Junior Madalyn Danley Butler was inspired to wear jewelry and wanted to fit in after seeing so many other people wearing jewelry and looking pretty. The one she saw the most in beautiful jewelry was her mom, who also passed down some of her own to her daughter.
Danley Butler wears all her jewelry both inside and outside of school, alternating between a couple of her pieces from day to day. But she saves her best pieces for the most special of occasions, like a fancy dinner.
Danley Butler’s favorite piece of jewelry is a necklace with a pendant she received from the funeral home with her pawpaw’s ashes inside it after he passed away in January 2024. On the necklace, the words “with me always” are engraved.
“It makes me feel closer to him and that he’s always with me as well, and that he’s still here with me,” Danley Butler said.
Danley Butler’s mom, however, didn’t receive a similar piece of jewelry. Because her mom knew that she couldn’t handle wearing him around her neck without breaking down crying.
Danley Butler’s favorite memory with her pawpaw was him coming to see her for her 13th birthday as a surprise, which was unexpected since he lived far away from her.
”He’s always been there for me, and since I don’t have a dad,” Danley Butler said. “He was always there for me whenever I needed him. He was one of the best pawpaws ever.”
Sophomore Myla Harris treasures the meaningful jewelry her family and friends give her.
“A lot of them are from my mom, so it’s family-oriented and it symbolizes my relationship with them,” Harris said.
One of her most unique pieces is a bracelet that allows her to track one whale shark using an app on her phone called Fahlo.
Harris has an obsession with whale sharks and was so excited when she found she could get a bracelet and track a real one. In November, the whale shark she was tracking was swimming off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
“I have an emotional connection with that whale shark,” Harris said.
Harris’s friend, junior Piper Robert, gifted Harris her favorite piece of jewelry – a necklace to fidget with when she gets anxious.
“My necklace is a little coffin with a skeleton in it,” Harris said. “My friend gave this to me because when I’m anxious, I mess with my skin on my neck, and so she gave this to me as something to fidget with.”
Another one of her favorite pieces of jewelry is a charm bracelet, since generations of her family before her have also had charm bracelets. Her grandma has a charm bracelet that weighs “like five pounds,” Harris said. She hopes hers continues to expand to be like that someday.
“I only take it off when I have to dance,” Harris said. “I shower with it, I go to the lake with it, I never ever take it off. It’s one of the most precious pieces to me, I think just because of how much meaning each one has.”
Sophomore Tyler Pavlicek first got into wearing jewelry because both his sister and parents wear jewelry, so he decided he wanted to try some of his own. He started with rings, but he eventually started wearing earrings and getting more piercings over time, totaling six piercings and six rings as of now.
The first ring he ever owned was a ring with a lightning bolt on it from James Avery.
On his 16th birthday, he was gifted a pair of spiked earrings, which he now wears to school.
Some of Pavlicek’s jewelry is connected to Mayan culture, which he has a deep interest in. Though his collection of Mayan jewelry isn’t that vast, it is more expensive than you would think, especially pieces made out of obsidian.
One of Pavlicek’s pieces of Mayan jewelry is a necklace that he wears to school. His necklace is a deer, which is his Mayan astrology sign.
His other necklace is a violin, the instrument he’s been playing for about six years. Pavlicek is in the sinfonia orchestra. Seeing so many other people playing it inspired Pavlicek to pick up the instrument himself, with a little bit of piano on the side.
“I see people play it so many times, I was like ‘I want to play,’ but I’m also doing piano too,” Pavlicek said
One thing that he is missing out on and wishes he had is a helix piercing, especially after seeing so many others with it. “I see some people have them. I really want that one. I’m hoping I can try to get it,” Pavlicek said.
Pavlicek’s favorite piece of jewelry is his priceless bracelet, which actually acts as an urn for his grandpa’s ashes. On the bracelet, the words “Your wings were ready, my heart was not” are engraved.
“I cannot get rid of it, and I feel like if I don’t wear it, I’m missing a part of me, so I have to keep it with me at all times,” Pavlicek shares.
Junior Claire Slaydon has a collection of meaningful jewelry, most of which was passed down to her from her late great-grandma.
Wearing her great-grandma’s jewelry helps Slaydon still feel connected to her memory.
“I’ve been told I look like her,” Slaydon said, “so sometimes wearing her jewelry helps remind me of her.”
Within the past two years, Slaydon has worn an assortment of jewelry, including, but not limited to, earrings, necklaces, lockets, pendants, bracelets and rings.
“I just recently got into wearing a whole lot of jewelry, and I think it makes it (life) more whimsical and fun,” Slaydon said.
Her favorite piece of jewelry is something she bought for herself — a gold heart-shaped locket that has a picture of her loved ones in it.
“I was eyeing it for years, and now I have my family in there,” Slaydon said. “I love it so much.”
Her jewelry serves a purpose beyond just being an accessory. Her fidget rings also help her out when she’s stressed.
“It helps me focus when I’m nervous,’ Slaydon said. “Even when it’s not there, I’ll be [reaching for it], hoping it’s there but it’s not.”
About a year ago, senior Jayden Hansen was not planning on getting his ears pierced, but when he was at the mall one day with his dad, he spontaneously decided that he wanted earrings. Hansen’s dad has had earrings previously and when he asked him he was not opposed to it.
“I was walking around with my dad and I saw the earring stand and just asked my dad, and he was okay with it so I got them,” said Hansen.
His friends and family did not have much of a reaction when they saw him because many of his friends already had earrings.
“Some of the guys on my basketball team already have them, so they didn’t really care when I got them, ”said Hansen.
Hansen usually sticks to the same earrings, silver studs, and he has only two sets of earrings at the moment, but he is not opposed to getting more.
“I have these that I’m wearing now, and I have smaller ones”. Hansen said,”Yeah I would get more if they were expensive and good.”
Ever since Hansen got the earrings he has been wearing them frequently. He has never had any regrets on getting them and feels like they suit him well.
“I wear my earrings every day, and I’ll only really take them off if I have practice or a game or something else,” said Hansen,“I feel weird if I don’t have them, I think I look different without them.”
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