The Fat Bear Feud: Teachers Take Sides

Rivalry, Michiganders, the Blake Social Studies Department, and Bears. Normally, those things don’t go together. But in the case of the Katmai Fat Bear Week, that could be anything but true.

The Katmai Fat Bear Week is a yearly contest hosted at Katmai National Park in Southwest Alaska. During the contest, fans from around the country vote between two real, named bears, opting for who they think the “fatter bear” is in a bracket style single elimination championship.

Meet our two BHS competitors: NSL Government teacher Rebecca Taylor is represented by bear Chunk, and Psychology and NSL Government teacher Stephanie Staub is represented by Grazer. Both teachers hail from Michigan and now work side by side in the Blake Social Studies Department.

Both sides of this rivalry were interviewed to get a better understanding of their polar opposite perspectives (pun intended). Ms. Taylor has been a fan of the competition significantly longer, and for different reasons than Ms. Staub. Ms. Taylor was introduced to the Katmai Fat Bear Week a decade ago by her son as a second grader. He “has been a bear lover ever since he was…two or three years old,” Ms. Taylor described. “Pretty much all his t-shirts have a bear on him somewhere.” He picked Chunk as a favorite, and the Taylor family “have been all in for Chunk… ever since.”

“Bears don’t have ethics.”

On the other paw, Ms. Staub became interested in the contest only a few years ago. She was drawn to the contest because she likes to “look at pictures of adorable bears and their fuzzy, giant butts” and cares deeply about how the contest draws attention to the national parks, and wildlife. Her favorite bear is usually Grazer because of her “soft spot for [bears] with blonde ears,” which she claimed has no deeper Freudian psychoanalytical meaning. Sometimes a blonde bear is just a blonde bear. 

On a darker note, Ms. Staub disdains Chunk because, “in addition to winning the Fat Bear contest last year, Chunk also killed one of Grazer’s babies.” This sounds pretty bad, so the number one Chunk fan had to be confronted. In response, Ms. Taylor defended Chunk saying “The bears don’t have ethics…nature is brutal.” While baby killing is immoral to humans, “bears are gonna bear.” Ms. Taylor is devoted to the defense of Chunk, stating that “because she does not like chunk at all, [Ms. Staub is] 100% wrong, and during Bear Week, she’s my enemy,” of course, in a very tongue and cheek manner. 

This year’s rivalry has been a lot less “cantankerous” as said by Ms. Taylor. Grazer’s not competing, so Ms. Staub had to choose a different blonde bear named Marshmallow who unfortunately got “knocked out right away.” Ms. Staub is now rooting for Ms. Taylor’s new choice of bear, Backpack, but without nearly the same enthusiasm. Ms. Taylor turned to Backpack because of the tragic elimination of Chunk; he’s getting awfully old and seems past his prime. “He’s not as strong because of the broken jaw. He isn’t as fat,” said Ms. Taylor, “so who knows if he’ll make it through the winter?”

On the outskirts of the Blake Social Studies Department, other staff don’t feel as strongly about the bears. US History teacher Mr. Mendenhall stated “some [Social Studies teachers] are invested in it and some are not. Some are just ignoring, quite frankly.” 

However, sophomore Sean Richesson, a student of Ms. Taylor, showed appreciation when asked about Fat Bear Week, calling Ms. Taylor’s promotion of it “amazing and a very fun idea to bring awareness to bears.”

Since these interviews, Backpack has won the 2026 contest. In the aftermath of Fat Bear Week, both teachers had lots of thoughts on the winner. Ms. Staub, who was never crazy for Backpack, didn’t feel strongly. Though, she did wish that “a female bear won” in order to “fight the bear patriarchy.” When Ms. Taylor, who “felt good about Backpack[‘s victory],” was asked about these comments, she said she hadn’t considered them much. However, she made clear that “it’s always down with patriarchy.”

Despite this so-called rivalry between the two teachers, at the end of the day it’s a light hearted annual tradition that connects Ms. Taylor and Ms. Staub. When asked if the contest has gone too far at Blake, Mr. Mendenhall said it has always been “all in good fun.” Sean was correct to say that the Katmai Fat Bear Week “brings joys [and] promotes positivity” to the world of Social Studies at Blake.