The Hoofprint – November 19, 2009

EMBRACING DIFFERENCES

Senior Neil Gleason has been awarded Third Place in the Minnesota High School Music Composition Contest for his original piano piece “Traer Variations”. This is the third time that Gleason has placed at this competition. Last year he also received third-place for a piano piece.

“I’m really proud for how well the piece was received,” said Gleason. “It’s a good thing to know I’m consistent with my placing in the competition.”

Orchestra Director Michael Knutson commended Gleason for working on a lot of his composition work singularly, for showing good variety in his work, and for having the ability to carry on a theme throughout a piece.

Gleason is a also a member of Concert Band as a percussionist, plays piano in Jazz Band I, and is a member of the Music Listening Team. Outside of music, he is also on the Speech Team and participates in Knowledge Bowl.

Gleason’s next big performance--his senior piano recital--will be held at the Buffalo United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 22, where he will be featuring some of his composed pieces.

On October 21, Resource Training & Solutions hosted it’s 18th Annual Leaders in Educational Excellence Awards (LEEA) banquet and awards ceremony. 150 educators throughout the state were recognized with a certificate and a plaque from the governor.

For the 877 District, honorees included were Kindergarten Teachers Denise Casey and Bonnie Skoglund, English Language Learners Teacher Shana Bregenzer-Brenny, BCMS Social Studies Teacher and Administrative Assistant Tom Gould, and Special Education Instuctor Barb Janski. Also pictured above are Superintendent Jim Bauck and Resources Director Dr. Robert C. Cavanna.

Those who were honored were considered to have positive attitudes, strong leadership abilities, and superior commitment to education.

The economy of Wright County is struggling along with the majority of the country. With unemployment rates being up, housing prices and sales down, the state is receiving less tax revenue which ultimately leads to less money for BHS. In the last five years District 877 has proposed two levies, both of which failed by a slim margin. According to the Star Tribune, some reasons why school levies have failed in the past were either people weren’t aware, or they didn’t take the time to vote. Filling in the other bubble on the ballot is very different. According to an anonymous source, they wanted it to fail in order to lower their taxes. There could have been many other reasons why others wanted it to fail.

The levy passed 2207 to 1080 votes. Last year 8754 people voted against the levy, and only 8042 voted pass. Since this levy passed, District 877 will get to maintain its funds for the next ten years. “It allows us to not have to go into immediate financial troubles,” said Principal Mark Mischke, “Now we have short term stability.”

One of the differences between last year’s levy and this year’s could have been that there were questions on the ballot that differentiated from District 877’s needs. The presidential election could also have been one reason and could explain why there were less votes this time around. Another could be that people aren’t able to find enough time to go out and cast their votes. “I didn’t have the opportunity to vote because the lines were too long and I couldn’t wait in line for a half hour,” said an Anonymous Source. “I had obligations to be places. I wanted to vote, but I didn’t have the time.”

The group that is arguably the most affected by the levies are the students. Only 60 percent of students were aware of the levy taking place. Even though forty percent didn’t know there was a levy, when students were given a mock example of voting, the choice of pass or fail, eighty-three percent voted for the levy to pass. By doing the math, really only five percent of students knew how much the renewal was--roughly $110.55 per student.

The majority of the students thought the most important need at BHS was smaller class sizes. In order to achieve smaller classes, students said they thought that BHS needed to spend more on teachers. Second in importance was keeping the block schedule, which wasn’t offered as a choice, but was something students instead wrote-in. If the levy were to have failed, BHS could have experienced numerous cuts, critical to the average day at BHS. “Having the block schedule is very important to me,” said Freshman Dan LaGue, “Having four classes instead of six or seven is a lot less stressful and it is easier to concentrate on the subjects. The high school wouldn’t be the same without the block schedule.” “In my opinion, the most crucial cut would’ve been having to cut teachers resulting in larger class sizes,” said School Board Chair Dave Wilson, “This could have easily lead to a loss of the block schedule at BHS.”

$110 may not seem like a lot of money to most, but by putting that into perspective for all of the students in the district, let alone Buffalo High School, the costs add up. With approximately 1800 students at BHS, over the course of twelve years of schooling, we could have been without almost 2.5 million dollars. “I didn’t know that without the levy passing, we could lose so much money,” said Freshman Taylor Strege, “It’s hard for me to think of what my schooling experience could have been like if we did not have these funds.”

Kapayanpaan, Tsev Neeg, and Rauha are three words that have an unexplainable sense of comfort for students at Buffalo Community Middle School, they mean together, family, and peace. This year BCMS Assistant Principal Matt Lubben decided to team up with BHS Administrative Assistant & Diversity Coordinator Vicki Cary to form a Cultures United group at the middle school. This group is open for anyone in the middle school of a different race or culture who is looking for a place to connect with other students and learn about their cultures. There are currentlly 35 students involved and the group is continuously growing. The goal of this group is to be a place where students can openly talk about bullying, and the struggles they may face daily because the majority of the current society is simply uneducated of others’ cultures. “Cultures United isn’t a place for students to hide, but to be true to themselves and be proud of who they are,” said Eighth Grader Lillian Vang. “We want to work towards our school having less racism and bullying and not seeing students for size or hair color but because they’re people.” Cultures United meets every Thursday during Prime Time to talk about what they want to accomplish and events that they want to plan throughout the year. Recently they voted to elect an eighth grade student to be President and will soon have a Vice President and Treasurer. Some ideas that members have are to take field trips to help the community, like bagging groceries. They hope the group to expand and grow, as this is just the first year of Cultures United. They find it important to create an opportunity at the middle school so students don’t need to wait until high school to be part of a diversity group. “I am truely amazed with what ELL teacher Shana Bergenzer had accomplished at the high school and believe they have done a great job dealing with diversity,” said Lubben. “We are just trying to take that momentum of their success and mimic it here.” “It’s important to start with staff and create staff awareness, and then student awareness,” said Cary. “Students can teach us about their cultures, too. We’ll be more effective. It will be one big feedback loop, and we’ll be learning from each other.”

Beginning next summer on June 1st, a two- month construction project on room A-118 will begin. Currently it is used as a science classroom for Science Teacher Micah Morris, but it will be remade for use by the Special Education Department. “Room A-118 has a lot of physical space,” said Princi- pal Mark Mischke, “It is twice the size of a normal class- room, and was designed to be bigger when the school was originally being planned. This was to allow for alternative options on how the space could be used.” Room A-118 will serve mostly as an “in-house” room where special needs students will spend a majority of the day. Beyond that though, it is planned to serve three other purposes. “This is providing a big opportunity for the school,” said Mischke, “It is going to be used as a resource area for students to have a quiet place to do and get help on homework, and make up tests. Also we will incorporate a speech/language area into the room.” The whole project will cost roughly $250,000. The funding came from the American Recovery and Reinvest- ment Act of 2009, a stimulus bill. The money won’t be used exclusively on the reconstruction of A-118, how- ever. The Autism-Spectrum Disorder (ASD) classroom will also be enlarged with the space made from the vacant Special Education classrooms. “This idea [construction of A-118] has been out there for a while, but the county doesn’t have a surplus of funds for these projects,” said Mischke. “The stimulus provided a unique opportunity for us to move forward with con- struction.” Paul Youngquist, who constructed Buffalo High School originally, was hired back to oversee the construc- tion on A-118. Construction is scheduled to be finished by August 2010.

Diversity has been a heavily-discussed topic in schools over the last decade, sparking debates, the invention of new integration programs, and drastic changes in the way it is seen within the education system. Moreso than in recent years, the staff and student groups have been trying to raise awareness and support this diversity throughout the school. Progress has been made, and is continuing to inspire new ways of viewing groups of different races, religions, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.

The staff of The Hoofprint believes the concept of diversity applies to much more than than these four categories and appreciates the efforts being made to support all students. Our school provides opportunities for groups that promote the coming-together of people, not only with different cultures, but diverse backgrounds, living environments, and learning styles as well.

Although everyone is created equal, everybody is not the same, which makes a variety of groups and activities so important. There have been programs over the past years that work towards recognizing diversity such as clubs like Cultures United and GLTB (Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender). Organizations like GMSA (Globally Minded Student Activists) exist as well, where any student with an interest in helping the world is welcome. This year, we have a new Diversity Coordinator, Vicki Cary, whose job is devoted to teaching students and staff alike about the multiple faces of diversity. Cary has already initiated programs like IMPACT and The New Wilderness Program.

The infl uence of Cultures United, created by students at the high school, has spread to include new chapter at the Middle School and will continue to spread awareness and appreciation while providing support to students.

The German-American Partnership Program (GAPP) program brought students from Germany to America and will send our students to Germany to experience other cultures and learn how we are seen by others.

These opportunities to make connections with different people, no matter how diversity is presented, should be appreciated as real learning experiences. The more our generation can learn to undestand and apprecaite the diversity of others’ while still relishing their similarities, the more harmonious the world will be. As the most global generation yet, our future and our success depends on improving these skills.

We must continue to think beyond the areas in which progress has already been made in order to keep growing. Whether it be an exchange student, a person of the opposite gender, or someone who has never been to the Mall of America, our differences, - as well as our similarities - should be respected.

On December 7th-18th the Untied Nations will hold a climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss and sign a 181 page treaty, which would supposedly combat global warming. I would like to address the concept of man made global warming. Not only would I contend that the debate is not over, but that it doesn’t exist. According to isthereglobalcooling.com (which has links to NASA and MIT studies, among others) the world warms and cools, because of natural process of warming and cooling that create global equilibrium as well solar activity (which is the entire reason we have heat in the fi rst place). The whole concept of global warming is that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are blocking heat radiation escaping from the atmosphere. But a 20 year study done by Dr. Richard Lindzen of MIT shows the exact opposite. Radiation escaping the planet has increased. Data from the US National Climate Data Center show 2008 temperatures in the USA were below the 115 year average for most of the country, and NASA announced that 2008 global temperatures were signifi cantly cooler than 2007, the coolest since 2000 and below the average of the last 30 years. We have been in a state of global cooling for about 8 years now. Which is of course why “global warming” has become “climate change”.

The treaty the United Nations will be signing is an extension to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. The Kyoto Protocol was a treaty that set caps on how much carbon a country could release. If your country releases too much, you are penalized by paying signifi cant amounts of money. Signing this would be a huge mistake. If President Obama and two-thirds of the US Senate signed it, the US would become bound to the provisions in the treaty. These provisions would take precedent over the freedoms granted by the US Constitution. The only way to repeal such a treaty is if a majority of countries under the treaty allowed us to leave, or we wait for it to expire.

The treaty itself would set caps on how much carbon each country could release. These limits are almost impossible to meet. None of the countries currently under the Kyoto Protocol have met their carbon goals. Carbon is too diffi cult to get rid of. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) every trillion tons of CO2 we release will increase global temperatures by 1 degree Celsius (they believe we will release 7 trillion tons in the next 100 years, which means a 7 degree temp increase). For the planet to naturally remove or diffuse 1 trillion tons of CO2 it would take 33 years of absolutely no CO2 release. That means no more technology, medicine, transportation, or even breathing for 33 years. So any caps they set on carbon wouldn’t have any tangible effects on global temperature. A study by the Energy Information Administration projected costs of U.S. compliance with the original Kyoto demands to be between $100 billion and $397 billion annually. Because the carbon caps they are pushing for are far more stringent than before the costs will be far greater. In 1997 the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (95-0) against any environmental treaty that leaves out developing nations or hurts the American economy, which is the case with this particular treaty.

This treaty as it is, would be detrimental to US freedom and sovereignty. According to Annex 1 paragraph 38 of this treaty a world government would be formed, which would allow it to intervene directly in environmental and economic decisions. Countries with a large “carbon debt” (countries that release lots of CO2) would have to pay up to 2% of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to developing countries. If we didn’t meet the standard this global government set, they would be able to enforce laws on the US.

This treaty is going to have huge repercussions, but is going to do very little to help the environment. I am not condoning the destruction of the environment. I believe that pollution is a serious problem that needs to be addressed, but when trying to fi x such problems the results should be a little more tangible. At most, under best case scenario where every country in the world (not just those under the treaty), The Kyoto Protocol would reduce global temps by a whopping 0.07 degrees Celsius according to the Heritage Foundation. So whether you think there is global warming or not, this is not the path to take to defeat it.

This treaty alone would not dismantle the US or our Constitution, but it would be a wedge that would leave us susceptible to further loss of freedom. The cost would be astronomical, and in the current economic climate this would not be sustainable. America has been able to better reduce CO2 than nearly every country in the Kyoto Protocol, because our freedoms make us the most effi cient country in the world. We must refuse those who would take that away.

You know how everyone says “you learn the most when you have been through it.” Well I can say that is so true! I am a 16 -year-old teenager who has been through Leukemia Cancer and what feels like a whole lot more! I have learned so much about life and enjoying the simple things and just being thankful for what you have.

I have always been a happy person, liked school, loved friends and life was good but I never thought that my life could be turned up-side-down in a second. Before I got diagnosed with cancer I was on vacation with my family and we were having a great time; on the way back I wasn’t looking forward to going back to school and doing homework, but if only it was that easy. I had no clue that things were going to change so fast and my life would change in a instant.

We all go through hard times, some harder then others. But what about the people that are going through something hard and you don’t even know it? You would have no clue unless you personally knew them. They don’t lose their hair or have something drastic happen to them so everyone knows things aren’t going so well. What about that girl that everyone makes fun of because of her outfit or the way she acts so different, do you really know the real reason, not just that she is “weird?” So what if we were to treat everyone the same as if they are going through something hard. Would we all be happier?

I have learned that having no hair you notice a lot of things, you get treated a lot different. When you walk through a store with just a hat on, people know you have cancer. You know that people are trying to be extra nice. Some times they will let you go in front of them in the check out line or greet you with a “hello” and a big smile. But what if we acted like that with everyone? Sometimes the simple things you do for someone mean the most.

I had so many of my friends, family members and even people I barely knew come and visit me in the hospital. It was great! It makes me think that if I had never treated anybody nicely, I wouldn’t of had as many people visit me. I have learned that it’s not trying to be liked by everyone but by truly liking people for who they are you will have many friends. So I encourage you to think about what comes out of your mouth when you are gossiping about someone because one word could shatter a person‘s heart. And when your laying in your hospital bed, who do you think will be the one to visit you, not the one you made fun of your whole life. Who is going to be by you side no matter what?

Even though your in that hospital bed, your body hurts and you feel like there is no end to your pain; you just have to look on the bright side of things and know that things could be worse. You are going to have hard times in life but in the end you look back at it as just a bump in the road. You just have to pick your feet up, hold you head high and keep walking towards the light and you’ll never see the dark shadows.

Through all the pain and all the fear, You were by my side To wipe the tears. You held me tight, Said not to fright, “ ” over you tonight. The angels will watch g, Th l illg ,

On Friday, October 30, students and staff consumed cheeses of over 20 different varieties for only one dollar. Once a year the world language department teams up with the International Club for a celebration of dairy and odors. Originally an idea created by former BHS Teacher Maya Zaeska approximately two decades ago for homesick foreign exchange students, it has since progressed into an annual event where all students are allowed to come after school and partake in many different kinds of cheeses.

German Teacher Michele Straussburg and other world language teachers went to Sam’s Club and Byerly’s to buy over 500 dollars worth of cheeses, plates, and more for the event. It’s a long and arduous process, involving much cutting and preparing, and quite a few awful smells, generally consuming more than one prep hour for teachers, but it has been reported they like to “usually make the T.A.’s help” according to some faculty.

“I think the party was a huge success,” said Spanish Teacher Nacy Eiynck. “We had had over 120 attend. It is a unique opportunity for students to sample something they may otherwise never try. And really, how can you go wrong with exotic cheese, lemonade and good friends.”

The Student Care Committee is a small group of about 6 students who meet every Monday during AAA. This is a group that is always looking for new member who want to help out their school and fellow classmates. SCC is active throughout the entire school year and they are always trying to help someone in need.

“I joined SCC my freshman year because I care about other people and i think that this is a great way to show it.” Said Junior Kayla Elsenpeter.

The most recent project done by SCC was the Coat Drive. There were signs up in the hallways and a message on the monitor for two to three weeks. The coats were donated to families who needed them for the winter season that is approaching. In the weeks the collecting went on, there were about 15 coats that were donated.

Pay It Forward is the newest upcoming event on SCC’s schedule. Cards will be given to students throughout the school who are doing good deeds and deserve a kind word. That person then will give their card to another student that they feel is making a difference.

“The things you do for other people do matter.” Said Elsenpeter. “They don’t go unnoticed.”

Every other year, selected members of The Future Farmers of America (FFA) attend the FFA National Convention. The convention consists of a college and career fair, seminars, a keynote speaker, and many students from all over the United States who are dedicated to the future of agriculture.

Last month FFA Advisor Todd Lubben and the selected agriculture students traveled 14 hours by bus to Indianapolis, Indiana. The convention was held from October 20-24.

"I went two years ago also," said Senior Jordan Pahl. "This year was better because we were older so we were more interested in the college and career fair that we attended. We could actually sit through the seminars and retain the information."

In order to take part in the trip, FFA students had to prove that they deserved to go.

"Basically you have to write an essay that tells why you want to go and what you want to learn," said Senior Lacy Swearingen. "Whether you go or not is also based on your activity level and how much you participate in FFA."

11 students were chosen to attend. They were introduced into an atmosphere much like FFA at Buffalo High School, except for the fact that thousands of other students with the same interests were present.

"It's like we go there and we're all dressed alike," said Swearingen. "The only thing that sets us apart is our town name on the back of our jackets. There's around 40,000 kids and it's pretty neat."

FFA members are given opportunities to win awards over the time they participate in the program. Towards the end of the convention an awards ceremony was held. Sara Marquette ('08) won the American Degree Award.

"The American Degree Award is the highest degree you can get as an FFA member," said Senior Leah Petersen. "It's a huge honor to win it. You can be in FFA until you're 21 or 22, so even though Sara graduated two years ago she can still take part in it."

After the ceremony the students left Indiana and headed back to Buffalo. They returned home grateful for the experience and the opportunities it provided.

"It was really neat to be there as upperclassmen," said Pahl. "I think we got more out of it and when we walked around the college and career fair we were actually seeing what we wanted to do with our futures."

Six Conference championships, one Section championship and 106 victories later Head Football Coach Gerard Rohl is still going strong.

The night of September 18th, on the Zimmerman fi eld, was defi nitely a night to remember for Rohl. After 15 years of coaching at Buffalo High School, Rohl put his 100th win in the record book, when the Buffalo beat Zimmerman 30-14. Each year that Rohl dedicates his time to the football program, is an opportunity to benefit each and every player, and make the team the best that it can be.

“I’ve been coaching here at Buffalo since 1993,” said Rohl. “It helps to have so much experience because each year you make less mistakes, and having many other coaches who have been here for a long time makes it all that much easier”

The Bison captured Mississippi Eight Conference Championship again. Rohl is a year round coach, from football to baseball, and in between. He is in the weight room helping with Buffalo’s summer strength and conditioning program.

“I did not even know it was his 100th win in till I heard it over the loud speaker” said Senior Mike Zook. “It was really cool knowing we were a part of it.”

“It was nice to fi nally get the victory over with” said Rohl “When we won it didn’t hit me that it was my 100th win in till after wards someone told me”

Rohl doesn’t plan on giving up his position any time soon; he looks forward to each and every year.

“I guess I could retire in three years, but as long as I’m still teaching here, I will continue coaching. You’ve got to do something to not be bored.”

Head band-Target Shirt- Bible Camp Boots- Delia’s Lip Gloss- Bath and Body Works Jeans- Hollister Earings- Claire’s

“I wear things that represent me because you can tell a lot about a person by the way they represent themselves.” -Sophomore Megan Ask

“Probably the thing I remember the most about him is taking a program that had been what the Star Tribune called “cellar dwellers” and making us believe that we could win. Taking his fi rst team in 1992 to a 4-4 record and our fi rst appearance in the playoffs in a long time. Then the following year making it to the State Tournament, a team that I was a member of. So a long story short, was he got the most out of his players, and his players respected him. There are a few things he has helped me with; fi rst he taught me how to persevere. When the chips are down there’s always a way, if your willing to put in the effort. He also helped me in the college recruiting process. Not necessarily going to the school that offered the biggest scholarship, but one that would be the right fi t for me academically & athletically.

On September 30, 16 students stepped off a plane into a brand new country. After the 12 hour flight from Frankfurt to Minneapolis, with a stop in Amsterdam, the exchange students arrived around 4:30 p.m. They were met by their host students, with whom they had been paired with last spring, at the Minneapolis Airport.

“It is very different here than in Germany and England,” said Exchange Student Michael Zentgraf, “The people are very friendly, and I can’t wait to get to know more about them.”

The GAPP (German American Partnership Program) exchange program, which Buffalo joined in 2001, will be participating in its fi fth exchange. It is sponsored by the Goethe-Institute. Each German student paid approximately $1260 to make the trip over to America. BHS students will pay $1800 to make a trip to Germany next summer in 2010. This program has offered the students and schools a unique experience.

“I like that it brings other people into my students’ lives,” said German Teacher Michele Strassburg, “There’s a lot of excitement with the students who are a part of this. It bring our languages alive.”

The exchange students took part in a multitude of activities while their hosts were at school. They went to Mall of America, and took tours of Fort Snelling, the State Capitol, and the Twin Cities. The GAPP students and their hosts also participated in many activites together. They spent a day at the Water Park of America, had a costume party, went on a hay ride, and had a Germans vs. Americans soccer game (the Germans emerging victorious).

“My favorite thing was visiting the Mall of America,” said Exchange Student Jessica Wietschorke, “I have never seen such a big building with so many stores. Nothing in Germany compares with it.”

The 21 days were a learning experience for the German and American students alike. The program gave German students a unique, fi rst hand experience of America and its culture, and the American students got to see how other cultures learn to adapt to American culture fi rsthand.

“People [Germans] are fascinated with America,” said the Germans’ Advisor Stefen Zuren, “Many of them have had siblings who have already come to the U.S. and are curious, and also see it portrayed on T.V. They want to fi nd out what America is really about.”

1 Mall of America “The Mall of America was really fun because we went twice; once as a group of Germans and once with American teenagers. I bought a lot of clothes.” - Christina Seppi

2 Parties “I also really enjoyed the Halloween party. It was fun to see everyone dressed up and to see so many costumes.” -Nicole Karnaus

3 Sporting Events “Students in America seem to be more involved and interested in sports than Germans are. The volleyball girls are especially fun to watch in their little shorts.” -Leo Lutz

4 Fort Snelling “Fort Snelling went really well. The people were nice and I like that they had the outfits from the old time. But it was too cold.” -Nicole Karnaus

5 Orchards “The orchard was fun, but it was a little weird and spooky because they had Halloween things out.” - Nadja Schleiffer

Te 2008-2009 Tatanka Yearbook and Hoofprint.net were awarded All-State Gold honors and Te Hoofprint took All-State Silver at the Minnesota High School Press Association (MHSPA) Convention held at the University of Minnesota on October 20. Te 2009 Tatanka yearbook, Origin, received 8 awards out of the 9 categories. Te Hoofprint received 7 awards out of 12 newspaper categories.

Te Tatanka and Hoofprint each took 3rd in the Best in Show competition for their categories, while hoofprint.net was awarded First Place in the Web Site general excellence and earned Best in Show honors at the convention.

Many individual students also took home awards for their work with Buffalo High School Publications. Overall, a BHS student was mentioned 15 times out of the 30 individual categories.

Te yearbook writers swept all of the yearbook writing award categories. Senior Monica Shoberg won First Place in the yearbook feature copy category. Senior Sophie Jundt won First Place in yearbook sports copy. Senior Minnie Ostvig took second and T omas Polzine [2009] and Jacob Dooley [2009] shared the honor for First Place in best academic copy for the yearbook. In the yearbook design category, Danielle Krolak [2009] took second place. Matthew Ebeling [2009] won 3rd in yearbook sports photo, and Senior Joel Morehouse took second place.

“I felt so honored to get that award," said Jundt, who wrote on the topic of Girls' Swimming and is a current Tatanka editor. “I spent so much time on that story and worked my butt off for at least a month. I'm glad that I got recognized for it."

Ebeling also took fi rst place in Magazine Design.

For the newspaper individual awards, Miranda Cole [2009] took T ird Place in center spread design. Morehouse and Bradley Palmer [2009] took third in page one design. Senior Daniel Hanson took honorable mention for newspaper sports photography.

Te awards were for work on the 2009 Tatanka yearbook, Origin, and the Hoofprint newspaper and website from 2008-2009.

All newspapers, yearbook and websites in Minnesota are invited to participate in the competition. Current Tatanka and Hoofprint editors attended the convention and were given the opportunity to participate in sessions throughout the day off ering a variety of hints and tips in regards to photography, writing, and design to maximize learning and productivity. WCCO-TV Reporter Jason DeRusha also gave a keynote address to the crowd.

"I really liked him," said Senior and Tatanka Editor Maren Jung. "His ideas were really interesting and they made a lot of sense. Te sessions throughout the day were also really valuable and I feel like I can use a lot of the things I learned in the future to help me become a better editor."

While students relaxed and spent time with their friends after school during Homecoming week, the six memebers of Student Congress began meeting in the Black Box T eater to prepare for a weekend of government and debate. T ey had less than two weeks to get ready for the Practice Congress Tournament at Hawley High School. With fi ve of the six members moving up to the next level of competition, the students would have to work hard if they were going to succeed--especially if three of them held only one year of experience.

"I was very nervous, but happy to be promoted to House One," said Junior Madelyn Roseen. "It was my choice. However, I felt intimidated when I got there and thought, 'Holy crap these people are good!'"

Even through all the shaking nerves and racing heartbeats, many of the students ended the tournament well by gaining awards and recognition. At the meet, each student submitted bills to committees which were reviewed by other students for possible use at the Nation Qualifying Congress Tournament. Of the 12 bills submitted by the students, six were chosen for advancement. Also, two students received individual awards: Senior Avery Holm was chosen as Presiding Offi cer for the second day and Senior Jennifer Engnell won the Excellent Speaker Award [second place] for her chamber.

"I really wanted to come back with something because it's my last year," said Engnell. "I was hoping to get the Outstanding Speaker Award (fi rst place), but I get another chance at the next Congress. I'm hoping to go to Nationals, which means I have to make Super Congress the fi rst day and be one of the top speakers."

With all the exciting memories and success during the weekend, the six students are looking forward to the upcoming National Qualifying Congress Tournament in December. However, before the meet, they will all have to write authorization speeches for their passed bills and gather information about the collection of other bills they are given. T e students are hoping to do as well as they've done at this past tournament, but more importantly are looking foward to having a fun weekend with their friends while competing.

"My favorite part about Congress is meeting new people and staying in the hotel," said Senior Ian Raatz. "At the next meet I'm looking forward to wiping the fl oor with people."

Globally-Minded Student Activists (GMSA) are back again and off to a whole new start for the 2009-2010 school year.

Started during the 2007-2008 school year by former English Teacher Kelly Barrick and 2009 Seniors Hannah Birkeland and Sarah Ramsey, the loosely-based group of students originally dealt with the Sudan crisis. During May of 2008 a benefit was held to raise money for the Save Darfur organization. Along with student and community volunteers, the group was able to raise over $6000 for the cause as well as create widespread awareness.

In the Fall of the 2008-2009 school year, English Teacher Katherine Kunz was hired and ended up picking up where Barrick left off.

“During my interview I expressed interest in leading a group of student activists for humanitarian and environmental causes,” said Kunz. “Late that September, [Administrative Assistant & Diversity Coordinator] Vicki Cary introduced me to Hannah and Sarah and together we formed GMSA.”

GMSA has 15 core members who are students, one advising teacher, and two other teachers, Art Teacher John Holtz and Math Teacher Emily Greeley, who help out when they can and are considered “honorary members.” The group also seems to have a widespread popularity throughout the rest of the building, with many students who show up just to volunteer once or twice for the group.

“I think there were probably about 10 to 20 people who were actually legitimate members last year,” said Senior Rachael Etter. “During an AAA meeting there were probably about 40 or 50 who attended. This year it almost seems like there are even more than that. The English Resource Area [where meetings are generally held] is usually packed.”

Last year’s GMSA group had two main focuses. One focus was the Enough Project, which sent aid to the Congo. Over $200 was raised for the project. The other was the Not For Sale Campaign to end human trafficking, which students raised over $4000 for. When students heard about what GMSA was doing, they were inspired to join and the program began to grow rapidly.

“We were very grateful to all the volunteers in the school and in Buffalo who helped us along the way,” said Kunz. “We were very glad we were able to shed some light on some very dark issues.”

Now that Hannah and Sarah have gone off to college, GMSA is led by new students who helped out in last year’s benefit, and also dedicated time over summer to meet with Kunz to begin brainstorming for the 2009-2010 school year.

“We’ve recently been having Feed My Starving Children nights,” said Senior Emily Anderson. “We get a group of usually around 20 people where we meet at Jimmy John’s and carpool down to Chanhassen and go and package food. It’s just a really great opportunity to help others and to bond as a group at the same time.”

GMSA’s main goal and hope for the year is to raise money for at least 13 students and 2 teachers to visit Arizona and Mexico during the summer to volunteer in a migrant shelter and to work on a community building project through the organization “Me to We.”

“’Me to We’ is a really great organization,” said Anderson. “We’ve been in contact with one of the directors there, Alison, and we’ve been working with her to figure our trip details since early August. If we can pull this trip off, it would set a whole new precedent for the group. We like being known for raising money to give to others, sure, but we also want to be known as a group who goes out and has a physical role in the help as well. This trip can do that for us. I believe it would be so much more rewarding for us.”

Projected events for the group include having an ethnically-appropriate Thanksgiving Dinner, selling GMSA-related items in local shops, and perhaps even putting together a 5K run for charity.

“Fundraising is going to take a lot of work,” said Anderson. “But if we have enough people who are dedicated and willing to put their time and effort into it, then I know there is no way we can’t achieve our goals.”

Every year during the week of Halloween, BPA and DECA, along with the Sophmore Class Cabinet sponsor trick-or-treating for canned goods. It seems to be a misconception among students that you must be a member of either of those groups [BPA and DECA] to participate.

“I think it helped, that on the monitor, it said you could get NHS hours for trick-or-treating,” said Junior Lindsay Jacobs, who went along with two of her friends after school Thursday. “More people got involved this year when they found out you can just get a group of your friends together and go out on your own.”

The cold, rainy weather on October 28th, and 29th didn’t stop Juniors Michael Diesting and Nina Downer from walking door to door.

“It began to rain once we finally got started,” said Diesting. “We were not prepared for that; none of us was really dressed for the weather. Fortunately we had an umbrella, and cloth reusable bags. The paper bags didn’t work so well once they got wet. I wasn’t really in the mood for all that, but it worked out.”

Obviously traditional trick-or-treating safety is followed, but due to the chilly weather, many students were invited in while the homeowners checked the pantry.

“At one house the older couple invited us in. Apparently they loved the fifties. When they noticed that I was wearing a poodle skirt as my costume, the woman excitingly yelled for her husband to go get the camera. Then we awkwardly posed for a picture,” said Junior Courtney Bjorklund.

To receive a minimum of two volunteer hours for either BPA or DECA, National Honor Society, or church service; each group was required to collect at least two grocery bags of food. Jacobs said, her group not only got quite a few excuses for not donating, but many people would offer the girls some soup since they looked so chilly. All food donations went to the Buffalo Food Shelf.

“Everyone in town knows what the food shelf is. I think that people were more willing to donate because of the fact that they knew exactly where the food was going locally, instead of strange organizations coming to their door that wanted donations,” said Diesting.

Many high schoolers continue to trick or treat on Halloween, this event was a way to put that activity to good use. Students were allowed, and encouraged to dress up in costumes, and go along with friends to neighborhoods they were familiar with.

“It was a good way to get out into the community, while celebrating a holiday, and helping others,” said Jacobs.

Bright colors and lights set the scene as two people face-off in front of Family Feud Host John O’Hurley. When O’Hurley poses the question, “What is one thing that people are said to be walking on?”, Math Teacher Michelle Macalena immediately presses a buzzer and answers, “Eggshells.” The screen then fl ashes to show that “Eggshells” is the number one answer as Macalena and her family excitedly jump up and down.

Playing as the Walberg Family [Macalena’s maiden name], Macalena was featured on the show with her sister and team captain Erin Walberg, her mother Renee Walberg, her aunt Shirley Bruns , and her cousin Becki Kelly.

“My sister arranged the team,” said Macalena. “I honestly couldn’t have imagined being there with anyone else--Erin’s really energetic and spunky, my mom is always supportive, my cousin is super competitive, and my aunt is just fun to be around.”

Filmed in August, Macalena was not allowed to discuss the outcome of the show for two months, and co-workers and students were seen waiting impatiently around their television sets at three o’clock the afternoon of October 19th to view Macalena and her family. The Walberg family won the fi rst game, and then continued to dominate in the second and third games, extending their appearance on television to four days. When faced with the Speed Rounds in each game, however, the family continued to fall short on winning big money. Of the target 200 points, the family earned 177 the fi rst game, 199 the second game, and 198 the third game.

“Anyone who knows me knows I like winning a game of Monopoly, so winning the fi rst game of Family Feud was totally awesome and exciting,” said Macalena. “All of the games were great because we got to experience the success of winning together as a family. I have no regrets about not winning the Speed Rounds. We still won the game--won the game three times--we just didn’t win the big money.”

Macalena said she never expected to participate on a national television show and admitted that the whole thing was thrown together last minute.

“My sister was driving home from work on a Wednesday and heard an ad on the radio to audition for Family Feud that Friday,” said Macalena. “She called the number, left a message, and they called her back a few hours later. That Friday my family and I drove to the Mall of America to audition. We played two mock rounds in a game. After the mock game, we got an interview and they asked us about ourselves. We said that we actually liked each other, loved hanging out as a family and got along. We weren’t sure what they were looking for, so after the interview we thought that we weren’t going to get on the show because we thought we were kind of boring. Turns out they must have liked us, because Erin got a phone call a few days later saying we were in.”

Macalena’s sister tried to contact Macalena on her cell phone, but couldn’t get a hold of her. After fi nding out she was working out at Gold’s Gym, her sister called the gym and had an employee go to the treadmill Macalena was on to tell her she had a phone call. Macalena at fi rst thought something bad had happened because it was such an unexpected call, but when she picked up the phone she heard her sister yell “We made it!” on the other line.

“I was so excited that I jumped up and down and ran around to tell people at the gym,” said Macalena. “Anyone that I even only sort of knew found out. I was just so excited I could share the news with someone.”

The family fl ew out to Hollywood on August 21st and spent a few days sightseeing before fi lming the actual games on August 23rd. The family competed relentlessly from 9am to 5pm with other families and in front of a live audience.

“Before the fi rst game I was nervous and a little bit excited,” said Macalena. “The producers told us that we would be the next family up about fi ve minutes before the show started, so we didn’t have a ton of time to think about it! And then the game started and it was total game mode. The whole game I was trying to think of answers while my teammates were answering questions, so I really didn’t have time to be nervous once the game started. The whole day went by so fast.”

The family fl ew back on August 25th feeling an overall sense of accomplishment with themselves and being in generally upbeat moods.

“The whole experience was amazing, and we didn’t really think about how close we were to the money until the next day,” said Macalena. “I didn’t really feel disappointed or upset, just grateful for the experience and opportunity. We didn’t go on Family Feud for the money, we went for the memory.”

”[Senior Jenna O’Flanagan]’s grandparents did it a few years ago. Jenna was looking at pictures from it, then she asked me if I wanted to do it. Soon enough we had the music and costumes.”

-Senior Jessica Herdklotz

"We both have a good sense of physical comedy. [Sophomore Andrew Jacoben]’s creative, so a lot of the material comes from him. We try to keep it clean and family friendly."

-Sophomore Korbin Canny

"It’s really nerve-wracking when you fi rst get on stage. But after you start playing, you forget all about the nerves and focus only on having fun and playing your best."

-Sophomore Ben Haseltine

The clock turns 7:30pm, and a huge applause is heard as Band Director Scott Rabehl walks across the stage in front of the Concert Band. Suddenly it is silent as the band awaits their cue, and then by the suave motion of the his hands a grand musical sound is heard.

“My favorite part about concerts is getting dressed up and being with my friends, and then going on stage and showing the world what you can do,” said Senior Neil Gleason.

For the past month, the Performing Arts Center (PAC) has been busy being used for a variety of musical performances. Events occurring on the stage in the past month ranged from the Tri-M Variety Show to the Orchestra Concert to rehearsals for Seussical. Before, during and after school the PAC has been used by individuals and groups to rehearse their acts. And when performance day finally comes, students encounter lots of mixed feelings.

“When I’m with the group I feel fine, but when I sing in BHS Singers or a solo I get nervous,” said Junior Minde Pulvermacher. “Everyone gets those butterflies in their stomach. You just have to look down at your music and remember the words.”

Even through both the excitement and anxiety performers endure, the show usually always ends well. All three musical ensembles have received compliments this year at their concerts, as well as the individuals who performed in the Tri-M Variety Show.

“I was really impressed on how many people were in Orchestra,” said Junior Michael Deisting. “All the music was very well rehearsed.”

Besides all the good things happening on stage, there is much more behind-the-scenes work done. The musical ensembles practice for almost two months before each concert, and take apart each song to perfect every part of it.

“We work on 10-20 tunes for about a month, and then we select the three or five we are going to use in the concert and work on those for three weeks typically,” said Rabehl.

Without the hard work of the musicians, none of these concerts would be possible. The students dedicate their time and skills into a musical piece to make it the greatest it can be. And, by the end of the year both the audience and the performers are awed at what they have achieved.

“I really like Showcase [the last concert of the year], because you can compare it to the first concert of the year and see how much you’ve accomplished,” said Sophomore Sarah Braith.

With a 7-1 record at the end of conference play, the football team advanced to Section play-offs as the fi rst seed. On top of that, the team was named Co-Conference Champions along with St. Michael Albertville and Rogers. They were then ranked Seventh in the State for 5A football.

“It seemed that lots of people doubted us at the beginning of the season, and we’ve been able to prove them wrong,” said Senior Captain Ben Hensen. “That has just made all of our success even more exciting, it’s just cool seeing all the hard work paying off.”

The team had come through many obstacles including injuries, illness, and even having a key player penalized by not being able to play one game. However, they were able to push through these events and emerge as a stronger, more focused team.

“Having to pull together throughout the season really made everyone step up, and fight through the hard times,” said Senior Buzz Tryggeseth. “It seemed to bring us closer, just when we needed it, in time for Sections.”

The Bison received a bye for the fi rst round of sections, because of their success in Conference play. This gave the team time to prepare for their fi rst section game. They played a back and forth game against the St. Cloud Tech Tigers, where each team competitively worked to overcome their opponents success’s. The game started with a touchdown from the Tigers early in the fi rst quarter. The Bison dominated the second quarter, but were unable to put any points on the board. Senior Captain Josh Gaughan was then able to run the ball for a fi fteen-yard touchdown. The Bison then attempted a two point conversion, which was unsuccessful. This resulted with St. Cloud Tech still being in the lead with a score of 7 to 6 to start the fourth quarter. The Bison then took control, with another touchdown run by Gaughan and a successful two point conversion. This pulled the Bison up 14 to 7. To end the game the Bison gave St. Cloud Tech a safety, which gives the other team two points, enabling them to run the clock until the end of the game making the fi nal score 14 to 9.

That win resulted in the team moving onto the Section 8 Finals, where they played the Brainerd Warriors at St. Johns University. Near the end of the fi rst quarter the teams fi rst points were scored off of a 93-yard kick return by Junior Dillon Miller. After, which Gaughan successfully completed a two point conversion. The Bison were not able to score again until the fourth quarter with touchdowns by Gaughan and Tryggeseth. However, the fi nal score was 33 to 22 in favor of Brainerd. This ended the 2009-2010 football season for the team.

“It was hard losing our last game of the season,” said Senior Lucas Hein. “But it’s good to know that I came away from it with many memories, and that we were just as successful as last year.”

Girls Swim & dive 10-2

Tennis 11-4

Girls Soccer 10-8-2 Semi finals Section Lost 2-0 to Brainerd

Cross Country Boys and Girls 2nd in Conference

Volleyball 13-14 section Quarter finals lost 3 games to 0 to Waconia

Boys Soccer 6-8-5 Section quarter finals Lost 1-0 to Armstrong

The bell rings at 2:20 signaling the start of after school activities such as work or sports. In the case for sports, you head to the locker room, put on your equipment, and trot to your specific field. Yet there is whole other side of sports that everyone fears: injuries. If you get an injury it’s devastating; it could end your season. Even if you’re able to play, you will have to fight through the injury the rest of the season. Take Jake Letsinger who is the Bison middle linebacker, and a key member of the defense.

“I sprained my ankle three times” said se-nior Jake Letsinger “My rehab consists of doing the tippy board to build strength in my foot and sticking my foot in the whirlpool.”

The tippy board is a ball with a board on it, and the player needs to rock back and forth to strengthen the muscles around the ankle. The whirlpool is a a cold form of a hot tub that helps speed up the rehabilitation process

From a sprain or torn Anterior Cruciate Lig-ament or ACL is one of the four main ligaments of the knee. You need to get treatment from Kris Savaloja the athletic trainer.

“We are so lucky here in Buffalo to have such an amazing training staff,” said Boys Bas-ketball head coach Nick Guida. “I am required to do something to help the situation but Kris is the best.”

When Kris shows up here his office H20, it quickly fl oods with athletes in need of help, from getting there ankles taped to rehab. Major injuries, like an ACL tear, take a long time to fi x in rehab.

“I tore my ACL in my left knee play-ing soccer; there was a 50/50 ball in middle and two guys went for it. One guy pushed off a little, and my body went one way and my knee stayed in place and it popped,” said Brent Kettenacker. “Before they could do surgery, they had to wait a month to let it heal. Then after surgery it took three months of rehab everyday, even twice a day.”

From Cummings fi eld to the hockey civic center, you see Kris on the sideline, just waiting for an injury to happen. Shes always prepared for the worst. When an injury occurs she’s always right there to help the player.

“The worst injury I have seen was a few years back when a girl manager for the baseball team got hit in the head,” said Kris. “She had brain injury.”

According to NFL there are about 160 con-cussions in the National Football League every year. In February 2006 a new helmet hit the mar-ket. It was the first new helmet in 25 years. Statis-tics say that if you have a new helmet you are 31% less likely to suffer a concussion if you were wear-ing the old helmet. The new helmet was designed to reduced the risk of suffering a head injury.

“Over the years concussions have became less common,” said Football head coach Gerard Rohl. “Back in the day concussions happened so much, but now the new helmets have minimized concussions. Now injuries have moved to more shoulder and ligaments injuries.”

On Thursday October 29th at the Willmar Golf-course, 14 cross coun-try teams gathered to start their sections race, including a 5 kilometer (3.1 mile) run. The Buffalo Bison boys’ team ended up taking 4th overall, while the Girls ended up taking 3rd overall. With 3 contestants advancing onto State.

The boys has fi nished with and overall score of 131 points which put them 42 points off from Willmar who had an overall score of 89, who also took 1st and are now advancing as a team onto state. The girls fi nished with an overall score of 110 points which put them 30 points off from Shakopee who had an overall score of 80 points, who also took 1st and advancing them onto state as a team. Sophomore Matthew Dietrich had a 7th placing time of 17:20.9 putting him in the top 10 scores and advancing onto state for the fi rst time. Along with Dietrich, Seniors Jacqueline Thaemert and Megan Ackerman had a placing time of 15:55.9 (Thaemert) 5th, and 16:03.1 (Ackerman) 9th, sending them both to state qualifying in top 10.

“No matter how hard it is, if your mind is in the right place you can do it,” said Ackerman.

The state Cross Country meet was held at St. Olaf College, North-field on November 7th. Buffalo did not end up making it to the state meet as a team, boys or girls, but several Buffalo runners did compete. The run consisted of a 5k and accounted 156 girls and 160 boys who eligibly com-pleted. Dietrich ended up taking 97th out of 160 male runners with a time of 17:19.0. Ackerman ended with a fi nishing time of 16:40.7, placing her 121st out of 156 runners. Thaemert ran a time of 15:55.7 which ended her in a placing spot of 58th out of 156 female runners.

“Since it was my fi rst year on the team and making it to state felt great. State went okay, and next year I hope to do way better than I did this year,” said Dietrich.

Two brothers stand on the stage at Elk River High School in front of 200 students. One strums chords on his guitar while the other introduces the audience to their presentation, The New Wilderness Project. The faces in the crowd come from Elk River, Rogers, and Buffalo High School. October 12 started the first of three phases of the New Wilderness Project.

Benjie Howard and Maketa Wilborn are co-directors of the New Wilderness Project. They founded the project on the idea of different cultured people having the opportunity to share their story, and listening to others personal experiences. The name The New Wilderness Project, derives from a metaphor that the two brothers incorporate into each phase of the project. The metaphor focuses on different groups of people coming together to bridge cultural gaps.

Howard and Wilborn started the morning with an hour-long performance of poetry and singing, which introduced the students to the main focus of what their day would entail.

“The performance at the beginning was interesting,” said Junior Valencia Ingram. “Both of the instructors had completely different life stories and cultures, but they put their stories together and created one song out of it. It was eye-opening.”

After they were done with the performance, it was time for the Elk River students to go back to class and the group was narrowed down to 25 selected student leaders from Buffalo and Rogers.

“We all sat together introduced ourselves by saying our name and using one word and action to describe us,” says Ingram. “When it was my turn I said my name is Valencia and I am friendly. Then, I gave one of my million dollar smiles.”

The students first created ground rules in order to ensure that everyone would feel comfortable throughout the entire session. Then stories were shared about personal experiences with world diversity.

“I really like the approach that the New Wilderness Project uses to make sure that students always feel comfortable,” said Junior Michael Deisting, “The students mainly led the discussions, so we could bring up any topic that came to mind. But if you didn’t feel comfortable with the topic, all you had to say was ‘Ouch,’ and the discussion would be dropped. We were also told to focus on ‘I’ statements, instead of using ‘we’ statements and generalizing groups.”

The next activity got a little more serious, each student leader was told to write an “I Am From...” poem.

“Everyone went off by themselves to reflect and think about where they are from, and who they really are,” said Junior Sadie Holland. “We started off our poems with the line “I Am From...” and then finished the thought however suited each individuals’ story.”

When the poems were finished students had the opportunity to share it with the group.

“I feel that by sharing them, it really personal and serious. Hearing others stories made it so real, and made me realize how different everyones background is,” said Holland.

Phase two takes place on January 6, 2010. At this session, the three schools will focus on gaining a deeper trust with each other and continue discussing social and cultural differences between different groups of people.

“I am from a time of lies, Speaking to a mirror, of false refl ections, that sets sixteen years of bonds, down into an abyss of black. Engulfi ng trust, love, and, me. I am from an over protective ritardando body guard of the heart. The knowledge of the effect, when the cause is misused, the parental mind, wanting, needing, obsessing to precent the faux pas of the persistent hear of desires.”

Morning in the Life of Twin 1, a Who...

“I wake up, look at the clock, and oh dear! Twin 2, Twin 2, if we don’t get going, we’ll be late, I fear!” I jump out of bed, into the shower and back out to eat, while Twin 2 rolls over, pulls up her covers and goes back to sleep. I drag her out of bed and onto the road where we drive to school in our Who-Car, our transportation mode.

We park in the lot just as the bell rings, the whistling-whips and dangling-dings. Dashing off to our fi rst block, our yellow who-uniforms getting in the way, we plop down in our desks in a fashion of who-disarray...

2:30 PM. We start the beginning of Act I: the opening number. Taking my place, I run the song through my head, marking spins or steps and singing silently to myself. We quietly wait for the music to start, then explode in song and dance. It doesn’t matter what happened in your fi rst block class, or if you’re fi ghting with your best friend. What matters is that you are no longer yourself anymore. You’re a Who trying to save your planet, or a Sour Kangaroo so certain that a guy you know is hearing voices. You are your character, through and through.

3:30 PM. Mrs. Bessland, our dance instructor, wants to go over a new dance sequence in a scene. The selected dancers hop on stage, some looking psyched, they really are dancers, and others looking like they’ve never danced a step in their life. We start slowly, counting our moves off in a ‘5-6-7-8’ fashion and by the time we’re ready to try it with the music, we’re actually starting to look like we’re dancing together as a group instead of a group of high-schoolers desperately trying to remember what step is coming next.

5:00 PM. Rehearsal is over, for today at least. We leave with our scripts, promising to look over our songs and have certain scenes memorized by the next day. We all troup out of the PAC, grabbing our coats, lifting our heavy backpacks, acts that bring us back to reality not the Who-fi lled crazy land that Dr. Seuss created.

Saying our good byes we wait by the doors for our rides and discuss the nearing show dates. We discuss the nearing show date, less than a month away, will it come together before then?

And the answer is yes. Just like a sport team before a big game, we work harder than we ever thought we could on stage, we memorize our music and our scenes and we become our charac-ters for four days straight--November 19 through 22.

We become the cast of Seussical and before we know it, it’s fi nished.