Matching T-shirts a visual reminder of this year's theme

Sept. 9, 2025 / Bonanza students started the new school year with matching “Serve” T-shirts, a visual reminder of the value their schools hope to instill: making their school, community, and world a better place.

Each year, Bonanza Jr./Sr. High School Principal Jordan Osborn and the Bonanza leadership team select a theme to guide students and staff. This year’s theme, Serve, encourages students to embrace a service mindset — whether that means helping a classmate, pitching in to keep the campus clean, or contributing to the wider community.

“We’re really trying to build a service mindset with our students to make the school better, the community better, and inevitably, the world better,” Osborn said. “When our kids leave Bonanza, we want them to go out in the world and make it a better place. If we don’t teach that in schools, we’re missing the boat.”

The service theme is more than just words on a shirt. Every junior high student now takes a service learning class designed to help them practice responsibility and compassion in everyday life. “If we have a spill in the hallway, we don’t call a custodian—our kids clean it up,” Osborn explained. “That’s one small example of serving and taking responsibility for what we have.”

Bonanza’s annual themes began seven years ago when Osborn became principal. Past themes include How Ya Livin’, All In, Bo-Town Pride, Be Better, We Believe, and We Work. The tradition also provides high school marketing students a chance to design the T-shirts each spring, providing them with real-world experience and ownership of the message.

The culture of service isn’t limited to the junior/senior high school. Bonanza Elementary students also received T-shirts, making the theme a K-12 effort. Vice Principal Josh Crawford and Elementary Principal Jessica DeLonge join Osborn in leading the initiative. DeLonge said it's important for the elementary students to be a part of serving their community. "Service learning empowers young minds to see that even small hands can make a big difference," she said.

Osborn added, “We hope that by modeling service as leaders, the message trickles down to everyone — the kids, the staff, and the community.”