The rock, which was painted green in remembrance of Sophomore Sam Lewandoski, who died on January 3, 2012, was painted over white with the saying “This is not the Rock” for the Clue Game this year. And some students are not happy with it.
The Clue Game returned to BHS for its third year, and this time the focus of the game revolves around The Rock being stolen. What was merely supposed to be a minor joke with the game turned out to create a huge conflict. For some students, seeing the rock repainted took away from the memory of the everyday routine of looking at Sam’s name when they pull into the parking lot in the morning.
“I don’t like it. I nearly teared up at the thought of Sam being covered up,” said Sophomore Bryce Bishop.
“I cried when I saw it. I couldn’t believe his name was covered up,” said Sophomore Jessie McMullen.
The Clue Game, normally a popular game in the school, is being affected by the rock painting.
“I’m not the happiest about it being painted for this event. But I think that the people who were close to him, this will affect their choice if they place a guess or not. A lot of people are upset about what happened,” said Sophomore Cassie Bunkers.
“The Clue Game is a fun activity. But this year I’m not as into it, because of the rock thing,” said McMullen.
Spring sports are starting and graduation coming up. To some students, those topics seem to be more suitable causes for the rock to be painted.
“I thought that the rock would eventually be painted over, but I just expected it to last most of the year. I think I would be more ok with it if it was something to do with sports going to State or seniors 2011-2012,” said Bunkers.
As the school year goes on and draws closer to an end, the rock will be painted over for many things. And students may still be upset about it for whatever or whenever it’s repainted.
“I am in the middle of this. I agree that it should have been painted over because it’s been so long but I think it could have been painted better to show more respect. It’s stupid that people are starting drama over a rock. It’s just a rock and a few squirts of paint,” said Sophomore Jake Willmert.
by Maggie Walstrom and Kirsten Kaufman
I totally understand where those students are coming from, but it was going to get painted over eventually, not sure what I think, but it was obviously not meant to be disrespectful, they will always have the memory of Sam in them and from other things.
i agree with the students who say, it was a reminder every morning. I think alot of us just weren’t ready for it to be painted over.. of course we knew it was going to happen sometime but i think alot of us were hoping it would take longer. Of course the rock is for the whole school to use and it’s a super cool way of expressing stuff and bringing people together but i just don’t think everyone was fully ready to let sam get painted over.
Great story! Good job on not taking a side on this story as a writer.
I can understand where students are coming from. I get that Sam was loved by a lot of students and teachers in this school. I also think that having a reminder everyday that he’s not with us anymore can almost be harder on students who were affected by this tragedy. At some point the rock was going to painted over. It wasn’t going to stay like that forever and as hard as this is for people they have to try to coupe and go on with their daily routine and lives. I’m not saying Sam will ever be forgotten or that people should try to forget what happened. That’s not the message I’m trying to get across at all. I just think that people will have to preserve the memory that they have of Sam and they don’t need a rock to do that.
I was friends with Jon Kramnic, and my friends and I paint the rock for him, but we know it’s not going to be on there forever. There are other activities and students that get to use the rock. I get that it is really hard losing someone, but the rock can be painted by anyone, and they have done this clue game for three years now. I’m not trying to be disrespectful towards Sam because I’m not, but the rock has been painted over when people painted it for Jon, Brandon, Tyler, Mr. Sonju and others that have passed away throughout the many years at Buffalo High School.
I think the thing that mostly bothered us, was that it was painted over for a dumb reason. “Who stole the rock?” Really, you could have painted over it something important. We all knew it would be painted over, but not for something like that.