The Benson Orbit

The Benson Orbit has been taking their time to properly report on this situation. Through our research process, we have discovered that others are not doing the same.

A Statement from our Editors Regarding the Chemical Spill Situation at Benson Polytechnic Highschool By now, we know the basics: on September 8th, a student caused a chemical spill at Benson Polytechnic High School, which ended up with students evacuating the building, and said student, who is now expected to survive, being hospitalized in critical condition. This incident undoubtedly caused ripple...

TriMet is preparing to make major service cuts throughout its entire system to alleviate a budget deficit, which will have a large impact on students’ commute to and from school starting August 23rd.

Missing the Bus: How TriMet Service Cuts Will Affect Benson Students TriMet is currently on the verge of a fiscal cliff. As of May 20th, a $224 Million budget gap needs to be closed before May 2029. Because of this, starting on August 23, a mere three days before the new school year starts for PPS students, a total of 33 bus lines, along with the...

Adora Tran shares her experience running for rose princess, and her contributions to the community.

A New Rose Princess Blossoms at Benson For decades, the rose princess has been an important tradition, with a rose princess selected from Portland-Metro area high schools every year, including from Benson. This year, Adora Tran, a junior at Benson, had the honor of being selected, being chosen from student and rosarian vote. Tran was ins...

The Benson Orbit recently became aware of a serious ethics violation in an article about the Benson swim team published on February 20th, 2026. Our investigation confirmed that multiple quotes in the story were fabricated by a staff reporter and falsely attributed to swimmer Marley Best Brown.

Trust is the foundation of journalism. While the fabricated quotes were not substantial, it does not change how we view this incident; our community trusts us to report the truth, and making up information fundamentally violates that trust. It jeopardizes the credibility of all of our work, not just the single story where this occurred.

We take our integrity extremely seriously. Upon learning about this incident, we immediately retracted the story, and removed the individual responsible from our staff. The story was co-authored by a second reporter, Kynzee Ferguson, who was unaware of the fabrication and remains on staff. Before we knew about this incident, we had already updated our editorial process to require verification of interviews before publication, preventing this kind of issue in the future.

We apologize to Marley, who quotes were falsely attributed to, the swim team as a whole, and our audience at large. We are committed to accuracy in our journalism, and will always be transparent when we make a mistake.

— Editors Nick Oates, Zahra Faruqui, and Zayd Faruqui

As Portland Public Schools faces a $50 million budget cut next year, the pressure falls on Principal Wilson to decide what stays, what goes, and how to minimize the impact on Benson Tech.

How Principal Wilson Is Navigating PPS’s $50 Million Budget Cut As a $50 million budget cut looms over Portland Public Schools, principals across the district have to make some tough calls about next school year. What programs will be cut? What will the impact on students be? Who will lose their job? At Benson Polytechnic High School, the pressure of those diffi...

Gabi Trimble loves wrestling, but wrestling for Benson was not a positive experience. From never having a partner to practice with to breaking a collarbone, Benson Wrestling was not a safe space for her.

Benson Wrestler Shares Her Experience with Sexism “I felt isolated,” said senior Benson wrestler Gabi Trimble. Even though she’s been wrestling for her whole high school career, has made it to state three times, and has found joy in the challenge on the mat, she was also one of only two girls — sometimes the only girl — on the Benson Wres...

Gender neutral bathrooms are meant to be inclusive, but when they’re so vandalized that they’re unusable, what can we do?

Benson’s Bathrooms Need to Change “Once I was in the stall, and I heard this guy next to me go into the stall, grunt, then [he] pi**ed all over the wall… After he left, I got curious and I peered into the stall.” Liz Gonzales Burns was horrified from what she witnessed. “THERE WAS P*E ALL OVER THE WALLS OF...

With a freeze on the budget, and materials starting to dwindle, how is CTE at Benson handling it?

Beyond Paper, CTE Struggles to Get What It Needs At Benson Polytechnic High School, about a third of students go into Health Occupations, one of three Career Technical Education (CTE) academies at the school. Students get to use X-ray machines, a fully equipped simulation room, and, at the end, get real, professionally recognized certifications. B...

Find out what Benson’s majors, clubs, and other programs have to offer at the 103rd Tech Show, happening this Thursday and Friday, April 16th & 17th, from 6-9 pm!

📍 Benson Polytechnic High School
🗺️ 546 NE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97232
📆 This Thursday/Friday April 16th & 17th
🕕 6-9pm
🆓 Free to attend!

Everything Happening at Benson’s 2026 Tech Show Tech show. It’s Benson’s biggest nights of the year, the “one time that is really, truly, genuinely worth it coming and checking out everything,” according to Radio teacher Jacob Patterson. But what exactly goes on at tech show that makes it so thrilling to experience? Benson Polytechnic Hig...