beat people you don’t like, then you feel good about yourself,” said Bend High sophomore Caitlin Mingus.

Student sections at games are continuously bashed and banned for offensive and insensitive chants, in the eyes of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) board. To Bend High students, “daddy’s money” is just a statement of fact with a catchy ball-game tune. Now banned by faculty, the chant targeted both Summit’s advantage— money—and its weakness— parental corruption.

“Honestly the main thing that is the stereotype is the chants and how different each of the schools kind of do the chants, the difference between them and the difference between how people perceive the chants,” Mingus said.

Still, some banter slides past administration. Summit’s notorious game theme “Bear Hunt” can be seen rushing the stands drenched in camo, fur and eye black. 

“I love camo out, and I love dressing in camo,” said Summit High senior Claire Coughenour.

It appeared the theme was too clever to where Bend High wore pink in support of breast cancer research. When asked about the most significant aspect of the game, student Ronin Osmon simply liked the color scheme.

“Wearing my fire fit. Let’s see. I got the pink shorts, I got a pink shirt, I got another pink shirt and I got one more pink shirt. I got a pink bandanna and I got a pink hood,” said Osmon.

School spirit was evident, but not merely materialized in attire.

“I’m just savoring the game because it’s my last year of high school and this is our biggest game,” said Coughenour. “I think that it’s always the most fun, we all have a good time.” 

It seems spirit and stigma take over the game, to where fans turn their attention away from the actual football on the field unless a player scores in their favor. To high school students and the occasional middle schooler, Bend football is all just fun and games.

“They’ve always been super high energies, super just everybody shows up. Everybody shows out,” said Summit senior Lucie Reynolds.

Between Bend and Summit, it’s war.

The post Yet Another Summit vs. Bend Varsity Game appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.

It’s a lifestyle that continues into adulthood: look like you care and you’re a saint. The student who donates their Saturday mornings and fast-fashion clothing to Goodwill is a messiah. With a modern American education system, accomplishments and early entrance into society lead to success—or acceptance into college.

Blossoming National Junior Honors Society members join any club that offers free candy and a promise of success. As soon as orientation opens the doors to high school, overcommitted freshmen flood the halls. Students form misleading ambitions that shorten their sleep schedules and attention spans. Their Serpent? Each other. The Forbidden Fruit? Transcript padding.

Any volunteering that takes the least time, inner-school functions and popular extracurriculars lure those who want to excel. According to Prepory, a college-preparatory website, students should aim for between 50 to 200 hours of volunteering to bolster their application

On paper, these students appear like well-rounded, good-hearted real advocates for their community. But true intent never translates well on a résumé. A majority of students claim they have a passion or simply care for well-being, still, acceptance and validation are always a motivation. 

Sacrificing unconventional activities for requirements can often be necessary to pass advanced courses. Advanced classes like AP and IB—Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, respectively—often require extracurriculars outside of school, fitfully known as CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) for IB.

“I have found that CAS is more about documentation than initiative,” said Sam Massari, a Bend Senior High student. “I don’t think that reflects the effectiveness of CAS as much as it shows that individuals who are IB Diploma candidates often have other interests that they are passionate about.”

Organizations, programs and projects seek out dedication from students that appear to have a  large stack of interests. The more a student can fill their schedule, the more opportunities open up—an influence that pushes students to prefer the more obtainable, flashy programs.

The Bend Food Project is a nonprofit organization that feeds families of Central Oregon. With a smaller staff, they appreciate support from the community, and would love some more from adolescent advocates.

“My husband delivers the green bags from our neighborhood early on the designated day and has not seen any teens or youth involved in accepting the bags,” said Rita Weick, a Bend Food Project member.

After high school, young adults as a group were less active in community service. Forty-four percent of young adults volunteered in high school in 2015 compared to thirty-three percent in 2023.

“[Required hours] definitely do take away from volunteering because then it feels like it’s a number you have to do instead of something you really want to do,” said Esi Voelz, Summit student and Interact Club board member. “It takes away passion and just the heart out of volunteering.”

According to a National Center for Education Statistics report, 38 percent of student’s participation in community work was strictly voluntary compared to 17 percent which was strongly encouraged by someone else. Seven percent of participation was required for class, and nine percent was required for other reasons.

“One of my core values is giving back,” Voelz said. “That wasn’t required [for Interact Club] so many people would want to do volunteering because it would just be from their heart instead of a need to do it.” Compared to the many disingenuous high school volunteers out there, perspectives like Voelz’s show the true reasons behind community service work. Hopefully, in the future, more students will share that mentality. 

The post Be Involved, Look Involved appeared first on Obsidian News | Oregon Youth Voices.