Even in an institution where learning is the ultimate goal and aspects of character are points that are being enforced regularly, it’s not just the students who are learning life lessons. “What I just lived through has shaped me definitely. My faith has always been strong, but you really start reevaluating who you are,” Activities Director (AD) Bucky Mieras said.

“This is not an every-day behavior. That’s the thing; I don’t want one incident to define who I am,” Mieras said.

Last May after a busy work day and a dinner with friends, Mieras chose to drive himself home even though he had had drinks with dinner, something he now knows was not in his best judgment.

“I’m not going to hide from it. I’m not going to try and lie about it. I made a gross mistake – a huge error in judgment, and I think that’s the thing that bothers me the most. I own it,” Mieras said.

According to Mieras, while he was driving home on May 11, he reached for his phone that had dropped to the floor of the car and swerved. That is when he was pulled over for driving under the influence by police.

“The hard part with alcohol, and I mean this and it’s what I really had to find out, is that it impairs your judgment. It makes you think maybe you can do things that you can’t,” Mieras said.

This is something that he has been enforcing with kids for years, but he never fully understood the ramifications until he was the one making the poor choice.

“I was in a situation I shouldn’t have been in. Period and end of story. I knew it was wrong and I still did it. Why? Till this day I don’t know,” Mieras said.

“I know for a fact that this is an isolated incident, a wrong decision to be sure, but he is paying a price right now in lots of very real ways,” High School Principal Dave Benson said.“Let’s just say that no one is immune from what life brings. Life can be hard, disappointing, too real. It happens though. What matters is how people respond to reality. Bucky is owning it and striving to make his experience work for the betterment of students and families.”

Since the incident, Mieras has been to court for hearings to learn his sentence: he paid a fine of $12,000 and was found guilty of a misdemeanor DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). In addition to these legal ramifications, Mieras was also disciplined by the school district, serving a 5-day unpaid suspension last May.

Benson has been a strong supporter of Mieras since the beginning of his career at Orono. “Everyone deserves some grace from others in a situation like this. Bucky too, perhaps more so because of his true commitment to Orono. I have complete confidence in him,”

“An important measure of our character is how we behave when we make a mistake – how we apologize and our restorative behavior, and also how we forgive when someone else makes a mistake,” Dr. Karen Orcutt, Superintendent of Orono Public Schools, said in support of Mieras.

“I am thankful and I am fortunate that I got a redo, to be honest,” Mieras said. “A lot of people don’t. Drinking and driving can destroy a community; it can destroy a family.”

Moving forward, Mieras wants to make sure that he will never make the same mistake twice, and to ensure that is the case, he is taking measures to improve himself for the sake of his own safety, and the safety of others. “On my own I went through a chemical health assessment and attended a driving class,” Mieras said.

Along with those steps, he said he is taking what he has learned and applying it to what he does as the activities director.

“I don’t blame anyone but myself and I think going through that is going to help me when I talk to the students about owning it and moving forward,” Mieras said. “If there’s anything I can do, it’s working with the high school students. I have been there now, and maybe my perspective can help.”

Closure is the next step for Mieras and he plans to do that this year by moving on and applying those life lessons into all aspects of his life. “I have got to look forward and I have a plan,” Mieras said.

More Than This Incident

Mieras grew up in Indiana and quickly became a lifelong Notre Dame fan. “I had to choose early who to root for! If I cheered for Notre Dame I got steak, but if I cheered for Purdue or someone else I got hot dogs!” Mieras said.

He earned his teaching degree at Winona State and started as a physical education teacher at Orono Middle School in 1999. He reflected on his beginnings in the district: “Doug Erickson is the reason I found a job at Orono, and I am so thankful that I didn’t take another job because I just love what I do here,” he said.

“I hired Bucky 15 years ago when we were both at OMS. I knew I was hiring someone I could rely on forever. I have always trusted him and he has never let me down. Never,” Benson said.

Choosing an administrative path over teaching was a difficult choice, but Mieras said he saw the opportunity to impact students from a wider perspective as an administrator. He pursued and achieved his administrative licence in 2005 through the college of St. Mary’s at the Minneapolis Campus. Then he served as Dean of Students at Orono Middle School for three years.

While at the MS, he met and fell in love with Ronda Paulus, now Mieras, and the two have been married for 10 years. In that time they have had two kids, who are both students in the Orono district. Mieras said he loves the community, and is thankful to be serving the district he loves.

When longtime HS Activities Director Steve Fedie retired from the position in 2008, Mieras saw an opportunity to impact even more students in this role. Mieras was chosen over many exceptional candidates as the new AD the same year. Still, he missed coaching in this new role, so he returned to be the OHS varsity baseball coach in 2013.

When it comes to his time at Orono, Mieras said he finds true joy in helping the kids here and spending time coordinating sporting events. “I love sporting events and I love seeing our kids compete because I know how hard they work. Win or lose its okay. Our athletes are highly motivated in school and they are highly motivated in their sport,” Mieras said.

The Big Picture

“You have to look at the big picture. What I chose to be important that night is not what is important to me at all, but I made that choice and it has reminded me the importance of the big picture,” Mieras said.

What Mieras sees as the big picture involves his job and his wife and kids, who mean the world to him.

“The big picture isn’t a volleyball game, a softball game, or a football game; that’s just an event. The big picture is what we are trying to do at large. It is important to know that we all make mistakes – and I made a gross mistake, but I am also going to move forward and I am learning from my past,” Mieras said.

“I care about the kids here; I care about the community. I love working here and I love the teachers, the kids; just everything every day,” Mieras said. “I’m so sorry for what I did and I just want to work hard to gain everyone’s trust back.”