Flagstaff High School

Bonfire or Bust?

Ash Freyer

            On September 10th, there was a bonfire at Flagstaff High School that was hosted by the student council. There was a wide variety of activities and events which included a car bash, a performance by the color guard, as well as amazing performances from the bands at Flag High Records. The bonfire has been a staple at Flag High for multiple generations. It is said that the bonfire has been going on for at least 26 years, if not longer. Although, no one seems to have a clue when it actually started. 

This year, however, there was no fire at the bonfire, due to a safety issue because of high winds. The students wonder if this will become a recurring theme, or will there be a fire next year? A lot of students this year were really excited for a fire, but were severely disappointed. Despite this disappointment, there were many good things happening at the bonfire, including a dunk tank for teachers! One student, Mikaila Ford stated, “I wish I could dunk Mr. Steiger,” showing that a lot of students would probably love to dunk their math teachers!

The bonfire is a place for students to come together as a community, for students of all ages to come together and enjoy a fun event. The bonfire is the first big event of the school year and it is usually one of the better ones. Some of the teachers at the school wish that there were more food options. Mrs. Graham was quoted as saying, “I wish we had a taco truck.” There were very few options for food at the bonfire, only a smoothie and coffee truck, and an ice cream truck were present. More options for food could have led to there being more profit for the school. A lot of students really seemed to enjoy all the different events at the bonfire, especially the concert that Flag High Records put on. There was a huge crowd surrounding the performers as they were doing an electric performance. 

Back in the old days of the bonfire, there was a tradition where the art class would make a panther out of wood. They would throw in the bonfire to signify destroying the Coconino High Panthers. It would be a really cool tradition to bring back and would bring the students together more and give them more school spirit, as well as giving the art students a really cool project to do that would be specific to homecoming week. Bringing back old traditions would make the bonfire even better and it would make more students want to attend more school events. This could help raise more money for the school. If more clubs participate in the bonfire next year, it will be even better than before. It will also encourage more students to attend and to want to be more involved in school activities. 

If these changes are made, next year will be an amazing time, and people will adore the event. People would be excited to have new things at the bonfire, like new food options, the presence of old traditions, as well as more exciting activities to do instead of just wandering around looking at clubs. Though the drama club's henna activity was pretty cool and something new that hasn’t been done before, the students hope that there will be more things like that next year. The bonfire will hopefully continue to happen through the next many decades.