Toys for tots drive comes to a close

From December 7-18 BHS held a Toys for Tots drive. The Toys for Tots drive is run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and was founded by Major William L. Hendricks in 1947. BHS has held the dive for several years running, bringing in hundreds of toys for children in need. A donation of $3 is considered the equivalent of one gift.

“I love the toys for tots drive so much,” said junior Samantha Manick, “It’s good that we can bring so much joy to so many kids, and at the same time have fun with it, by competing with each other.”

This year a competition between STMA (St. Micheal/Albertville) was held to see who could bring in the most gifts. As of December 18th BHS has brought in 946 (Freshman 206, Sophomores 141, Juniors 335, and Seniors 280)  and STMA an estimated 562 gifts. An in school competition was also held to see which grade could bring in the most gifts. The juniors will receive a AAA ice-cream bonus on Wednesday, December 23rd.

Three Days of School

School has been opened at Buffalo High School for the last three days prior to Christmas vacation. Many students have wondered why this is because they think it’s pointless. Christmas Eve is the first day that is off, and many students have been asking why this is.

“Nobody is focused and no one will remember everything they learned,” said Sophomore Prentice Basten. Many students have skipped the last day before break because of the winter storm warning. Their families need to get to their destination prior to the snowstorm.

The Durst Quadruplets are going to travel to North Dakota for Christmas and they have to leave school early because of it. Fortunately this isn’t a problem for them because they don’t have any tests the last two blocks of school.

“I think that the first day of being out of school before Christmas Eve is kind of stupid because I think it would’ve been nicer to have that day spent with family so that I could have prepared for Christmas day,” said Junior Kendra Durst.

On the other hand, there are respectable explanations as to why we have three additional days of schoolwork. “We have three days of school because the state requires us to have a certain amount of days in the curriculum. A lot played into the decision about the school calendar.” said Assistant Principle Brandon Prell, “If we didn’t have these days in school, the seniors would graduate June 16^th instead of the 10^th since we already had a late start because of Labor Day on September 8^th.”

The seniors especially should be satisfied with the decision the school board made by giving them a few less days off of break, as well as all of the other students.

Merry Christmas everyone!

New Years Resolutions!

New Years Eve has always been a time for us all to celebrate the upcoming of a new year as well as the ending of an old one, a time to look forward to and also a time we will back at. A time to analyse the changes we set to make on the upcoming year, but will we actually stick to them? 75 percent of people who make a New Year’s resolution loose the motivation to work on that goal within six weeks of setting it..

“I try to stick to my New Years resolutions, but it doesnt really ever happen. I think when I get older they will matter more so until then I’m not so worried about it,” said Junior Megan Neske.

We all think of the little things we can do like spend more time with friends, lose 15 pounds, or just that easy expression to enjoy life more. Instead of looking at the biggger issues in our lifes that also have a bigger effect in the end like quiting smoking/drinking, getting out of debt, or even helping others in ways that make their lives easier.

“I do think that if we are going to let ourselves work towards of New Years resolutions that they should be important ones that have a meaning in the end and will actually have that difference made in ourselves and others also,” said Junior Ana Melgard.

Winter Driving

Winter driving always involves lots of accidents every year. Drivers have to be more alert while driving. Accidents effect lives, money, insurance, and cars.

“I was driving on Rosedale Avenue, the speed limit is 50mph. I was going 40mph, there was a driveway connected to the road. An Old guy backed out and I hit him going 40mph. I totaled my car and bent his truck frame,” said senior Joel Morehouse.

There are a lot of things you can do to prevent accidents in the winter. Gently hit your brakes to avoid sliding, keep your windshield clean so you have clear vision, drive a little slower than normal speed limit, be a more defensive driver, or do not use cruise control on icy roads. It’s good to have a “survival kit” in your car, just in case you get stuck somewhere out in the cold. High energy food (hard candy, unsalted nuts), flashlight, batteries, blankets, ice scraper, ect.

People usually hate winter driving because it’s slow and often times holds things up. It makes drivers impatient and makes trips longer than usual. Some people like winter driving because they think it’s an adventure.

“I love driving in winter because sliding around and stuff keeps you on your toes. It’s always an adventure,” said senior Nick Ingerson.

If you’re driving you need to slow down and be patient, which is sometimes hard to do. Use caution while driving and stay alert.Winter driving isn’t fun and most people don’t want to do it.

“I’m so glad I don’t drive in the winter because I see people wrecked and don’t want to be them,” said senior Hannah Perunovich

Double Header Results in Hockey Victories

The boys and girls Varsity hockey team played a double header on Tuesday, December 22nd. Due to a scheduling conflict the girls team was flexible and moved around Junior Varsity times so that the boys Varsity could play at 5:00 and the girls at 7:00.

“We wanted to make it work so that both teams could play,”  said Girls Varsity Head Coach Ray Dahlof. “We had the ice scheduled first, but we knew that the boys would have done the same for us.”

The boys played an out of conference game against Rosemount, that resulted in a 1-0 victory. The team had many opportunities throughout the game, but only one goal was scored by Junior Forward Cody Elletson  off a shot from the top of the circle inside the zone.

“We really should have won by more,” said Senior Assistant Captain Buzz Tryggeseth. “We had a lot of opportunities, and we made some good passes. We just couldn’t get the puck in the net.”

The girls played a conference game against Orono, that resulted in a 4-1 win. After two previous losses the team was excited about this accomplishment.

“Our passing was really good last night, we needed a game like that,” said Sophomore Defensemen Emily Ackmann. ” We all played together really well and it ended up being really fun.

Freshman Forward Katie Rooney received a hat- trick last night ( 3 goals in a game) and Sophomore Forward Prentice Basten received a play-maker ( 3 assists in a game). The other team goal was scored by Senior Captain Lauren Rosso, with an assist from Junior Bekah Wright.

2010: The New Year

Snow is on the ground, students are getting restless, and teachers are dreaming of lazy mornings in their pajamas- it’s time for Winter Break. This year, break starts on Thursday, December 24^th, 2009 and BHS classes don’t resume again until Monday, January 4^th, 2010. Many students have big plans for their days off, and are excited for the New Year.

When we return to the halls of Buffalo High School it will be 2010. The celebration of the New Year is one of the oldest holidays in the world- it was first observed in Ancient Babylon, almost 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians correlated the New Year with the first New Moon.  Though their celebration lasted eleven days and occurred just after spring began, or the Vernal Equinox.

Thus began a confusing period- where many emperors continually changed the calendars, forcing it to become out of synchronization with the sun. The Roman Senate (under Julius Caesar) finally declared January 1^st as the beginning of the New Year in 153 B.C. in order to set their calendar straight. But in order to make it work, Caesar had to drag out the previous year for an astounding 445 days.

The New Year is often considered a time for setting goals, letting go of old baggage and starting over.  Many people also watch the annual ball drop in Time’s Square at midnight on December 31st on their televisions.  It is also a tradition to create a New Year’s Resolution to try to stick to during the upcoming year.  Congratulations to anyone who meets their goal for 2010!

“My New Year’s Resolution is to have more free time because I’m running myself ragged,” admits Senior Michael Bonde. “I’ve had less than six hours of sleep every night for the last two weeks.”

“My New Year’s Resolution is to give everyone a chance, to not judge them differently,” explains Junior Megan Elsenpeter. “Okay, and maybe be nicer to my sister, Jess.”

Photo from pattyappleby.wordpress.com

Students Celebrate December Holidays

The month of December is full of different types of holiday celebrations. The holidays range from Christmas to Hanukkah, and many more. At Buffalo High School (BHS) ninety six percent of students celebrate Christmas.

According to the History Channel, “the middle of winter has long been a time of celebration around the world”. Christmas is celebrated on December 25th and Christmas eve the day before. On June 26, 1870 Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States, according to the History Channel.  ‘Santa Claus’ has become a major tradition for families around the world for celebrating the holiday of Christmas, but all families have their own traditions that they do.

“We put up our Christmas tree with colorful lights and we open up out big box of ornaments which bring back great memories, ” said Sophomore Anna Jacobs. “We also open our gift that day before Christmas and on Christmas morning we open up all our gifts and yes we still get gifts from ‘Santa’ which is always fun.”

At BHS three percent of students celebrate Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a eight day Jewish holiday that takes place between late November and late December. According to Religion Facts, every year the dates that Hanukkah falls on changes,  this year its December 12-19, 2009. History Channel states, ‘On each night of Hanukkah, the menorah is lit to commemorate a miracle which occurred after the Jews proclaimed victory over the Syrian armies in 165 B.C.E. When Jews came to rededicate the Temple-which had been defiled by the Syrians-they found only one small flask of oil with which to light the menorah. This flask contained only enough oil for one day, yet the lamp burned for eight days.’

Traveling is a part of the holiday season for fifty percent of students at BHS. Some students travel as little as a couple houses down from theirs to around the country.

“I go over to my grandparents,” said Sophomore  Laura Meisinger. “We have dinner and of course open presents.”

Girls Basketball off to a Great Start

The varsity girls basketball games had two close game to close out this past week. Saturday afternoon they played Moorhead at home. It was a close game but Moorhead came out on top 57-55. This was the girls first loss of the season.

“If we would have knocked down a few more free throws or play a little better defense toward the end of the game we could’ve pulled it out.” Said head coach Scot Sorenson.

On Friday night the girls had played Monticello. This was the first home conference game. The Bison came out on top 54-45. The win gave them their 6th straight  to start the season.

The girls are off to an impressive start this season at 6-1. Sorenson has been coaching on the squad for 11 years and in his time the girls have never had just one loss in the first 7 games. The Bison were in the state tournament last year and if they keep up the success it looks as if they can defend their section championship.

The girls next game is Tuesday December 22 in St. Michael at 7:30 p.m. STMA is on of Buffalo’s biggest rivals and the game should turn out to be a good one.

Bison Gymnastics falls short againist Cambridge

The bison on saturday lost to the 5th ranked Cambridge Bluejackets. The bison lost by 18 points with a score of 141.275 to 123.475.  In every event the bison got sweeped from the top three. The best finish all event was Nadja Vragovic  Floor routine scoring a 8.5 and finishing 4th in the floor routine event.

The bison will take on St. Cloud Tech on Saturday trying to improve their 0 and 3 record. and get there first win. The bison season won’t get any easy the bison still have to play the becker bull dogs Who the Startribune says “Metro’s deepest team: six gymnasts capable of scoring 9s or better in all four events.”

Nordic Skiing

The Buffalo Nordic Ski team has had hardly enough time on the snow since the snow falls late into the season. Despite the lack of snow the team went and competed in St. Cloud Apollo’s man made snow course against 5 other teams. The meet was a relay, with four people on each team: two were classic skiing, and two were skate skiing. The varsity boys and girls both placed second and the junior-varsity girls placed first. A week later was the team’s second time on snow at the same location. The girls placed second and the boys placed third.

“The girls have never been this close to winning, it’s a big step for these girls and a good start to the season,” Said Head Coach Jill Hanson.

The Bison will compete in there next meet away, on Saturday, December 19th.

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