The Hoofprint – May 2019

Since the pivotal turnpoint that happened before our time at Buffalo High School, The Hoofprint has been seen as a magazine rather than a true newspaper. For this issue, while it remains true that the Hoofprint is a magazine, we decided to go back to our roots and for one issue cover breaking news stories in Buffalo High School.

This school year has been a noteworthy one in our school history. Students adventured out to start businesses in the school. We saw the snowiest school year any of us can recall, and with this came problems admin has never had to deal with before. The rise in technology has caused the staff at Buffalo High School to seek changes to our school system to accommodate this new trend. Technology is not the only perceived epidemic at our school--so in this issue we will explore the next step that admin has taken to control vaping in at BHS--and how these changes have been perceived by our students.

While opinions may vary, change continues to be prominent throughout Buffalo High School, and it is up to the individual whether these changes are seen in a positive or negative light.

We hope you enjoy the issue, and look forward to the fourth and final issue of the 2018-2019 school year. Our staff has something really special in the works.

It would be hard to find someone who doesn't like a snow day or a cold day, but how are these spontaneous days off called in the first place? Well it all starts when a day with excessive snow or cold is forecasted, then superintendent Scott Thielman drives throughout the district testing the road conditions, consulting with the staff, county and city officials, and other area school districts. He then makes a decision on whether or not to delay or cancel school, or to just keep it at a regular time.

With the amount of snow days we have had this year, some people have begun worrying about days being added to the school year to meet the state required 174 days of school. In response to the large amount of days off, Minnesota lawmakers passed the “Snow Day Relief Act”. This made it so that Minnesota students are not required to make up missed schools days, but if a district deems it necessary, they can add them, such as the STMA district, which has decided to add days to their school year.

But rest assured, as said by Superintendent Thielman,“The [School] Board, at this time, is not considering any changes to the school calendar.”

But if this legislature had not passed, the district would have had to account for the number of days selected to have off.

“The amount of snow/cold days we are allowed to have in a year changes each and every year,” Superintendent Thielman said. “[The amount of snow days allowed] varies each year as the number of instructional days have been converted to instructional hours. The district has to calculate by grade level and take into consideration which students reported to school on the first day and which students reported during testing, etc...”

The days off affect the teachers and their academic plans for the students. With all the days off, they have to either cut out certain learning targets that aren't as important as others, or condense them in order to fit all of the information into the class.

“It just makes it feel more disjointed,” business teacher Jennifer Kremers said.

This in turn can make life harder for students, as well, seeing as we have to try to catch up along with the teachers in order to make up what we missed due to the days off, which can make homework and tests all the more stressful.

“I feel like the snow days really put a kink in my class work, but it was still a good choice for the district to make, due to the danger the winter weather could pose to students,” Lexi Charpentier said.

With all of the extreme winter weather we experienced this year, from -60 degree temperatures, to the random snowstorm in April, things can get clumped together and make life more difficult for both students and teachers, while still being the right choice for the district to make. In the end, we all like a good break from our normal school routine, but too much of a good thing can quickly turn into a bad thing.

It was fun to interact with other Business Professionals of America members from different chapters. I also enjoyed competing in my events.

It was so much fun to be able to see all the amazing swimmers and to be able to experience the environment that a state meet brings.

We stayed really busy, but it was worth it — we placed third out of the entire state.

BHS Pop Shop rapidly grew in popularity over the past spring, adding new products weekly, like Monster, cupcakes, and Mountain Dew Baja Blast as the Pop Shop grew. Many patrons of the pop-up shop grew curious about its origin.

The origin of the company started with one sophomore student: Connor Jarland '21. Jarland wanted to create a wider variety of what was available with school lunches.

"The school lunches are limited," Jarland said. "Everyone likes pop, everyone likes candy. It's for the better of everyone."

Although the possibility of getting caught was prevalent throughout the business' operation, Jarland and his co-owners tried to maintain a plan.

"I plan not to [get caught]," Jarland said. "We may lose our stock, our profit. Kids would go starving and thirsty. I don't want to be the result of that."

For the duration of the business, profit grew exponentially. When the business first started there were a few collaborators which made splitting the profits hard.

"We have profited around $600, and sold around 30 products a day," Jarland said. "We may start a new business with the profit, I have the mindset of an entrepreneur."

BHS Pop Shop amassed over 300 followers on Instagram, and used the platform to conduct business.

"We liked verbal sales, since they're very effective. We used Instagram and Snapchat to do sales as well. We took Venmo, which is an electronic money sending service, as well as cash and coins, as long as it equals one dollar."

Recently, the Pop Shop tried to begin business in the cafeteria using the concession stand. In an email sent to the administration, the owner proposed a business deal. Administration ultimately denied the request after Connor Jarland presented his ideas to the school board. In a statement by Mr. Mischke "You cannot have a private for-profit business in school."

He also talked about the products, saying "What is sold in school is strictly regulated by the USDA, we cannot sell pop during the school day. As a matter of fact you cannot have anything besides diet products in schools, it's illegal. We would be breaking the policies of the USDA."

Mr. Mischke even stated that he had no hard feelings, saying, "He is a well intending student that was trying to do things that he thought were progressive. There is just some things that you just can't do in school."

As far as we know, BHS Pop Shop is over, although their Instagram did do a poll asking if Pop Shop should come back with 79% of people saying yes. Connor Jarland may have a plan in place to legally be able to continue his quest to quench kids thirst.

With the upcoming school year, many changes will be out with the old, and in with the new. Among this, administration plans to implement a new phone policy in classrooms.
Mr. Mischke explained the details of the change.
"The policy is intended to create a more of a consistent expectation from class to class as compared to what we have currently," said Mischke.
"The policy involves a general premise, would be that phones are away in your backpack, or in your locker, but away and not on your desk during instructional time unless teachers want you to have them out as part of the instruction. Study after study that is being done now in terms of distractibility as far as phones and in terms of where they're at for anybody, not just kids. The negative impact on attention span and the ability to learn that the phone has when it's in physical proximity or on somebody. That was what kind of drove it, and trying to make sure that we're ahead of the game in terms of best learning experience for kids."
Mrs. Mundahl, a Family Consumer Sciences teacher, explained why she thinks the policy will be beneficial to the school environment.
"We live in a very busy world, and people's lives are jam packed with school, work, applying for scholarships, and extended day. People's days are so full. I think the result is that our brains, and our ability to concentrate is so fractured. The old word people used to use is 'oh I'm multitasking.' There is no such thing as multitasking today because we're trying to do everything. We're filling every single minute," Mundahl said. "Pretty soon, I don't think the brain is even working to its peak anymore. I think it has dramatically affected learning, the ability to learn, but also what you even give yourself time to learn. I think it will remove the struggles that can occur between teachers and students because without a school-wide policy, there's not a consistent message to the student."
Colleen Nevala '20 described what she thought the goal of the administration was when creating this policy.
"I think their goal was just to limit distractions for students, try to get students to participate more in class, and pay attention to our grades instead of being distracted by their phones," Nevala said.
"It was also to be easier on teachers who feel that they're underappreciated when students are distracted by their phones."
Mr. Mischke explained what he hopes to achieve with the policy.
"The end goal is more effective, more engaged kids in the classroom, and more effective classroom environments. Kids are going to be able to learn at a higher rate if they know their peers expectations and their own expectations, if they know them ahead of time. Regardless if it's a cell phone, whether it's a backpack, whether it's behavior in the classroom. When you know what's expected of you ahead of time, the chances of you being successful are much higher than if you don't," said Mischke. "I think we will see an overall more productive classroom environment for all kids, not just the kids that are having to put their phones away but the other kids that have their phone away that are constantly listening to the teacher redirect kids that don't have their phone away."
Next school year, the school will implement a new phone policy. Although opinions vary, the staff's primary goal is to set the students up for success.

Imagine leaving your home in America, going to another country and living a new life. Imagine becoming fluent in a foreign language, and making friends with people from all over the world. Well, that’s exactly what I am doing in Bavaria, Germany. Most may think only universities offer exchange years and studies abroad, but students as young as 14 receive this opportunity.

Going to a new school where English isn’t spoken, definitely challenged me. With only two-years of German, I barely completed all of the work at first. However, I could communicate with a mix of English and my limited German with the others in my class. In two months, I understood the general meaning of what was said to me. By Christmas, I was able to speak and write to the point I could complete all of my school work. Now, after 7 months in Germany, I am able to keep conversations and say what I want.

Most Americans associate beer with Germany, as many Germans would associate hamburgers with America. However, that’s not entirely true. With 1900 bakeries in Germany, it’s common to see 9 or more bakeries in a city similar size to Buffalo. You can imagine the role that bread plays in Germany. Of all the bread styles, many Germans prefer Brötchen: a small roll sized bread with a hard outer surface and it requires a knife to be cut. It is unlike any bread commonly found in the United States, but found quite often in German bread.

Everyone in Germany typically has “Brotzeit”, or 'breadtime', at least one day a week for breakfast. With this style of bread in addition to a great variety of meats, cheeses; jelly, honey, and Nutella. Once you cut your Brötchen, typically you would spread butter on one half of your Brötchen, before placing your desired items on your bread; eating it similarly to an open face sandwich. The types of meats and cheeses available in Germany are endless. If you can think of it they have it. One of my host family’s favorite meats is Hackepeter, raw seasoned minced meat. Although you may think otherwise, It’s safe to eat; we haven’t had food poisoning, and it tastes good too. However, you have to eat it quickly which isn’t a problem as it doesn’t last more than two meals. Brotzeit is also a common dinner and breakfast as well yet Brotchen isn’t always used; American sandwich bread, (toast) and bread loaves are other common options to consume your daily bread.

Living with another family sounds frightening, although in many ways, it’s similar to your real family. At first, everything seems slightly different because the rules and customs are different than what you’re used to at home. Yet after the first few weeks, you get a general idea. For me, the transition was relatively easy. Although, sometimes things happen that don’t go as planned. I switched host families during my year, and my new host family turned out to be a better fit. Now, I get to experience life in Germany with two unique families from different parts of the country.

Most people only do an exchange year once and usually don’t know what to expect. My organization, Youth For Understanding, (YFU), arranged a few meetings to help prepare myself and others that were about to do an exchange and continued throughout our year abroad. Even if I already knew about the topics that were talked about, I found it awesome to have the opportunity to talk to people from other countries, also doing their exchange year in Germany. Most students in high school don’t have friends from countries such as Argentina and Norway.

Doing an exchange year isn’t for everyone. If you’re considering it, know that it takes a lot of work, but it’s worth the effort. A year seems like a long time; yet, the time goes by fast, and it’s possible to stay connected to home. With many applications due in the fall, now is the best time to find your destination. From Argentina to France, Spain to China, your host country awaits.

Over Spring Break, eight exterior bathroom doors were removed from student bathrooms. Some students have been outraged by the change.
Students shared stories about how this affects them personally in their day to day life. Some felt the atmosphere of the hallways have changed.
"It's gross," McKenzie Robeck said. "Everyone can hear you and it's embarrassing."
"I don't think that the school taking the doors of the bathroom off is going to stop students from vaping," Serenity Simmang said. "It's just going to provoke it more. I see more vaping now that the doors are off."
"I don't see how this is going to help at all. It's only going to make the vape smell go away faster," McCormick Merges said. "No matter what the school does, kids are still going to vape. Punishing everyone because a couple of kids vape isn't solving anything."
One student is stepping up to fight to get the doors back and show the negative impact of taking the doors off. Senior Teagan Woods is working to help students and administration work together more effectively. She has opened a survey and petition on the subject of bathroom doors.
Woods says that last year students had a much better relationship with the administration than this year. Students have said that they feel ignored and not trusted.
"Instead of approaching, the culture of BHS as a whole punishes the students and doesn't listen to them," Woods said. "As far as I can tell, it is sending a message of distrust to students, and they feel less comfortable and less safe than they did before."
This has been one of many changes over this school year. Over the summer, different security systems have been added to some doors. This combined with the recent announcement of next year's schedule and policy changes has many students on edge and worried about the future.
"With the changes in schedule and the bathroom doors, they didn't notify students, they simply did it and students had to reconcile with that with no reason given why they did it, no explanation," Woods said.
Some students have been worried about security and comfort of a basic human right.
"I personally have been wanting to do data collection from students to be able to see a change through data," Woods said. "I would ask about this because I do not know if the administration is doing this. They have not said anything. But if they do something like this, somebody better be collecting data, somebody better be showing the effects."
Students are encouraged to talk to staff and administration. This is our chance to make a difference in our school. Teagan Woods has been leading the charge and encouraging other students to talk to the administration.
"If students agree with me, they should make their thoughts known," Woods said. "They can always e-mail the administration."
"I think we have an amazing administration," Woods said. "They have shown they want to work with us, and they want to listen to us. This is something we have heard every year. We have a duty as the students to hold them to that standard."

PAYTON JOHNSON
Modeling a People of BHS post about Mr.Robinson, Payton Johnson ‘19 was the journalist to come across his story. Mr. Robinson was a student teacher for Mrs. Hagstrom-Durant along with Mrs Eld this school year. “To me he protrays the quote ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. He makes you feel accepted in class and that you are welcome.”

CHLOE PAUL
Chloe Paul ‘19 is a part of the original group to start People of BHS. The account was started two years ago by four Sophomores. “It was the first story we ever did and for me it signified the start of something bigger than myself,” Paul said. “[Mrs. Burrell] she talked about when she worked for a sea turtle organization and I would have neve known that about her had I not started People of BHS.

LAUREN EHLERS
Lauren Ehlers ‘20 proudly holds her favorite post pulled up on a computer. Ehlers and two others had big shoes to fill after the original owners past the account down. “We found people and asked ‘Do you want to be apart of this?’” Ehlers said. “It really helped me to go out of my comfort zone. It was interesting to hear diffrent stories and perspectives.”

After only spending a couple of minutes looking at the instagram page ‘People of BHS’ the perspective of Buffalo High School changes. People featured on this page have let their guards down and shared stories that mean something to them and each of the ten owners have been given the opportunity to share them with others.
Humans of Buffalo High School, highlighting and sharing stories of those who attend this school is the goal of the instagram page People of BHS. Instagram was used as a platform to share peoples stories so they could be heard. The page originally began as a Journalism 2 project and ended up catching a lot of people’s attention.
Lilly Ragab ’19, Alyssa Romportl ’19, Chloe Paul ’19, and Ashlinn Emery ’19 originally started the page in March of 2017 and first posted about counseling secretary Emily Burrell’s story about working for “Save the Sea Turtles”. The idea behind this page came from a different instagram page called ‘Humans of New York @humansofny’ run by Brandon Stanton. Over the next 16 weeks, they amassed over 500 followers and their posts regularly received over 200 likes. Even though their work was getting a lot of attention, they decided to remain anonymous for the rest of the first year to showcase the stories rather than the people finding them.
“It was really cool to have the opportunity to share other peoples stories,” Romportl said. “The account just appeared and we really grew in popularity pretty fast. I’d hear people talking about it and be there without people knowing that I ran it.”
The page was passed down to Emily Eiden ’20, Lauren Ehlers ’20, and Sydney Polzin ’20 during March of 2018.
“We got to meet a bunch of new people and go out and about during class,” Polzin said. “We’d stop someone in the hallway and ask them to tell us a story. It really opened our horizons to meet new people, learn how to talk to people and become more extroverted.”
Most recently, the page is run by Mackenzie Myrkle ’19, Payton Johnson ’19, and Mackenzie Holmquist ’20 as of March 2019. They decided to change up the account a bit by having each picture correspond with the story instead of just headshots.
“It’s more about getting the actual story out there instead of just the person behind the story,” Johnson said. “You get to share people’s stories and have that personal conversation with them. You feel like you’re doing something good for the community.”
In this day and age, what really makes the page special is how it’s main goal is to spread positivity and share stories. Each post is a picture, each individual chooses if they want their face in the picture or not, and a storytelling quote about a topic of their choice. Some posts focus on deep topics, where others are light hearted and funny. Amanda Krinke ’20 and Victoria Herda ’20 both had the opportunity to be featured on the page, and are still affected by the page even after being featured. People featured on this page aren’t those who are super out there and people everyone knows about, but more so those who have stories that no one knows about.
“I find out a little snippet about someone,” Herda said. “And hear things that happen in other people’s lives that are outside your group and what is familiar to you about the school.
“It gives you an inside on the ‘Be Kind’,” Krinke said. “Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. It gives you the lens to be able to see some of the battles or the stories they go through.”
People of BHS looks to showcase anyone who is willing to be interviewed. All stories matter and they make us who we are. They also are a way we are connected to one another.
“Every day presents new stories to be shared,” Johnson said. Stories can be viewed at @peopleofbhs on Instagram.