Before students at Boulder High were even born, some of our teachers were here; shaping our community, teaching life lessons, and making memories. Teachers who remember MySpace and Twitter, who can still reminisce on the days before TikTok and Benson Boone plagued our purple and gold hallways. Teachers who have watched thousands of students grow up; our falls and our rises. While interviewing some of the longest-standing teachers at Boulder High, a few things stood out.

Insurmountable student stress has haunted our halls for as long as anyone can remember. However, the impact of social media has changed. “I’ve been through eight principals, hundreds of colleagues, and somewhere around 4500 students,” states Mr. Castleman, a physics teacher who has been teaching at BHS for thirty years. “The biggest changes I have seen have been the increasing emphasis on test scores and the effects on students’ mental health caused by social media.” 

With the technological innovations of the 21st century, other teachers agree that the student body has gotten more and more distracted. The “Age of Distracted Learners” has ushered in new rules that didn’t previously exist. New policies, new social media, and new culture have changed the way students interact with each other, for better or for worse. 

With 2025 being the 150th anniversary of Boulder High School, there is also a lot of positive Panther history that the teachers reflected on. In Mr. Castleman’s words, “We have weathered three declared wars, way too many undeclared wars, two pandemics, and four floods.” BHS has been a staple in the City of Boulder for well over a century, and some of our teachers have been there through a significant portion of it. But, even as our school and our world change, teachers remark on the constants. “I’d say the quality and the nature of the students have really stayed the same,” states Mr. Trinkner, history and economics teacher. 

Even with the rise of our 21st-century mental health crisis and social-media-driven cyberbullying epidemic, English teacher Ms. Gossard believes “students have gotten kinder, nicer.” She also says, “ Boulder High has always been a really vibrant, exciting place to teach because students can find their own path… I think that is what is so special about it.”

Throughout our staff, especially the longest-standing teachers, there is an immense sense of pride. Ms. Speckl, a math teacher, has been teaching at Boulder High for twenty-five years, and says, “The core of Boulder High School is the incredibly talented students and devoted teachers and staff, and that essence has remained the same.”

With this school year being the 150th anniversary of Boulder High, Mr. Castleman’s words sum up the intense historical and cultural impact this year has: “As I like to say, we were built to last.”