Fat Bear Week 2025

This is Burke’s fifth year voting for the fattest bears. Lower School Science Specialist Elizabeth McDonald started sharing Fat Bear Week with Burke’s during the pandemic, and it has been a hit among the Burke’s community ever since. 

Fat Bear Week is an annual event organized by the park rangers at Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska, where they put on a March Madness-style bracket for brown bear fans around the world to vote for the fattest bear in the park. This event is a way to celebrate the resilience, adaptability, and strength of Katmai’s brown bears.

“I look forward to Fat Bear Week all year!” Ms. McDonald shared. “It’s not only a great way to think about how adaptations help animals survive—it’s also really joyful. I love seeing students read the bears’ biographies and debate who should win: the roundest bear or the largest bear? The bear that grew the most, or one that overcame some hardship this summer and still prevailed? Just like there are 400 ways to be a Burke’s girl, there are many ways to be a Fat Bear!”

Over the course of the week, Lower Schoolers learned important lessons about Katmai’s ecosystem, their bears and histories, and why bears need fat during the winter. Additionally, students realized the importance—and fun—in voting. Each morning, Lower Schoolers gathered around the front bulletin board to keep up with the latest bracket winners and eliminations. Burke’s students, parents, faculty, and staff alike cast their final votes on Tuesday, September 30, at a “polling place” as they arrived on campus. 

The crowned champion, 32 Chunk, was revealed during the Lower School Assembly on Wednesday, and Lower Schoolers celebrated by singing bear-related songs.