Aspen High School may look modern from the outside, but from the inside, it is full of a culture of its own. National Geographic should document the wild actions passed down from class to class. Day after day, period after period, the habits do not change and will not change.

We go to AHS, of course we lie about going to the bathroom and come back to class with five bags of chips from the cafe. A Gatorade also if they felt bold.

We go to AHS, of course teachers want snow days as much as the students do. After putting a spoon under your pillow and your pajamas inside out, you see the entire school in the lift line the next morning.

We go to AHS, of course we gather in the commons during passing periods and stand in a huddle with our friends. Strictly in this order; seniors by the windows, juniors on the window side of the center tables, sophomores on the other side of the tables, and freshmen by the doors. No one established this pattern, it just happened naturally.

We go to AHS, of course we leave class to take “laps” around the school, hoping to see someone we know.

We go to AHS, of course we ski during our free periods or during our delayed starts before school.

We go to AHS, it is a tradition for juniors to kill over the fifteen available rim spots. Be there 45 minutes before school to get a spot, the earlier the better.

We go to AHS, of course there are random chair shortages in the commons. Is someone hiding them? We don’t know.

We go to AHS, of course the classroom temperatures are not predictable. One day, you will be shedding layers in Biology, then putting them all back on the second you enter the commons.

We go to AHS, of course everyone is fueled by Big Wrap. Aspen High School runs on Big Wrap. It is normal for students to call in their order during class. These are the students who single-handedly keep Babs in business.

We go to AHS, of course we still talk about the bird flu of 2023. No one will forget the months of Spring when Brent Maiolo and Sarah Benson raised chickens in the science lab, then moved them into the courtyard to be “free range

All of this may seem foreign to people at Basalt High School. However, to our students, this is just another day at Aspen High School. A culture practiced by 500 minors.