During what should have been a time of celebration, high school student Sarianne Beronja found herself caught in a battle over whether she could express her faith during graduation.
This past spring, Arrowhead High School in Merton, Wisconsin, blocked Beronja from including either a Bible verse or a reference to God in the slideshow at her graduation ceremony. While other students were allowed to quote secular figures, such as Taylor Swift and Kurt Vonnegut, the school told her shortly before the ceremony that Bible verses didn’t adhere to school policy.
The school’s superintendent, Conrad Farner, defended the decision, claiming the graduation slideshow featuring each student and facts about them was considered school-sponsored speech. In a letter addressing the matter, he referred to the 1998 Supreme Court ruling Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier as evidence that schools have the right to “restrict and otherwise control school-sponsored expressive activities.” He also argued that it was a “legally appropriate” policy designed to prevent “controversial statements.”
Beronja’s “controversial statement” was Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
She told IW Features she “picked out that quote because I felt like it related to my high school experience. It was a reminder of how God had been there for me.”
But when she submitted the request ahead of the graduation ceremony, the school’s associate principal contacted her, stating she couldn’t use the verse. When she responded with an alternative line, “All thanks to God for being beside me through these last four years,” she was once again denied.
Beronja said she wasn’t notified of the denial until 11:46 p.m. the night before her graduation ceremony, which she claims felt like an intentional way for the school to quietly disregard the issue.
While the district insists it has maintained a consistent policy prohibiting students from making “political or religious” references during the graduation slideshow, district records obtained by IW Features show otherwise. In 2025, five students thanked God on their slides, and two students included Bible verses on their slides.
When asked about this in an email exchange with Beronja’s mother, Lora Engel, Superintendent Farner claimed it was because the school’s “expectation was not emphasized as strongly” in the past. He also bizarrely said Beronja’s verse could lead other students to make comments about “Satanic worship and Hitler being a god.”
Farner cited the school’s Policy 7261, which states, “The District itself… shall retain final discretion and final authority to determine which displays and postings the District and its employees and agents may display or post in student environments,” including displays that suggested the district was “endorsing or advocating against any religion or religious doctrine.” Beronja’s statement thanking God was far from an endorsement of Christianity from Arrowhead.
However, Beronja and her mother argued that her statement thanking God was far from an official endorsement of Christianity by the school, and that there should be space for respectful acknowledgments of faith.
Beronja and Engel attended the next school board meeting to make these points. During the meeting, Beronja addressed the school board, stating that “to be told that I had to strip away part of who I am feels like a rejection of my journey.” She said that she was extremely “hurt” by the school’s decision, but she wanted to stand strong.
In Engel’s address to the school board, she also mentioned that just weeks before, Arrowhead had allowed students to perform religious selections at a choir concert, including the song “My Lord What a Morning.” Additionally, she mentioned that footage from recent school board meetings showed that the meetings had begun with prayer.
The inconsistent application of a vague school policy “felt selectively applied,” said Engel.
“I didn’t want my daughter to think it was wrong to stand up for something she believes in,” Engel said. “Standing by your convictions isn’t always easy, and expressing one’s faith can come with challenges.”
Despite their boldness, the mother-daughter duo has yet to hear back from the school district—or the school board.
“It was heartwrenching to stand there in a room full of adults and have to defend my faith,” said Beronja.
Still, she said she was glad to do it, hoping that in the future other kids won’t have to feel ashamed of their faith or their relationship with God.
