The Hoofprint – January 2018

THE HOOFPRINT

Buffalo High School Buffalo, MN Issue 1 January 2018

Buffalo High School

Buffalo High School,

Everything belongs to a place on the map. The lives we live and the journeys we make can be tracked on the endless atlas of our world. The stories we tell track the everyday also have a place on the map. We, the staff of Hoofprint, place the stories we tell this issue, Across the Grid.

When you see the front cover of this issue, you probably noticed that it was a map of Buffalo. However, if you paid close enough attention, you would have noticed the careful pins in seemingly random places on our map. Each of these pins gives the location of one of our stories we feature. We did this in order to make the stories more applicable to your life, as it may cross paths with your daily journeys. A story can just be a tiny, but sweet idea in itself. A physical location, it gives a realistic characteristic that is hard to replicate. When a story has a place, it has a purpose. Without such a purpose, it shows us how the world is all interconnected.

The world doesn’t end at the city limits. At times we are guilty of only paying attention to the events that happens in Buffalo. However, there is an infinite number of connections we as students build here to other places. In our own school, we have kids that come from two other towns in the district, Montrose and Hanover, who provide numerous contributions to our community’s school. That is why the Hoofprint included their respected map on the back cover, with pins of their own. In addition, our collection on the grid has contributions to places on the other side of the world. We address stories from people who had journeys starting far from home and in one way or another, have their path going through our school.

What we want you to take away from this issue is that every story is a pin on the map, and we all encounter pins when travelling through life.

"To put a city in a book, to put the world on one sheet of paper — maps are the most condensed humanized spaces of all. They make the landscape fit indoors, make so masters of sights we can’t see and places we can’t cover." Robert Harbison

Staff Writers

This year Buffalo has welcomed many new businesses. From an ice cream shop to a winery, downtown Buffalo is in for a change.

One of these new businesses is the ice cream shop What’s the Scoop?. It is located downtown near St. Family Restaurant. There is always a spark when it comes to deciding to open a business. “We have been thinking about it for some time and we have just been waiting for the right time,” said one owner. Several businesses have come and gone over the last few years. Part of the owners’ attraction to the area was that it was close to the theater scene.

“People opening their doors has made it a much more lively area; this year we have a lot more businesses,” said one patron. The area once had an image of being run down and gruesome. One woman said, “It just makes me feel more comfortable coming down here knowing there are businesses open.”

A new wine tasting room, 78 Degrees West, is one of the newest additions that has opened in downtown. “We knew there was a demand for wine places,” one of the owners said. “We wanted to create a place where the community can come and enjoy a relaxing environment.”

There are other new businesses that have set up shop as well, including a new bakery and a coffee shop. While the older businesses had been struggling in recent years, these new stores seem to be attracting foot traffic and increasing business in the downtown area.

Many residents believe that the downtown area is on the mend, and they hope to see more local businesses open in the near future. A group of business owners have also expressed interest in working together to promote the area and host events to attract visitors.

Statistically, 80% of new businesses close down within the first 18 months. The owner said, “money is an issue,” when asked about the struggles of starting a business. These business have to survive a rocky business start. Paula has had that worry for years. Taking this into consideration can only help the businesses in the long run.

Another reason for new businesses failing is that the customers do not feel welcome in the area. “People are not friendly,” one local owner said. This has been a big reason that some businesses have not last. “We have welcomed the community to the new shops. Many customers come in and we have seen a big change in the response from the community,” one business owner said.

Overall the outlook for downtown looks positive. Buffalo has a lively and varied downtown area and many new businesses are starting to add to the offerings. The growth in the business sector shows promise and if the community continues to support these local businesses, the future for downtown Buffalo could be bright.

January 2018

Four BHS students share perspectives in their experiences in their respective hometowns.

Sara Kim
Our school is located in a small town with a population of 7,200. We have two main high schools in this town and most students attend one of the two. My neighborhood is quiet and most people know each other. Growing up here I’ve always felt a sense of community and security. The downtown area is small but has a few family-owned shops that have been there for decades. Our town hosts an annual summer fair where everyone gathers for food, music, and games. There are not many public transit options, so most families rely on cars. The school district is well-funded compared to neighboring areas, and many students attend extracurricular activities like sports and arts programs.

Kyle Fernandez
I grew up in a suburb of a large city. It was a mix of residential areas and shopping centers. My house was about a 20-minute drive from the city center. Public transportation was accessible but not always reliable. There were plenty of parks and community centers, which made for a pretty active childhood. My neighborhood was diverse and I had friends from many different backgrounds. The closest high school was competitive academically, which pushed me to work harder. During weekends, families would carpool to sports events or attend city festivals.

Noor Patel
My hometown is an urban neighborhood within the city. There's always something happening — festivals, farmers markets, and cultural events. Our building was an older apartment complex with many families living close together. With a metro stop nearby, I could get around without a car. The city schools were large and offered many specialized programs, though class sizes were often big. I appreciated the variety of food and the access to museums and libraries. However, some areas had issues with noise and safety, especially at night. My parents worked long hours and public services were important to our daily life.

Evan Green
I come from a rural area, surrounded by farmland and forests. The nearest town was an hour away, which meant trips to the grocery store or the doctor required planning. We had a small K-12 school where everyone knew each other, and teachers often taught multiple grades. Community events were centered around the school and local churches. Outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, and hunting occupied most weekends. While it was peaceful, access to advanced courses and extracurriculars was limited, so many students looked for online options or commuted to the county seat for specialized classes.

FAST FACTS:
- Builds trust in his students.
- Cares a lot and creates a comfortable environment for students.
- Through his career, his students have been excited to come to class each day.
- Encourages curiosity and try new things.

Mr. Parsons has travelled to many different places throughout his life. He said that his first traveling experience was when he was in high school and a teacher took the class to a nearby college campus. That trip inspired him to see what else was out there.

He liked the way people in other countries lived and wanted to learn more about their homes, food and culture. He went to college in Pennsylvania and after graduating taught in many different places.

Parsons said he enjoyed teaching because he liked helping his students grow and felt it was rewarding to see them learn. He also said travel helps him bring new perspectives to the classroom and makes lessons more interesting for students.

When asked what advice he would give to students who want to travel, Parsons said, "Be open to new experiences and always try to learn from the people you meet."

Staff Writers

"I remember I wanted to go out to the well, but they wouldn't let me because a lot of people die because they fall in, especially little people," said Olanrewaju Olowose.

Born in Nigeria, Davin Omolori "came to the United States with his family as a young child. Growing up in Nigeria, he was very accustomed to different rules and ideas.

Respect in the United States is very different from respect in Nigeria. In the United States, it is important to respect everyone, but we tend to give more respect to the people who have authority or who are wiser. In Nigeria, there is no personal division of who you respect, it is the age and title that are the deciding factor. Those factors make the elderly highly respected; the older the wiser. Respect is at the core of how the nation with others.

"If a parent or someone older is talking to you, you can't look at them; you have to keep looking down especially if you are in trouble," Omolori said. "Your siblings hold a lot of power over you. For example, an older sibling then you, they are better than you and their job is to watch after you. You have to do it. You don't have a choice."

In Nigeria, being witness to someone being hit by a car is a daily occurrence. The roads are junk-paced filled with buses, cars, bikes, and people.

"There are no traffic rules and while you are driving there are people on bikes trying to sell you stuff. Everyone is packed. If a bike really hit [someone] and you can't take butter route and people were just trying to get from one place to another and you see you're not hit, you went to be couldn't find him. A lot of people get hit especially in poorer areas because the traffic is crazy."

Due to different stereotypes, most people see Nigeria as a desert, with mud and straw huts for homes. That is not the case for the majority of the population. There is a large range of what people call home, from slums to high end homes.

"A lot of people don't realize that there are a lot of houses there, like they live in houses, not huts. A lot of them are apartments too."

Life in Nigeria is different than what we are used to in many ways. It is a way of life that is original to their culture and new to ours.

"It's not as easy there as it is here," said Omolori.

The upsides and downsides of trying to judge school

A lot of the debate about school performance focuses on test results. Tests can give useful information about what pupils know, and a way to compare schools' performance over time. They are not, though, an all-purpose measure of school quality.

One advantage of test scores is that they are, in principle, objective. A child either answers a question correctly or does not. That gives politicians and journalists a neat set of numbers to make sense of and to use in league tables. But test results capture only certain kinds of learning: knowledge that can be written down and marked.

Tests favour schools that are good at getting pupils to memorise and practise particular kinds of tasks. They are less good at measuring creativity, resilience, or the ability to work with others — qualities parents often value. Some schools respond to the pressure of testing by narrowing the curriculum, spending more time on subjects that are tested and less on those that aren't.

Another problem is that test scores reflect intake as much as teaching. Pupils from more advantaged backgrounds tend to do better, on average. Schools serving such pupils will therefore often have higher scores even if their teaching is no better than that of schools with more disadvantaged intakes. Attempts to correct for this using “value-added” measures have limits; they rely on assumptions about what pupils would have achieved without their current school's influence.

There is also the issue of gaming. When pay, reputation or inspections are linked to test results, schools and individuals can be tempted to focus on short-term improvements or to coach pupils in the test itself. That distorts what tests are supposed to measure and can harm trust in the system.

But giving up on testing is not the answer. Some form of assessment is necessary to identify where pupils are falling behind and which schools need support. The challenge for policymakers is to design systems that combine test scores with richer information about schools' broader aims and the contexts in which they operate.

That means using tests as one source among many. Ofsted-style inspections, parental feedback, and information about wider outcomes such as pupils' wellbeing and later employment can complement exam results. A more rounded approach would reduce incentives to teach to the test and give a fairer picture of what schools achieve.

Ultimately, judging schools is a difficult and sometimes uncomfortable task. Tests provide useful data but they are imperfect and can be misapplied. Recognising their limitations, and balancing them with other measures, would lead to better decisions by parents, policymakers and educators.

High school can be a daunting and anxiety filled experience for any kid, but students who walk in the same footsteps of their own family members often have a different experience than those who are the first student of their generation.

Senior Caroline Zumbrusch’s roots in Buffalo can be traced back to her grandfathers. Both her parents and two aunts at one school brought her, rather than her Buffalo High school. Running a story when she was homecoming queen and a letter to my office was a small known trouble maker has made attending the same school quite interesting for Zumbrusch.

"On the first day of Mr. Scully's class I came in late and as I walked in he said, ‘Welcome to Zumbrusch.' Zumbrusch's daughter' and when I said yes a hush, I looked," Scully cast out of the other hand was a restored basement," said Zumbrusch. "It's funny because that's when the typical reaction I get from teachers about my parents."

Along with having generations of Zumbrusch's before her, Caroline also has a 64 first cousins who share her homecoming surname. She enjoys having a large close knit family but also sometimes has to contend with expectations.

"Everyone now and again I get the urge to go somewhere where no one knows my name, yet I still think I will live here my whole life. There is a part of being homegrown that I don’t want to leave behind," explained Zumbrusch.

Attending Buffalo is a separate experience for students who not to have a siblings here. Junior Kelsey Kramer first moved to Buffalo when he was in seventh grade, but at the time his name was Kyle Chamberlin. He transferred from a school of 500 to a school of 500 per grade which became a sudden change for Kramer, who was the first student of his name.

"Right off the bat coming from Annandale I did not enjoy creating connections and developing my own name, but for me it eventually became exciting to be the first Chamberlin because I could pave the way for my family," said Kramer.

Kramer's parents went through a divorce when he was younger. His mother, a previous Chamerylin, married his stepsister, a Kramer. Keller has recently changed his last name to Kramer which has opened a new door for him.

"My step dad's name is Chris Kramer and he used to go to Buffalo, so when I first moved to Buffalo I had that change and my name, nobody knew me because there are no Chamerylins that live around this area. Once I changed my name to Kramer I saw an immediate transformation. A lot of people ask me if I related to my step dad and now it is really cool that I have been able to experience both sides, and now I have roots and feel connected," described Kramer.

Being homegrown at Buffalo High school continues to be a distinctive experience from being a student who is the first to come to the area.

"You don't really think about it too much, but sometimes you get welcomed and you feel like a celebrity. It can be awkward at times when someone you have never met before knows everything about you," said Kramer.

"It is really fun to have shared last names with others and be able to look back at old pictures to see that you are related to other people who may have gone to Buffalo," Kramer continued. "It is really cool to have relatives that have been here a long time and you can find great connections and it is really thrilling."

JAKE BRACCI (10)

Sophomore Jake Bracci committed to play hockey for the University of Minnesota on Jan. 5. Bracci had offers from several Division-One programs.

JADA HABISCH (10)

Junior Jada Habisch committed to play Division-One lacrosse on Jan. 6. Habisch has been playing lacrosse since middle school and was a key player on the school team.

WHAT'S A COMMITMENT?

A commitment occurs when a student-athlete signs a National Letter of Intent to play a sport at a college or university. By signing, the athlete agrees to attend the institution for at least one academic year, and the school agrees to provide athletic financial aid for that year.

Many factors go into a student-athlete's decision, including coaching staff, academic programs, proximity to home and scholarship offers. Commitments often follow standout performances at showcases or tournaments.

"It's exciting to see our players take the next step in their athletic careers," said the school's athletic director. "We wish them all the best in college."

[Pie chart and photos omitted]

“Right when I first saw her I could tell that she was going to be a good teammate and a great person,” exclaimed Junior Perrin Thompson. Her comments pertain to foreign exchange student and tennis star, Senior Simona Potockova. Ever since she first arrived in America back in August, she gradually became the focus of many conversations throughout both the school and the community.

Transitioning from Slovakia to Minnesota was a daunting task and adapting to the new lifestyle was an immense challenge. While the change was a complete adjustment of cultural norms, she was still able to find a piece of her home here in America. “The transition was really hard but when I joined the tennis team it really helped me a lot because I had people that I could talk to [from America]. They were so very nice and they showed me around,” stated Potockova.

She developed a sense of confidence and a feeling of inclusion in her newfound residency as a result of her team.

Tennis has always been a familiar obsession for Simona, “I have been playing tennis since I was seven.” Through the years of her hobby her craft, she has been able to become a dominant player on the court. Her talents were promptly recognized by her school teammates and Head Coach, Scott Larson. “She made everyone better by working as hard as she did at practice,” Larson added. Her unrecognizable talent led to her obtain a Mississippi 8 player of the year, a State Tournament participant, the team’s Most Valuable Player, and serving as unoffficially appointed leader.

Simona confessed the difference of playing tennis in Slovakia versus playing here in Buffalo, “It was more about ranking and scores back home. Here, I didn’t need to win. I was happy when my teammates were happy and smiling. She loves tennis but she played for the friends enjoyment she gained from playing and being with her teammates. Tennis was her slice of home that comforted her and distracted her from what she missed back home, “Tennis was really the only thing I knew before coming here, so I felt like it was home.”

“It was more about ranking and scores back home. Here, I didn’t need to win. I was happy when my teammates were happy and smiling.”

— Simona Potockova

I feel blessed to be able to get this opportunity to perform," said Owen Klapichter, 17, a freshman at Hoppers who will play the lead role in the fall musical.

"To have the chance to do something I love on stage with such a great cast and crew is something I don't take for granted," Klapichter added.

The production will showcase the talents of several young actors from the community. Director Maria Sanchez said that choosing Klapichter for the lead role was an easy decision.

"He has a natural presence and an emotional maturity beyond his years," Sanchez said. "We're excited to see how he grows into the role."

Klapichter said he has been working with acting coaches and taking vocal lessons to prepare for the role. "It's been a lot of work, but I'm learning so much," he said.

The show opens next month and runs for two weekends. Tickets will be available at the box office and online.

“In 2010, I moved to the Caribbean to St. Croix. I lived at an eco resort and volunteered for “Save the Sea Turtles”. I also worked for an organic farm there. I met a lot of new people, every day was a different experience. I didn’t know anyone when I initially moved there, I met people through my daily life. I lived basically on the water at the resort, so you could say it was basically the “beach life”. I met a few local artists there and that’s how they made their living. I think of this place as a “hidden gem”. The array of people down there is insane. A lot of the guys I met down there lived in their boats, and they started the organization, “Save the Sea Turtles”. I spent 5 years of my life after college traveling, and those were some of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had. Life is so short, do what you want.”