The groups participating were: Concert Orchestra, Concert Choir, Jazz Ensemble I, BHS singers and Concert Band will be performing. Each performed a few of their favorite musical pieces and at the end there was a combined finale and award ceremony. All State and Tri-M awards were presented, along with the Semper Fidelis, Louis Armstrong and John Philip awards for high-achieving music students.

The shoes were brought to the Albertville Nike store to be sent off for recycling. The recycling process uses a “slice-and-grind” technique where each shoes is cut into three slices. The slices are then fed through grinders and purifiers. The outsole portion is used for outdoor tracks, playground surfacing, and new Nike products. The midsole is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts. The fabric upper is used in the creation of cushioning pads for indoor facilities.

The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program has been collecting and recycling athletic shoes since 1990. In the past 20 years, 25 million pairs of shoes have been donated globally. Anyone can contribute – there are drop-off locations in Albertville, Bloomington, Medford and North Branch.

Beginning on Thursday night, the two day competition consisted of one written round and five oral rounds. Of the 48 teams present, half participated in the large school competition and half in small school. Team one competed in the large school division and held first place after the written round and two oral rounds. During the third and fourth rounds of competition they dropped out of first and eventually fell into fifteenth place. Finding a way to battle back, team one jumped seven spots in the final round to claim an eighth place finish.

This state appearance involved not only the members of team one, but also the seniors from teams two and three. All eight seniors who participated in knowledge bowl attended. As tradition, the group stopped on their way to the tournament for a game of bowling. Between rounds members golfed at the resort, swam in Gull Lake, and played Ultimate Frisbee with other knowledge bowl teams.

Story by Francie Varner

Yang presented her book, The Latehomecomer, to students, staff and other community members last Monday night in the Performing Arts Center at Buffalo High School. Her story teaches the reader that “life will teach you the strength of the human heart,” and that “the flesh can take blows, while the heart suffers them.” She also focused on the importance of education, and how learning is “when curiosity connects with care.”

The Community Book Read went from 4-7pm. Participants engaged in small group discussions, listened to Yang present The Latehomecomer, and watched The Cultures United group give a Hmong fashion show and arts entertainment. This was the fifth-annual Community Book Read. Kao Kalia Yang is the first female and first Hmong author to present. The Latehomecomer is available at Buffalo Books and Coffee, Book Break, Buffalo Public Library, and the BHS Media Center.

“Writing involves playing with the past, piecing together the future,” Yang writes in The Latehomecomer, ” – striving in the present to understand and realize the pieces that make us who we are.”

After an unsettling seventh place finish last year at the State Tournament, the Buffalo Mock Trial team redeemed itself by earning second place honors at the State Tournament on Wednesday. Two Buffalo team members took All-State honors.

Each of the twelve teams at State compete in three rounds to determine the top two teams that square off in a championship round. The teams are divided into winner and loser brackets throughout the three rounds by the amount of ballots they receive. Each judge’s score sheet is considered a ballot, and three judges preside over a round.

Buffalo swept both St. Peter and Albert Lea in the first two rounds by taking all six ballots, which seeded them against Woodbury for the third round. Buffalo took two of the three ballots from Woodbury, which placed them at the highest seed in the tournament.

“We had a very fortunate seed in the first round,” said Coach Laurie Raymond. “Our point differential in that round let us face some of the weaker teams who were winning trials later on in the tournament.”

At the awards luncheon on Wednesday, Judge James E. Dehn announced that Buffalo and Breck School were the two highest-seeded teams advancing to the final round. The scores weren’t released, but Breck will represent Minnesota at the National Tournament in May.

“I won’t ever forget when they announced that Buffalo was going on to that final round,” said Junior Samuel Kemp. “Everyone at our table jumped up and started screaming.”

Throughout the tournament, Senior Lindy Jensen earned her second All-State Witness award at the tournament and Senior Graham Wyatt earned his second All-State Attorney award. Jensen was the only individual in Minnesota to earn an All-State Witness award twice, and Wyatt was one of only three to earn two All-State Attorney awards.

“The tournament was an incredible experience and a great way to end four years of mock trial,” said Wyatt. “Breck had a great team this year. They earned the privilege to represent Minnesota, and I don’t regret anything.”

Along with raising money for the Minnesota Special Olympics, BPA is also competing with schools around the state to raise the most money and awareness for an organization. Last year, they raised money for the same organization, and received an award for their accomplishment. They have set a goal this year of raising $2,000, nearly doubling last year’s total. To increase awareness, BPA members are doing more advertising during the school day and at school sponsored events; they hope to receive an award in the area of advertising as well.

The Bison finished off the season with an overall record of 7-17-1. In the Mississippi 8 Conference, the boys finished in 4th place behind Rogers, Cambridge-Isanti and Princeton; they split with Rogers and Princeton. With regular season over, the boys will have one day of practice before heading up north this Tuesday, February 23rd to face-off verses Brainerd in their first Sectional game. Brainerd finished first in the Central Lakes Conference and have an overall record of 21-3-0. If the Bison (6th seed) beat the Brainerd Warriors (3rd seed), they will play this Saturday, February 27th verses the winner of the Monticello/Roseau game. Check out next weeks hoofprint.net for more information on the Boys’ High School Sectional play.