The Hoofprint – April 20, 2007

Twenty two years ago, the school board and administration met to discuss and deter- mine a new principal to take over Buffalo High School. Unanimously, they chose Doctor Nick Miller as the best for the position. Now, over two decades later, Miller takes his leave and the same process begins once again. The school board and Miller himself com- pleted screenings and interviews with over 30 candidates, including Tom Bauman and Bob Driver. The search for a new principal began in the winter and lasted until Tuesday, April 10th. At an after school faculty meeting, su- perintendent Doctor Jim Bauck announced Assistant Principal Rick Toso as the new prin- cipal for the 2007-2008 school year. Although the position remains temporary until a suitable permanent principal is found. “It was really exciting,” said Toso. “I wasn’t actively seeking the position because I thought my time had passed. But I had no hesi- tation taking the spot.” Assistant Principal Toso has belonged to the district for 28 years and the administra- tive team for 11. During his years here he’s learned from the students and staff and built relationships with those around him, including Miller who has acted as a mentor to Toso for 22 years. “I’ll miss his direction, vision, and even some of his antics,” said Toso. “Most of my carreer was spent with him. It will be a mini grieving expierence.” Although receiving a new principal will take time to get used to, Toso is no stranger to most students and staff. With Toso’s ex- pierence and participation with decision mak- ing, punishment, and attendance allowed him to understand and help create the mood at our school. “We will be able to continue the progress and culture of our school,” said Toso. “Some- times schools get a new person with new ideas and new culture and beliefs which takes time to get used to. But were on the right path. I don’t see any need for new changes.” Principal for a year provides mixed feel- ings for Toso. Excitement being the dominant mood, anxiety finds a way in. “I had a good talk with my wife about a head coaching job I once had and how consum- ing it was. I had so much on my plate most of the days,” said Toso. “This is the ultimate coaching position with 1,700 players. All you want is to be the best you can.”

Activities Director Tom Bauman and Administrative Assistant Bob Driver submit- ted their applications, express- ing interest in becoming the new principal. “Maybe I’m crazy huh? I like this place, kids have a great opportunity to be themselves at this school,” said Bauman. “I want to go through the process and see what you students do, I don’t get a chance to see what you do because I am usual- ly bringing teams into this school and worrying about sports.” “I have aspirations to become a school leader and I think Buffalo would be the right fit for me. I believe in the direction our school is going, we have wonderful students, teachers, and admin- istration team,” said Driver. “Teachers are willing to give that extra effort to the students in learning. Buffalo’s unique; there are not too many other schools with support like ours. Respect goes both ways here. The selection pro- cess for this year started on February 14th and included over 30 applicants hoping to become the new principal. The task began with the appli- cants answering questions from the Superintendent, par- ents, administration, students and teachers. The fourth step would have been when the Superintendent made his recommendation for who he would suggest for the posi- tion, but that in fact wasn’t the case. “Some candidates we tried to recruit, and after they talked to their family, they decided it wasn’t the right thing to do {being principal}. It’s okay though, it’s all a part of filling the job,” said Bauck. Toso was actually part of the selection team and did not put in an application or show interest in the begin- ning. “The reason I didn’t ini- tially step up and say I was interested was I’m a few years away from retirement and I would expect the new princi- pal to be here for the next five, 10, 15 years,” said Toso. Although Bauman and Driver applied for the job nei- ther was selected, there are no hard feelings between the three. “If I would have known he had been interested and applied I don’t think I would have applied because he’s a really good fit,” said Bauman. “I don’t have any sour grapes over this.” “I think it’s an excellent selection, Mr. Toso is well deserving of the position,” said Driver. As for next year, the majority of students and staff expect things to stay the same, however with the new princi- pal, there are questions about how much change really will take place in the school and in which area’s will it be, such as senior privileges, academics, sports or dress code. “I think things are running so well now it’ll be hard for someone to come in and try to change anything,” said Assistant Principal Matt Lubben. In general the students agree. “I would hope that if there were any changes, they’d be minor because Mr. Miller did a great job sculpt- ing the school. If I was a prin- cipal I wouldn’t want to come in and mess things up,” said Junior Michael Lunderbrek. As for feelings of Principal Nick Miller leav- ing, everyone agrees, it’ll be an emotional and hard day. “It’s sad to see Mr. Miller retiring because he’s made such an impact on our school. I’ve learned so much more by him being a mentor for all of us,” said Driver. For students like Junior Oscar Segura, Miller’s leav- ing will be especially hard. Segura has had Miller to his house for supper, and consid- ers him a very close friend. “It started when I asked him ‘Can I join football?’ and he said ‘Yeah’ and the way he talked to me was really cool because he talked to me in a respectful way that made me respect him. Ever since that day we’ve been talking like friends,” said Segura. “It’s gonna be hard because I’m used to saying ‘What’s up?’ to him every morning, and talking to him about day-to- day stuff. He’s almost like a father or best friend to me.” Even Miller himself feels the day he walks out of here will be an emotional day. “You know it’s time. A lot of my identity lies in being a principal, you don’t want to give it up,” said Miller. “When [my last day] gets closer, I’m going to be scared to go out into the real world because this is where I come at 5:00 A.M. every morning.” The majority of the staff and students aren’t worried about how the students will react to a new principal. “Our kids here are awe- some, as long as [the princi- pal] comes in here and treats them with respect then they’ll be fine,” said Lubben. All the administrators agree: whoever is picked for principal that the students and teachers will have had a voice and be confident that there was a good selection process for picking a principal.

Spring break is a time for most students to go somewhere tropical, lie on the beach, or just relax at home. During spring break of 2006, six students chose to do something different and travel to Ocean Springs, Mississippi on a mission trip to aid the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Sophomore Miranda Cole, Jun­ ior Kandace Point, and Sophomore Jeph Sisco were among the six stu­ dents. The trip was organized last min­ ute by their youth pastor at the Presbyte­ rian Church of Buffalo about one month beforehand. They arranged two SUVs to drive south and each paid $100 for gas and other expenses. It took two days to drive from Minnesota to Mississippi. The farther south they drove from Minnesota, the more visible the damage from Katrina became. “Once we got into Ocean Springs we saw all of the wa­ ter damage. You could see seaweed on houses and buildings where the water had been up to,” said Cole. “Inside some houses there were water stains up to the ceiling.” “Trees were knocked down, and there was garbage everywhere,” said Point. “We almost started to get used to it.” Each day for the seven days that they stayed in Missis­ sippi, the group woke up around eight AM. They ate break­ fast in a cafeteria and then drove to an assigned worksite to help out for most of the day. “While raking this one person’s yard we noticed that the h o u s e next-door was horri­ ble looking from the damage. A few of us decided to go over there and ask if we could help. We ended up working there and helping [Steve] for the rest of the week,” said Point. They cleaned everything out of Steve’s house and helped him reconstruct his property by putting up drywall and insulation. “There was tons of trash and debris in his yard. It was really thick and heavy,” said Cole. “Our job was to move all of the trash to the middle of the road where others helping would get rid of it.” The volunteer work was greatly appreciated by locals. “We would walk into a grocery store and random peo­ ple would come up and hug us or tell how thankful they were that we came to help,” said Point. Even though the focus of the trip was to lend a hand to those in need, they did have time for a little fun. Outings to Sonic were a daily activity and learning new things were just as enjoyable. “What I got out of the experience? I learned how to put up sheetrock,” said Sisco. However, what they gained was more than just construction experience. “I found out how good it is to help others,” said Point. And help they did. “We went in there knowing that we would help Steve by cleaning up his yard and house, but not only did we change his life, we saved it,” said Cole

Walking through the halls there is a big difference than just 3 years ago. The school has become a lot more diverse; but along with diversity comes racism. An article ran last year in the school newspaper feeding wrong information about the minorities in our school. Because of that article Cultures United formed. “The article made me feel like we were the ones being racist. It turned me into a leader,” said Junior Oscar Sigura-Gutierrez. Some of the things that Cultures United has done has been organizing Diversity Day last year, and Teens Rock the Mic. They are also sponsoring a dance on April 20 with the arts magnet program. “Cultures United proves we can do stuff. We finally have a voice,” said Junior Johneka Patterson. Though some teachers and even students still do not see the difference; that all the races don’t receive equal treatment. “Since last years panel, teachers come up and seem a lot nicer,” said Patterson. “Although some teachers are still the same because they don’t believe there is a border in each race. They think we are just overreacting.” This year they held another panel but instead of having it for just the teacher, they held it for students as well. “Its was so amazing, at the end a girl was crying and I didn’t know who she was but I went up and introduced myself and made a new friend.” Said Patterson, “I’m glad they responded well, something I didn’t think they would do.” Having between 13 and 16 people per panel all from different backgrounds telling the stories of their lives. Where they came from, how there old schools were compare to Buffalo, and there family lives, and social lives. “I’m glad I got to do the panel, I don’t think I will ever have a chance to do it again but now people know more about me,” said Junior Isaiah White. Sometimes fears are what push people away from getting to know others. “I feel some teachers will just laugh with me, because they are afraid of me. My dad told me that he got told that if there is an issue at the school involving me and he gets a call he needs to come right away, because they are afraid they won’t be able to control me,” said White. “Like I might shoot up the school, they think I’m just some 6’2” gang banging killer. I’m not. That’s why I think people are afraid to approach me.” However, some students trust the teachers because they have gone out of their way to help them with school work and their family issues. “Mr. Lubben helps me and my brothers a lot. He treats us well, he once took us out of class and gave us ice-cream because we had changed our behavior and we were on time to class and respectful to teachers,” said Junior Jacob Conover. “Some other teachers like Mr. Rohl, Mr. Lepper and Mrs. Bremmer helped me out with my school work and treated me with some respect.” At school these minorities still fight stereotypes every day. “If I know some one is racist I’ll go up and have a conversation with them,” said Patterson. “I try to prove the stereotype wrong by showing them that just because I’m black I wont beat you up if you look at me wrong.” Although some students take the time to get to know the minorities others can’t get past the . . . they are used to. “One day I was walking down the hallway with my friends and some kid just jumped out of no where and said n*****,” Patterson said, “ I flipped out I didn’t even know who he was, my friends had to hold me back. I think he got suspended for 4 days but never apologized.” Some times it’s just the little things that hurt people. “When someone is pretending to talk my language like ‘chin chon chon’ it hurts but they are just trying to be funny, they don’t understand,” said Sandra Thao. Racism has many different aspects. It’s about excluding someone for any reason. “It’s the little things and the name calling that can ruin your day and for some people there whole school year,” said Segura . Cultures United is slowly breaking down the barrier that divides students. It’s open to anyone who wants to join.

Kelsey Finnvik Journalism Staff

1. As Junior Javier Velasquez sits at the cultures united decoration comittee meeting, he cuts out decorations for the up coming come as you are dance. 2. Sitting at lunch, some of the cultures united members chat after finishing their lunches. 3. Mysee Chang presents her traveling suitcase during an inservice to teachers. 4. The pannel of cultures united members present their stories to the teachers. 5. Hard at work Junior Whitney Orr finishes a sign for the dance on April 20th. 6. A group of Cultures United members chat whlie making decorations to hang around the school to promote the dance. 7. Before the meeting starts, members of Cultures United take thier seats and prepare for discussion. Arial Harris - 10th Whitney Orr -11th Vanessa Ramirez -

On the morning of April 17, the Buffalo Knowledge Bowl team left for State after winning their section tournament four weeks prior. Their sixth berth in the last seven years, the team has developed a few “State traditions," which begin on the trip up with a meal at Nelson Brothers.

“We stop at a restaurant that [Coach Math Teacher Peggy] Pasche likes,” said Senior Andrew Burns, “and she treats us all to Fritter French Toast—which she maintains is the greatest breakfast on earth—and it’s fantastic.”

They continue to Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd, the annual location of the State Tournament. But before Knowledge Bowl, they go, well, bowling.

“Last year I ended up getting the high score,” said Senior Derek Magee, “but we’re all pretty bad. Pasche’s probably the best, but she had an off day, so I got the high score. We’re definitely better at Knowledge Bowl than real bowling.”

Afterward, the team arrives at the resort and checks into their cabin on Gull Lake, which Pasche reserves specially beforehand.

“We always stay at the same place,” said Senior Mitch Biermann. “It’s this cabin at the resort, and it’s really nice.”

Upon arriving at the cabin before the evening banquet, they complete one final State ritual: jumping into the newly-opened lake.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Burns. “I mean, it’s April. It’s very cold, and Pasche takes a picture. We jump in the lake again because we’re crazy.”

Over the course of the tournament, teams spend hours waiting for scores to be tabulated between rounds, which gives them time to socialize.

“We get to know the other teams pretty well,” said Senior Marc Le Voir. “We’ve been competing against some of them for four years.”

“We do get to know the other teams,” said Burns. “Even though we’re competing together, we’re all friends, and we like to joke around—like when Cathedral, St. Johns, and us get in the same room. It’s a huge joke. I mean, we’re talking to each other across the room; we’re laughing at all these answers; the judges are completely perplexed. They don’t realize that we’ve been competing against these people for four years now, and they’ve been our bitter rivals all the way, so we’ve gotten to know each other quite well.”

But of all the teams Buffalo regularly competes against, St. Cloud Cathedral, which finished second to Buffalo at sections, remains the team’s major rival.

“Throughout the course of this year, our main competition has been Cathedral,” said Burns. “Bitter rivals, bitter friends—that sort of thing. They’re our greatest competition, but they’re also our closest friends from other schools that we’ve met through knowledge bowl. They’re fun to compete against, and to play with. We talk to them a lot.”

“It was really tough against Cathedral at the beginning of the year,” said Biermann. “They must have whipped us, like, seven or eight rounds in a row over the course of a few of the beginning-season meets. But then we started to turn the corner; we started to be able to tie them in rounds. And then at the Princeton meet, mid-season, we finally beat them definitively, and ended up winning by, I think, half-a-point. And from there on we’ve beaten them fairly consistently over the last four tournaments, including one round at sections where we just demolished them.”

The team consists of Seniors Burns, Magee, Biermann, and Le Voir, and Junior Ian Hendrickson, who assists on the written round.

“Yeah, we’re smart,” said Burns, “but we don’t take life too seriously. We go out there and have fun. It’s serious and it’s competitive, but it’s fun too. We’re not socially maladjusted nerds; we’re just normal people that love this game. Really, it’s a game, and we’ve just learned how to play the game.”

Senior Mitch Biermann will be attending the Minnesota State High School League State AA Speech Tournament this Saturday at South St. Paul High School in Original Oratory after taking 1st Place at the Section 8AA Tournament on March 31 in Alexandria. Biermann is the first state-qualifier from Buffalo since Discussant Kory Bonnell attended in 2005. To win, Biermann competed against many speakers from much larger teams. “It’s a total David-and-Goliath thing when you go up against people like [St. Cloud] Tech or Moorhead where they have, you know, 80 people on the team,” he said. “But I’m glad I pulled it off because it shows some of the younger ones that it’s possible and that they can do it too, and it promotes our activity, which I care a lot about.”

Buffalo High School has yet to claim its candidate after this short, but grueling process to find a new principal. The final conclusion reached by the board chose Mr. Rick Toso, the current assistant principal, to be the temporary replacement for the 2007-2008 school year. In the end, it came down to the board members feeling uncomfortable hiring any applicants because none proved to fit the criteria enough to claim the position.

Student involvement in this process has been used in the previous selection 22 years ago, but now the student representation has eventually been dwindled down to a small group of student leaders. In order to get a precise and accurate opinion of the student body, either more students need to be involved and/or a more diverse group must be gathered: But not all the decision is made by the board’s opinion.

A new augmentation to the selection process has been the addition of the Ventures Company. This company is used for schools and businesses of all sorts to make the hiring process a bit easier. Ventures provides questions for the applicants to answer as they are applying. Once the applications are received, the candidates are given a telephone interview consisting of over 30 questions in regards to character, leadership, and productive qualities. Both questionnaires are scored and the results are given to the school and show what they have for the candidates and what the school should look for.

The Hoofprint supports this decision for the temporary principal, but also is striving for the process to be corrected to make for a more efficient and dynamic result. The Hoofprint also supports local applicants and whishes the candidates for the next selection to be local administrative figures, and not the “fresh meat” brought in from distant communities. The selection process must go on to find a candidate because operating under “temporary” could cause the administration to lose parts of its credibility and productivity.

I am writing this article to reply an answer to the teen struggling with the option of abortion article written in the March 23, 2007 addition of The Buffalo Hoofprint. Don’t get mad at me for writing this article, because if one person can write about her experience and put her opinion on a paper, I have the same freedom in this great country to reply and say my opinion. I will also use the freedom that she used of keeping my name anonymous as well. Whoever you are, that may have been your way of putting the past behind you, and I respect that, but I will not keep silent on this one. Before I say more, just wanted to ask one thing. If you didn’t want people to call you names or even know about his occurrence, why would you print it in a newspaper that a high school, known for rumors and gossip, would read all about it? You say that we all make mistakes. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I also cannot even imagine what it would be like to find out I was pregnant in High School, but that is because I wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually do something that would result in that. You say that you had no other choice than to have an abortion, but then you relay to everyone the three choices that you actually had. You could have kept it and been ridiculed by people. Who the heck cares what other people think? You certainly shouldn’t have when faced with the possibility of bringing a new life into the world. You also state that you could have it and then give it away. I totally agree. I have and Aunt and Uncle who have been trying to have a baby for as long as I can remember, a luxury that you threw to the dogs. People would have raised it and it could have lived and been happy. But you said that you would keep the first one you had. You could have kept it but you threw away that opportunity. If you even had it calculated down to the day, why did you not actually give it away? Pain. You only thought about pain. What about giving someone a pride and joy of their own? Then you could have been proud of yourself. You went with getting rid of the pain and the suffering. You are a selfish brat, is my opinion. But you already stated that you knew it was selfish. You also mention that if that life would have had any importance and meaning in being in this world, it would have found a way. Found a way for what?! You ruined its chances; it WAS trying. That WAS its way into the world. Wasn’t its appearance enough of a miracle? Didn’t the stick stating its presence mean anything? It does to me. You tell everyone, whoever wrote that article, that, and I quote, “the complications during pregnancy and the actual birth proves as a very unhealthy situation for any girl so young.” And before that you state, quote, “going through the nine month pregnancy does more damage than good.” Whatever you want to use to be able to settle your conscience is up to you, but whoever told you that you didn’t and still doesn’t know their head from their elbow. Towards the end of the article, you say that people should let others deal with the consequences chosen by themselves. I totally agree. What I don’t agree with is how you state that you didn’t know it was, quote, “worth going through all the mental and emotion pain of becoming an outcast” and you would have to, quote “face the crowd of judgmental students” in your senior year. Seriously, who cares? You also talk about you not believing, quote, “people are really able to make the decision until they are presented the problem.” Let me tell you a story all who are reading, especially the girl who wrote that article: My mom was 15 – a year younger than the writer of the precious article – when she found out that she was pregnant. She was called offensive, derogatory names that were told to her to her face. She told them all where they could put it, and never even once did the thought of abortion even enter her mind. Most of you are most likely thinking, “Good for her. Whoopty-do. I’m not her.” But keep reading this, there’s more. Thanks to that decision I have an oldest brother, named Raymond who lives in New York now after serving in Iraq to fight for you so that you could make this decision of abortion. He went over twice, less than a lot of troops, yes, but he helped take over Mosul, and he also was directly in the middle Operation: Phantom Fury. You all should read the book Tallulah with Honor and can know what he and his platoon of the 1/8 marines went through, as well as the Hell that other troops go through for you. I do call you a murderer, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. I am not the one that took this life. For all of you pro-choice people out there, it IS a life that is being ended. It is not my soul that is on the hook, so I have nothing to feel better about. I don’t have anything chewing on my conscience. Do any of you? -Joel Schmitz

Webster’s defines it as “spontaneous expulsion of a human of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation.” You can call it what you want to to make it sound less barbaric: expulsion, termination, but the fact remains it’s nothing but killing. Our constitution protects our right to live, especially the innocent and helpless. So how the, in a country where we boast of our freedoms and rights, do we allow the murder of innocent unborn babies? Doesn’t that contradict our constitution? In the declaration on independence it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator certain unalienable right, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The reason I decided to write this was because of an article in the March 23 issue of the hoofprint. The heading read “Student struggles with the option of abortion” feeling as I do so passionately about this particular subject I read the article, after doing so I knew I needed to voice my opinion on the subject. There are so many different options rather than abortion, adoption being one. Experts say there are over 2 million couples waiting to adopt children, this includes children with disabilities. There are 1.31 million abortions a year in the United States alone, all of those children could have had a chance at a happy life instead they were murdered…yes murdered. You may say “Well that’s a bit harsh to call it murder.” Is it? After all a baby can feel pain, smile, suck his/her thumb, and make a fist by 12 weeks. Although it may be hard to part with the baby after carrying it for nine months and then giving it up for adoption; how can you justify killing the baby rather than giving it an opportunity to have a happy life with someone else? It is true that carrying a baby at a young age can take a toll on your body. But that is a consequence you have to pay when you get pregnant, if you’re not ready for a child you should not be having sex, its as simple as that. You can try to justify it in your own mind that what your doing it not wrong when you have an abortion, but deep down I think you know that it is, but you are just to selfish to come to terms with it. I will consider people who have abortions done murderers not because it makes me feel better but because it is what they are. -Aaron Waaraniemi

As many of you know Buffalo High School has recent­ ly made available a poster commemorating the 2007 Boy’s Basketball State Championship. We commissioned local artist and Buffalo High School graduate, Karl Jaeger, to de­ sign this beautiful poster. The proceeds of the sale of these posters are dedicated to the Buffalo High School Activities Department. I would like to acknowledge the photographers whose pictures were used for this poster. Elias Krumholz and Kaia Hagberg, students at Buffalo High School and photogra­ phers for The Hoofprint (the school newspaper) and The Ta­ tanka (the school yearbook) provided many of the pictures used for the print. Heather Reinhart, journalist and photog­ rapher for the Wright County Journal Press, also contributed a number of tournament pictures. Theses skilled photographers captured the emotions and true flavor of the basketball tournament. Together with Karl Jaeger they have provided a memento that will help all of us remember this special time for the entire community. -Dr. Nicholas J. Miller, Principal

Hi my name is Sally and this is my story. I woke up this morning at 5:30, missed the bus, got to school ten minutes late only to go through the worst day. My best friend Amanda Larson had been ig­ noring me the whole day. When I tried to ask her what was wrong she just glared at me as if she wanted to kill me. After everything, all I wanted to do is go home and unwind on MySpace. I finally get home wallow down to my basement, type myspace.com into the URL bar, then I log into my profile [email protected], password ‘I Love Josh’. Oh look, new comments! This made me at least a little bit happier about all the drama that went on at school today. When I opened my comment inbox a mes­ sage from Amanda popped up. “WTF? I hate you! You are a total life wrecker, and I never want to see your face in my school again. OMG you make me sick, ur a boyfriend stealer.” I had no clue what she was talk­ ing about…boyfriend stealer? I don’t even like her boyfriend. I like Josh Miller. How could she say all that mean stuff? I found it very hurtful, I need to write in my blog about this. “Today was the worst day ever. I feel so bad about myself. I never want to go to school again. What did I do to make everyone hate me so much? How am I even a boyfriend stealer?” After reading Sally’s blog many of her friends took her out of their top eight. Her life was ruined after that, all because of the number one “life wrecker” among teens around the world; MySpace. While many students in our school think that MySpace is a waste of time others find it as a way of life. “Yeah I’ve been in a fight over MySpace,” said Sophomore Hailey Eder. I found out that a lot of my friends were talk­ ing about me behind my back on it. It made me feel really betrayed by them all.” Almost everyone I know has a MySpace profile, but some take things that happen on the site way more seriously than others. Kids need to realize that MySpace is just an internet site made up by one genius loser named Tom. MySpace was originally made to talk with friends, meet people from around the world, and most importantly, ad­ vertise bands and music. But people have twisted the original intensions of MySpace to fit their dramatic lifestyles filled with gossip and rumors. And now we have be­ come so used to this way of using the web­ site that whenever someone says the word “MySpace” we freak out and talk endlessly about it. Either we love MySpace and dread the day that were too old to use it without people thinking were creeps, or if you hate MySpace because of something stupid that happened on it. MySpace has wasted every one of us valuable time. “We could be doing something bet­ ter than sitting on MySpace like sports and stuff,” said Junior Bill Kane. “You could ac­ tually get active for a change.” I am not saying that MySpace is stupid, but what I am saying is that fighting on MySpace, gossip, and spread­ ing rumors over the site is abus­ ing the whole purpose of having a profile. MySpace was made for mature teens and bands who want to explore new music and meet new people. Not adults or children, searching for solutions to look older or younger. And using profile pictures, layouts, songs and back rounds isn’t the right way to label each other. “I use MySpace for mostly music only now,” said Kane. “Just because I’m getting kind of bored with it all, I mean it was cool in the summer when no one really had any­ thing to do. But now people should move on and start getting jobs and doing school stuff opposed to just staring at people profiles be­ cause you ‘have nothing better to do’.” MySpace is all image oriented. People create illusions of who they are over the internet. Whether it’s their profile name, back round, their top eight, pictures, or what their profile song is. You could be “scene” or “prep,” you could be “emo” or the new and emerging style “pre­ mo”( a mix between emo and prep) but no matter what group you belong to MySpace will definitely influence these groups. Would you rath­ er obsess on and over MySpace and carry it into your daily routine life or be mature and use MySpace sensibly, the way it was meant to be used. For music, meeting new people and keeping in touch with friends. Not pa­ thetic high school dra­ ma. That is the question you need to ask yourself next time you log on.

“Open your text books to page 146 and read to 168; don’t forget to de­ fine bolded words including names. You’ll have a quiz on the chapter to­ morrow.” You’ve all had teachers who’ve said this. Their methods of teaching are reading straight from the book. But what do you learn from this? Only how to retain wordy, non-comprehendible definitions and facts for 24 hours and then release them from your brain like a pit bull plunging out of its cage. For teachers it’s the easy way out; a way for them to cover the curriculum without exerting much effort. For us it’s a reason not to do our homework. Reading paragraph after paragraph written by gen­ iuses with four degrees in literature only helps us to zone out and give up. Teachers need to make a commitment to teach students on a more personal level. They need to take established information from 10-100 years ago and present it in a current day fashion because reading from an 800 page textbook is as boring as watch­ ing someone breathe. You’d think teach­ ers would understand this and realize why scores are coming out less than average on quizzes and tests. While I can honestly say I’m a straight A student, I’ve certainly had my struggles with this type of teaching. As class began the next day I put my name on my paper and read the first ques­ tion. What year did Charles Darwin die? A. 1876 B. 1879 C. 1882 D. 1891 I started to laugh. Was she serious? I had a hard enough time remembering what he was famous for, let alone what year he died. I knew better than to question her though because her answer would be; if you read the chapter you should know the answer. I’m sure I still wouldn’t have read it if she flat out told me to either read five pages about some scientist or get one question wrong. I think we all know what most of our peers would pick as well.

It’s becoming m the years go by, Tee a limited amount of their bellies have g saying “did you hea pregnant.” Even th about. “I was one of the not going to be a d Kafka. “I won’t be a In the United S teenage girls that en nancy. Thats not e other words 31 per nant before they’re “When I found pregnant I was rea “I didn’t know wha young.” Being a teenage own, or support ou ers are ones to usua help, but it also can in a situation like thi “My mom was v she found out I wa Marisa Tolley. “Sh first thought that I w since we are a very helped me out” In most causes situations become s living their own life, Over 750,000 females between the ages of 15 &19 are impregnated each year A tear rolls down her

more and more common as enage pregnancy. You see girls walking to class while rown, or you hear people ar that ‘so and so’ got her he statistic are ones to talk e biggest people to say ‘I’m dad,” said Freshman Luke another statistic.” States there are 750,000 ncounter at least one preg- ven including abortion. In rcent of women get preg- 20. out that my girlfriend was ally confused.” Kafka said. at to do, because I’m so er, the ability to live on our urself’s are slim. Teenag- ally turn to their parents for n be a terrifying thing to do is. very supportive of me when as pregnant,” said Senior e helped me out a lot. I was going to be sent away y religious family, but she , when a child is involved, serious. Not only are they but they are living for an- other person, or going to. “I don’t really have a social life anymore.” Tolley said, “I work, go to school, and try to raise a seven month old boy.” Teenage life, to some, is over when rais- ing a child. Some choose to recieve a lot of help from their parents, and some are thrown into a life of responsibilities. “It’s incomparable to anything else,” said Senior Joe Crawford. “And it’s the most re- warding thing ever. If I’m having a bad day I just go home, and see my boy and my bad day just goes away.” Rewarding but tough, the people here in our school walk with confidence: juggling school, work, and time to raise a kid. They’re teenagers, mothers, fathers, and adults that are trampled by the responsibilities with rais- ing a child. They are people to show you proudly “this is my little boy” or “girl.” They are just plain normal people living their lives while raising child; never hesitant to tell you that…. “It’s the most rewarding thing ever!” & “I could never regret it!”

Pregnancy is one of the most amazing, and difficult times in a woman’s life. Add the duty of teaching on top of it, and it gets harder. If it’s not the extreme lack of energy, it’s the swelling ankles that make teaching while pregnant more difficult. “I’d say the biggest difference in teaching while pregnant is just being more tired,” explained Spanish Teacher Nancy Eiynck. “It’s hard to keep the kids at high energy when your level of energy is so low.” On top of the lack of energy, sits the morning sickness which makes it significantly more difficult for a teacher to concentrate on their job. “Fortunately, when I was first pregnant I was teaching AI Foundations, and I had Ms. Tracy [AI foundations Assistant Teacher], so if I was feeling sick, I could just give her a look, and she would know and I would walk out,” said Art Teacher Erica Carlson, who is currently pregnant. “But I think the worst part of it is just that embarrassment or stress from anticipation that you feel if you get sick in front of people. Fortunately, that never happened to me.” In addition to the physical difficulties that are associated with pregnancy, surprise is also a factor that women have to deal with. “I went into the doctor for a normal check up,” said English Teacher Melissa Bertch. “After he had checked me out, he told me that I needed to go on bed rest. I laughed and asked him when, and told me tomorrow. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was on bed rest for six weeks, and my students didn’t even know that I would be gone; they just got an extended sub while I was on bed rest, and then maternity leave. I felt sort of bad because my students had no forewarning.” One of the greatest concerns of teachers on maternity leave is what happens in their classes during their absence. “I’m due on May 6,” said German Teacher Michele Strassburg. “It won’t affect my job too much. I’m worried about my students since it’s towards the end of the year. It may be tough for my students to get a different teacher right at the end of the year.” Maternity leave for a teacher can last for as long as 26 weeks, however most teachers do not stay on leave for that long. While a teacher is gone their class has an extended sub, who establishes very different rules from that of their own. This can make returning from maternity leave difficult, especially when a teacher returns to a completely different group of students. “It was different returning to a new class of students mid-quarter. I didn’t know any of the kids.” said Bertch. “Every teacher is different, so it took a bit for them to adjust to my teaching compared to their sub’s teaching.” Teaching is a hard and demanding job, and pregnancy can be a catalyst towards extreme stress levels in teachers. At times it is hard to cope with the stress. When they receive their little miracle, and hold their little bundle of joy in their arms for the first time, they know it was all worth it.

The door to the black box swings open, revealing a couple dozen students chatting, laughing, and enthusiastically visiting with each other before musical rehearsal begins. Scripts over an inch thick cover the nearby tables, and director Ann Bremmer flits between performers, taking mea­ surements of their arms and waist. The subtle scent of a hot-glue gun floats through the air from the corner where crew members assemble props. With their opening night approaching, both the cast and crew of the spring musical are making preparations for their upcoming performance. “The spring play, Into the Woods, it’s a newer musical based on fairy tales that all kind of link together,” said Junior Griffin Trevino, who is the student director for the school’s pro­ ductions. “Of course there’s a moral story behind it about wishing for things you shouldn’t wish for.” Into the Woods is a musical which combines the fairy tales of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Little Red Riding-hood with the story of a baker and his wife, who cannot have children because of a spell cast by a wicked witch. In order to reverse the spell, the couple must perform a variety of tasks for the witch, and in the end they teach themselves and fellow fairy-tale characters how to stand strong---though some take it a bit too far. “I’m Little Red Riding Hood,” said Sophomore Amanda Burgdorf. “She’s really naive and just childish because she’s kind of self-centered and not afraid of anything really. Then she learns that not everybody is to be trusted, and she starts not trusting anybody, and gets really kind of vicious!” As rehearsal begins, the actors find their places and open their scripts. Bremmer leads the performers from scene to scene, providing them with assistance and specific direction as they go. While creating a character may sound simple, it is not an easy process. Cast members are as­ signed a character, and must not only recite memorized lines, but do so in a way that makes the character come to life. “[Little Red Riding Hood] is just a little kid,” said Burgdorf. “So I have to kind of be just really out there and take myself to a different age, which is hard- that young of a kid.” “I play one of Cinderella’s stepsisters, and her name is Lucinda,” said Sophomore Anna Brown. “It’s hard getting used to being really mean, and having to be all snippy. I have to look down on a lot of people so it’s hard for me.” Into the Woods is a different type of musical, specifically because there isn’t one or two main roles. Instead, each character has a fairly equal part, and each brings something different to the stage. “I’m Jack from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’” said Sophomore Phillip Rossin. “He’s kind of ignorant, and I guess I’m the comedy relief at the end because it’s pretty grim. I mean I think my cow was a he but he gives milk!” While actors rehearse lines and songs, the stage crew works behind the scenes, creating the environment where the performance will take place. “Musicals tend to be a lot of work, a big process: big casts, big sets,” said Trevino. “The show has a very large set, many set pieces move around each other; it’s very complex.” The crew is responsible not only for building the set, but for costumes and makeup, as well as lighting and sound cues at the performance. “As stage manager I will call the show from the booth,” said Trevino. “We have cues for light and sound, and each have a cue, so I call them off to make sure they happen. For musical numbers we have a lot of cues, up to 25 for just one song.” Although there is a lot of work involved in creating a musical, from creating a character to painting the set, it all pays off with the final performance. “You feel good about a musical when it’s done,” said Trevino.

Imagine the assistant principal of a high school being a rock star. While As­ sistant Principal Matthew Lubben may not exactly be a rock star, he has talent for play­ ing the drums, guitar hero, and rapping. His passion in life is music. When stu­ dents hear Lubben, they think about a principal not about music, but music has interest­ ed Lubben since a very young age. “I was in a Christian band called True Blood, a band called Rough House, and my favorite was a rock band called Prisoner, I tried out for drums when I was fourteen and my dad dropped me off in a red station wagon. I rocked that try-out!” said Lubben. Making music is not his only hobby; he also has an obsession with the legendary rock band, Mötley Crüe. “I used to have a den full of Mötley Crüe memorabilia, then we moved so all of my stuff is sitting in the basement,” said Lubben, “I’ve got 122 Mötley Crüe CDs, pictures, books, guitar picks, drum sticks, every magazine they’ve ever been in, dolls, figurines, clocks, trading cards, comic books, and everything imaginable. I’ve also met the band about ten times and I’ve been backstage twice.” Not only does he have a room full of Mötley Crüe memorabilia, but he also had a room full of CD’s. “He has the largest CD collection of anyone I know. There are some in different languages, some in plastic covers, and they are all in alphabetical order,” said Physical Education Teacher Kristen Thompson. Lubben’s younger brother is a nation- wide singer, touring around the United States to get his name out there. “My new hobby is going to be chasing around my brother while he is touring the country singing,” said Lub­ ben. Just like his brother, Lubben is a musician. He can bring music he hears back to the piano or drums and play it ex­ actly as he heard it. “Once he was over at my house and he picked up the kids plastic guitar and played it like it was a real guitar,” said Physical Education Teacher Nick Guida. Students also took note of Lubben’s musical talents. “One day when I was walking to lunch with him I said I liked 50 cent and he said he was the next hippest rapper,” said Junior Johneka Patterson. “He was bustin’ flows about everything he saw in the hallways like shoes and stuff--he has skills for a lame dork,” said Patterson. Music has always been in Matt Lub­ ben’s life and won’t be leaving his life any­ time soon. “I tried out for drums when I was fourteen and my dad dropped me off in a red station wagon. I rocked that try- out!” -Assistant Principal Matt Lubben

The audience sees everything during performances, but they don’t see what occurs before and after each performance. They also don’t see the effort that gets put into preparing for the variety show. “We have four committees, Publicity, Design, Stage Crew/Ushers, and Decorating. The Executive Committee splits up to be in charge and needs a certain amount of Tri-M [Modern Music Masters] members,” said Senior Tri-M mem­ ber Ali Fitzpatrick. The Tri-M Variety show is run by Music teacher Michael Walsh, and the Tri-M Committee. “Tri-M is a National Music Society: just like an NHS of music students. The Variety show raises money for music scholarships. This is Tri-M’s twelfth year of hosting the Variety Show,” said Walsh. Senior Niles Hickman, a member of Tri-M, put a lot of effort into the making the Variety Show a success. “I helped decorate the PAC and the outside of the PAC the day of the Variety Show,” said Hickman. “I also helped choose the performers by watching their auditions. We used scoring sheets when watching the auditions, and then we put our scores together to find the best, and we also had to look for the best variety,” said Hickman. Like Hickman, Kelsy Pulvermacher performed at the variety show; she composed her own piece called “Waiting.” “I wrote it for my enjoyment; I’m a senior and you have to go through college work and what you’re gonna do with your future. Every senior waits for the mail. I just felt like people could understand the song. Seniors would fit the song,” said Pulvermacher. While attending the variety show, the students showed their talents from dancing to singing songs, from to skits to rocking out. Two students, Matt Patterson and Jimmy Per­ son, showed their talent for humor by emceeing. “I became an Emcee mainly because I didn’t think there was something extraordinarily well that I could do. I thought it would be fun because apparently I’m funny and I talk funny I guess,” said Patterson. Person’s reasoning differed for being an Emcee for the Variety Show. “First I wanted to be involved in the show somewhat other than backstage. I feel I needed to help, other than the basics everyone in Tri-M had to do. We were short on emcees. I wanted to be seen,” said Person. Person and Patterson changed their outfits throughout the show. Between every act Person changed his tie, and Patter­ son changed his hat. Patterson also decided to wear a dress between acts. “I bought a lavender-flowered, silky dress for $3 at the thrift store. I did it to make fun of the past Emcee’s that changed between acts. I also wore a garter and I wrote my name on it. The garter gets passed down from one girl emcee to the next,” said Patterson. Who knew there was such tradition in a variety show?

Bases are loaded—two outs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. The count climbs to 3-2; the pitcher stares in, takes the sign, and fashions another great ending to a high school softball game. WACK! The winning hit rips off to the out field. “Amazing — that’s all I have to say. It’s the first word that comes to my mind,” said Senior Margaret Suerth about the feeling of playing softball. However, is it the same feeling for both guys and girls sports? Do they both get the same recognition by the athletes and the fans? This is a hot button issue that has not, and probably cannot, be answered with certainty. “I think that the emotional aspect of sports is a big difference between guys and girls,” said Su­ erth. “Girls get way more emo­ tional than guys because girls will cry, where guys won’t. Girls have intensity when they play sports, but I don’t think that it’s at the same level as guys have. But at least we don’t have to wear nut cups like guys do for baseball.” Another issue that is commonly discussed is whether female sports and male sports have the same level of entertainment, and if they are considered equals among players and fans. “A lot of people say that girl’s sports are not as competitive as guy’s sports or that girls don’t care about them as much as guys do,” said Senior Jordan Bruhn. “I really hate it when people say that about girl’s sports because we work just as hard and care just as much for our sports as guys do for their sports. We run, we throw, and we sweat out in the heat of the sun just like guys do. Nobody sees that we really do care about winning and are just as intense and into our sports as guys are for their sports.” Even though girls work just as hard at their sport as guys do, they are often not given the same oppor­ tunities to succeed. As women move on in their sports careers, their opportunities to keep advancing to the next level slowly decrease. Any softball players who are truly devoted to their sport and would love to con­ tinue on will only be able to compete at the collegiate level if they choose to. Unlike baseball for the men, there are no professional softball teams for women. “Look at how big professional men’s sports are compared to pro women’s sports,” said Sophomore Danielle Iverson. “There are not nearly enough pro women’s sports as there are guy’s sports. For some reason nobody would rather go to a girl’s game over a guy’s game. It’s like the guys are always the first priority over girls.”

“We have a lot of veterans returning,” said Head Baseball Coach Mike Beil­ ke. “And a solid line-up.” This season’s captains are seniors Ben Fouquette and Dar­ rin Olmscheid. Even though it is the beginning, they to advance t h e team far into the playoffs, and the first day of practice for the team was no vacation. “The first week is the hardest because we condition a lot,” said Sophomore Brooks Beil­ ke. “After that it gets a little bit easier and we just hit and do the fundamentals.” Throughout the season the varsity team has between 13-15 players, and the playoff’s arrive, they will carry about 18 players with them. The boy’s first game was Thursday, April 5. Throughout the season they will have 20 games; after that, it depends how far into the playoffs they go. “The biggest game we have this season is when we play after the Twins vs. Red Sox on May 4, at the Metrodome against Luverne,” said Coach Beilke. Many of the players have set a few goals for this season as a team. “We hope to defiantly contend conference and take a run at sections,” said Fouquette. “I hope I can do whatever I have to, to contribute to our season and the team.” “Hopefully we can win conference this year, and go on to win sections,” said Beilke. Some players are setting personal goals for their sea­ son. “I would like to bat at least 400 and steal 20 bases,” said Junior Jake Duske “Basically try to get recognized by colleges.” Even though the season has just started the team’s goals are to achieve something big in their sections. “This is the year to do it. Next year we go into a way tougher section,” said Duske. The team is heading towards a season full of accomplishments and hard work.

Journalism Staff

Motivation, determination and confidence are what will drive spring sports athletes to their personal, and team expectations they have set for themselves. Senior and Track Team Captain Mosic Green­ price hopes to beat school records and push the boundaries of Buffalo Track. “I want to beat the 300 meter hurdle record set by BJ Hermerding, I want to beat my brother Ted’s record in the 400 meter—which I know I can do. And I want to win conference.” Beyond personal goals Greenprice also antici­ pates success from the rest of the team. He even expects to win the true team competition, an event where all participants count for team points. “We want to win true team and advance to true team state. Overall now we have a good team. We have momentum coming into this year; we have some good people coming back. We have Bo who’s now a freshman. We have Kyle [Willets], Ty [Greenprice], Dee [Broadnax], and myself. We lost Ted [Greenprice] and Nate [Ortmann], but everyone from last year got stronger. We had an equal exchange.” Track and field is not the only sport that has potential. There are many other sports predicted to have a chance at state this year. “Boys Tennis has a pretty good shot at state,” said Activities Director Bob Driver. “Michael Sicora is the driving force of the boy tennis team. When the season begins he will be the one to beat. If he stays consistent and his focus is strong he can win state again. There will be lots of pressure, but ability wise he can do it.” The softball team will also be making a run at state this year. Although Varsity Player Sam Sarna feels the excitement, she knows that improvement is required to get there. “I expect the team to communicate better and have fewer errors. The idea is have fun but work hard as a team,” said Sarna. “Last year we didn’t really feel like we really wanted to get there, we had too much fun. Now we are coming ready, now we know what we have to do.” Senior Colton Kohler of the High School Golf Team also has high expectations for the golf team to do well. “We are going to be really consistent in our conference, day in and day out. It has to be a Team effort for sure. We can’t count on Logan Hoffman and Karl D Olson to lead the team this year and carry us all on their backs. It really has to be a team effort this year and I really think a lot of people will pull through for the team. Its going to be fun to see how dedicated we are in practice and how that dedication carries out into how far we go into the season.” After such memorable Winter Season, which included the Varsity Basketball team taking the State Title, athletes now participating in the Spring Season are hoping for the same amount of success. With two of three popular teams shooting for State titles there is an overall feeling that such hopes may prove to be more than just wishes.

There is a chill in the air and the athletes are restless. They look for something to do while wait­ ing for their event. “I’ve got it,” said Senior Brett Hack. “Let’s go steal some batons.” The athletes get excited as they scope the flat landscape for a baton. A glimmer is seen in a track bag only 50 feet from the kids. It’s lying there, wait­ ing, as if it wants to be stolen. The kids take there chance and rush over to the baton, hoping that no one is watching them. The baton is theirs and will now return to the school locker room to be used in games. Track isn’t all about running, throwing or jump­ ing. The athletes often spend their free time playing games, pulling pranks, or cooking some BBQ on the grill. “Baton stealing is a great way to pass time,” said Sophomore Aaron Oie. “It’s just fun to see how many you can collect in a meet without getting caught. Not to mention if you get caught by a girl it’s a great way to start a conversation…I mean what girl doesn’t want to talk to a “BA” baton stealer?” Stealing batons isn’t the only thing done with them. There is running with it, but pranks are also played with a baton. One such prank involves a ba­ ton named “Stalin,” and it belonged to Jake Foure and Max Hansen. “We were at a STMA meet,” said Hack. “Max was on his first leg of the 4x800 relay. He tossed Stalin to a teammate off of the track. When he came around on his second leg to hand off to Foure he didn’t have a baton. Foure was completely confused but decided to take off without a baton any way. When Foure got to his second leg the teammate holding Stalin off the track tossed it to him. Foure finished the race in first Sta­ lin in hand. Everyone thought it was a great prank, but the coaches thought we were mocking the other team and being poor sports.” While all this was going on, the throwers had their grill out and were busy cooking chicken and hamburgers, a throwers’ favored pass time. “There was one time I almost missed my throw,” said Senior Ross Hillukka. “I was too busy cooking my cheeseburger and when I finally fin­ ished and was getting ready to take a big juicy bite, my coach came yelling at me telling me to get in the circle and throw. I quick tossed my mom my burger and warned her not to let anyone touch it. So I went and threw with greasy fingers.” The athletes don’t always mess around; they get a lot of work done, training five days a week, with distance runners training six. With such hectic training, goofing around comes naturally. So next time you stereotype track as just running, think again; it’s throwing, jumping, pranks, games, and

As the clock ticks down the min­ utes left before the start of the game, energy is filling the room, music is blaring and pink sports tape is being thrown back and forth. The players are scattered, each having their own way to get focused, before reunit­ ing as one to talk strategy for the last game left to qualify for state. After a season of only three losses, the best is yet to come. Going into the state tournament the team had high expectations. They knew anything was possible and were hoping to come out on the winning side. “I’m not cocky,” said Jewett, “but I expected to win state.” The state tournament took place in Highland Park, St. Paul March 16, 17 and 18. The team beat Chaska 3-2 on March 16. The team then went on to lose to Inver Grove Heights 5-7 after pulling their goalie, hoping to pick up a goal. Sill able to play Woodbury for third place Buffalo lost 2-3 after an excit­ ing finish. The team made a surpris­ ing finish as fourth in state. Though they were upset with their loss, they know that they were just as good as any of their opponents. “If you were to replay the tour­ nament,” said Maas, “there would be eight different outcomes every time.”

New places can make people uncomfortable. Walking into a big school, friendless and lost could be traumatizing. Although home schooling benefits some kids, the switch to public school challenges others. Sophomores Brianna Miller and Sara McMoil began home schooling in seventh grade year, but reasons differ. Miller was missing many days of school from a chronic illness, while on the other hand McMoil was flying through school and wanted more of a challenge. “I felt uncomfort­ able [coming back] because I came back a grade lower, so I didn’t know anyone in any of my classes,” said Miller. “I think it was worth it because you get to in­ teract with more people; I was socially deprived before.” Miller (17) and McMoil (15) have an age difference that isn’t usually seen for two people in the same grade. Miller would have been a junior this year, but when she made the decision to come back to a public school her credits didn’t match up, so they ended up holding her back a grade. “I like public school better because there is more interaction with people, and it’s more inter­ esting,” said Miller. “I got lonely sitting at home and I wanted to get out of the house. I also wanted to see my friends,” Socializing is a key ingredient in school. When some people are left at home, they don’t get enough interaction to help their social life. “It was hard at times because I’m kind of a quiet person,” said Miller. “After a while [at school] friendships just started happening.” Starting public school with no friends, or knowing a few before they came back, new friendships begin. “I think [I will get] a little bit tighter with friends,” said McMoil. “We will be together for six hours instead of two.” McMoil takes two classes and met many friends through them, and the soccer team she joined. She is planning to join the high school full time next year which will help expand her social skills. “School was really easy for me, so I became home schooled half way through seventh grade,” said McMoil. “I’m coming back to the high school because I want to take CIS courses and I miss my friends.” Home schooling may be taken many dif­ ferent ways. Miller took her readings and work sheets off an internet site, while McMoil had another approach on learning. Her mom would teach her some and she also had a DVD teacher. “Public school seems to be going a little easier for me. At home I am limited on the information,” said Miller. “I only got enough information to fit on my computer screen and I couldn’t ask a teacher any questions.” Both ways of schooling have their ups and downs Miller and McMoil both exclaim. Yes, you can choose when you can wake up, and you don’t have a daily schedule, but in public school you get to be around friends and get out more. “Being home schooled I got to sleep in, but I didn’t get to see friends everyday,” said Miller. “I didn’t have any late assignments that could hurt my grade, but I would rather be at a public school.”

He stands there up in front of a crowd, the music hasn’t started the lights are directly on him all the sudden the music starts and he feels every beat of music going through his body and the crowd starts to go wild. The more energy the crowd makes the better performance he does. It’s not break dancing; it’s popping, people don’t know that. “I don’t like how people label me as Angel the break danc­ er,” said Senior Angel Ramirez. “They need to get their stuff straight, I’ve been popping for five years.” “I saw everybody popping at my cousins rave party,” said Ramirez. “That’s when I started raving.” Soon after that he started to teach him­ self to pop. “It takes a lot of prac­ tice, if you give up your not go­ i n g to get any­ where, practice eve­ ryday,” and that’s what he did, “I would lock myself in a room with mirrors and a video tape to practice,” said Ramirez. Some people may not consider it a sport. “Yes it is,” said Ramirez. “There are competitions.” He has been part of many crews such as: Central Breakers Crew, No Stop Breakers, and Original Battle Kats. There are in many cases fights at competitions. “One time my freshman year at a competition people talk who is the best one,” said Ramirez. “I was an up coming guy and I was beating everyone. He [another competitor] was the best one, I had to beat him. I was at the competition, his stuff was all played out he does it every competition, I busted out some new moves popped in front of his girlfriend and told her to call me. He shoved me three times and said what’s your problem, he pushed me one more time so I hit him and was disqualified.” Some may seem to be born with the talent to break dance. “I never practice, I just do it to pass time,” said Junior Jose Franco. “I saw every­ body break dancing at my new school in Baja Califor­ nia and wanted to try it, so I learned from my friend. The spot was at my friend’s house in the Ghetto, we would dance on the street till about seven when the gang­ sters would come. One time they came and told us to leave, we didn’t a n d t h e y stole my new shoes, belt and the couple bucks I had.” “I was nervous at first, but I’ve been do­ ing it for a year now.” said freshman Paul Rankin, “I do it for the la­ dies.” All three Angel, Jose, and Paul be­ lieve that dancing is considered a sport, because there are competitions. However, either break dancing, or popping, has a place at school as a sport.