In previous years, the two concerts were held on two different nights, allowing concert-goers to attend whichever one suited their schedules the best. This year, however, both performances will be on the same night, two hours apart.

“In the past, from what I’m aware of, parents have wanted two different nights to attend in case they’re working for one [of the dates],” Concert Choir member Kiley Herbst ‘24 said. “This year, I don’t really know why we’re having two because they’re on the same night, but I think it’s in case people get off of work later [they can still go]. That could possibly be a reason why.”

Partly due to the time limit now placed on the first concert, groups have put together a little less music than they have in previous years.

“We’ve had to limit how much [music] we’re putting in the concert, but that’s kind of worked out because we’ve had shorter blocks and shorter time to prepare for the concert,” Herbst said. “The music is relatively just as difficult, there’s just going to be less music overall.”

The new concert schedule will also change the experience of the performing students.

“What has happened [in the past] is that the first night is an alright night, but we go back to school the next day and still are prepping for the same concert that we’d already done, so the second night’s better,” Herbst said. “Because it’s all on the same night, we can’t really do that process anymore. [The BHS Singers] have also done carols before the concert on the steps of the PAC but this year I don’t think that’s going to happen just because we have to take the photos for the yearbook [before the first concert] and we have to just get ready for the next concert after that.”

Despite the changes, Sounds of the Season promises an enjoyable experience for both the audience and the choirs, with the latter group looking forward to getting back into the familiar atmosphere of a performance.

“My favorite part is the camaraderie between everyone and the community aspect,” Herbst said. “Behind stage, BHS Singers are never really sitting in the audience watching, so while everyone’s performing, we’re talking and getting ready to sing, and it’s just really enjoyable and fun.”

“I’ve wanted to be King ever since I saw Ovie Mayo win last year,” Gorton explained. “I thought it was cool how his friends basically got him there. Then I emailed Mischke about how to become Homecoming King, and he told me [about the process].” 

Gorton’s younger brother, Jenner Gorton ‘27 played a big part in his advertising campaign.

 “He was pestering a lot of people, like, a lot,” Gorton said. “I got people coming up to me yelling at me because of how annoying he was, but he said he got at least 40 people to vote for me.”

Another pillar of Gorton’s strategy was making posts on the BHS Snapchat story. His marketing campaign featured photos of himself with heavy filters and promotional captions reminding students of how much time was left to vote and that they should strongly consider voting for him.

A few days before voting closed, Gorton announced that he was going to get a tattoo if he won the vote. “I thought people were going to think it was funny if I won,” Gorton said, “but when I got the idea for the tattoo, things were a little more serious, I guess.”

Despite his consistent efforts, Gorton didn’t have very much confidence in his victory until the moment he stepped out on stage. 

“I thought Reese Hollins was going to win,” he said. “I heard so many people say that Reese was going to win. When that crown was hovering above my head, I was so nervous. I think I saw a video [of the moment] and I was tapping my shoes and whatever.”

When the crown landed on his head, a crowd of his friends and family lept from their seats to congratulate him. 

“My mom is really hyped for me,” Gorton said, “for the Homecoming King part. She thinks I’m a little silly for the tattoo, and when I told her I bought [the tattoo gun], she wasn’t upset, she was concerned.”

With the machine ordered, as well as several “practice skins” to perfect his technique on, Gorton hopes to carry out his promise this weekend. 

“It’s gonna say the year and then homecoming king and then above it a little doodle crown,” Gorton said.

“The mind of a black woman” is a rare topic of conversation. What it may be like for them in environments where they aren’t welcome is equally as uncommon. Many African American women talk and think about it, but it’s more silenced than understood in our society. What is it like to be a black woman? Is it glamorous, with their perfect lips and hips that attract the eyes of horndogs, or is it lonely and full of hardships and insecurities?

LL* is an outstanding student at Buffalo High School. In her years of high school, she has accomplished many things and she is full of ideas, including big plans for her future. She’s been in music classes since she was young and she’s been an honor student from the moment she started school. Even with her high status, cool friends, and good grades, she still experiences the mistreatment of being a woman of color.

“At the beginning of the year, when I was still taking the bus, there were these middle schoolers,” LL said. “Basically, they were dehumanizing black women talking about ‘oh BBW’s, their tits this, their body that.’ All the stuff they wanted to do to them. They were saying the n-word and stuff too. I was just like, ‘Wow! You’re literally in middle school, pipe down.’ This energy, it starts young. I think that’s what showed me that racism is taught early. [Those kids were] so young and they were already exhibiting this behavior.”

LL gets into depth about racism that mostly occurs on the bus. She says that the bus is a place where kids feel the freedom and the need to express themselves without being monitored by a teacher or staff. Racism is a common practice on the bus. Most of the time, the bus driver doesn’t say or do anything to stop it.

“I’ve been [in Buffalo] long enough that people shouldn’t [treat me] differently because I’ve been cool with a lot of people from different groups and backgrounds,” LL said, “but sometimes they still treat me differently. It’s gotten a little bit better since I’ve grown up, but it was worse in elementary school. Even now in high school, I see a lot more people that look like me.”

Principal Mark Mischke says that Buffalo High School has been taking intentional steps over the last few school years to ensure that the school is a safe place – physically and emotionally – for People of Color (POC). 

“Every kid should see themselves in our building,” said Principal Mark Mischke. “Regardless of their race as they come in, they should be able to see themselves in our building and feel comfortable here, and not be exposed to negative, negative, slanderous comments being made to them.”

Much of the racism that POC experience, however, can come outside of the walls of the school. Unfortunately, it’s not just on the bus where these things happen. On social media among teens, there are many racist and homophobic things said on those flashing phone screens. The freedom teens are granted online can be truly abused, and an issue that black women seem to face more often than not is being stereotyped and being called harsh names.

“I don’t think anybody deserves it,” LL said. “I don’t think… I hope I don’t deserve it, and I feel like I can recover. It’s high school, and everybody’s going to grow up. If you peak with this energy, then good for you, that’s what you deserve, but I don’t think it fazed me too deeply because I grew up and realized that people that look like me, are going through this too. My biggest [issue] was when George Floyd died and everybody’s perspectives suddenly changed. Like now, now is when you wanna change? You had all these years [to change]. There’s not a time for enlightenment. You should have always known that we’re human beings, and it shouldn’t take someone dying for you to understand that.”

Frenzy* is another student of color that goes to Buffalo High School. In the past and present, she has dealt with the hardships of being discriminated against as a student because of anything from her braid style to how well-spoken she can be at school. She’s seen and heard the truth of what really happens at this high school.

“[Even] a couple of days ago, I was minding my business and I could feel that people were treating me a certain way just because I was black,” Frenzy said. “Nothing major, but it’s just disheartening because you have done nothing, and you don’t deserve that, but you still feel that judgment from people.”

Buffalo High School is a PWI. According to US News and World Report, About 90% of BHS students are White, 4% of students are Hispanic, 3% of students are two or more races, 2% of students are Black, and 1% of students are Asian. 

“Over the last three years, we’ve done training of our entire district staff,” Mischke said, “and we are continuing to take steps and move forward in terms of preparing a more well prepared staff to be able to work through [racial] situations both proactively and reactively. We’ll continue to move forward on that because we have a lot of work yet to do.”

Even though some progress appears to have been made, racism remains an issue for POC in this region of the U.S. 

“I feel like I’ve grown from the bad things that have happened to me or the environment that I’m in, but it also has caused me to question myself a lot,” Frenzy said. “It’s caused a lot of self-doubt within me. I feel like we don’t get any or just the same opportunities as everyone else, and they don’t have to try as hard as we do to just get to the same level.”

A black woman’s story isn’t too distant to understand. Their experiences are shared worldwide through a number of platforms, some of the most common being TikTok and Instagram. The shared trauma among PWI survivors is spoken about clearly so that others don’t feel so alone about being the rejected black woman.

“I feel like there’s a lot of different [reasons why],” Frenzy said. “There’s people whose parents are just like them, and they’re also racist so that’s all they know and all they’ve learned, but that’s not an excuse. There’s the people who just learn that from being [around] people who also think that way so they’ve just adapted that way, and then there’s the people who just hate black people.”

There are countless untold stories that go back tens of years, to even before the current building was built [in 1997]. Behind the velvet and brown brick walls, there has been and still is much mistreatment and issues caused by the severe racism that is experienced by black students here. The ignorance that has been allowed to continue for generations still happens today, causing trauma and problems for POC that don’t deserve it, and it all starts at a very young age. 

The dirty looks and stares, name calling, derogatory terms, fake pity, sexualization, covered trauma, being the last picked, racist jokes yelled across the room, gagging sounds being made at you, and being treated like entertainment if you’re even noticed at all are all examples of racially motivated bullying and being seen as “less than.” Frenzy, LL and other POC have heard things like “that blackie,” generalizations about “black people,” fellow students stating “I will pay you to say the n-word,” or whispers of “look at her hair.” These are things black children become used to hearing in school from early ages in a PWI, regardless of the changes that an institution may make.

This article truly represents a very small percentage of this issue around PWIs and the painful experiences that happen to POC, especially black women. When children are only sent to school to make friends and get an education, shouldn’t school be a good experience for everyone? I know there are many opinions on this article already forming in your mind. You’re wondering why it matters, debating if you want to protest, or sending evil thoughts my way, but really question yourself and think if you want to waste your time being part of the problem.

* Due to the sensitive nature of the story, names have been changed to protect students.

Illustrations by Amelia Butler

For the rest that’s unsaid, here’s a poem written by a student in 2021.

My poem.

 

I feel like I’m screaming

Yet my mouth doesn’t move

 

I just want to cry

The day will be over soon

 

The sight of my skin to another

Is far from a ten

anxiety is tangled

Inside my head

 

They seem not to like me

Even if I try

I’m the elephant in the room

My feet feel tied

 

I desire to be accepted

But I’m far from their standards

Yet my lips are a trend

And my hips are highly favored

 

My heart gets broken

Every afternoon

I’m far from their perfect

They see me as a fool

 

The comments and insults

Never come to an end

Someone’s ignorance

stays loud in my head

 

My strength can only last so long

But until then

I’ll have to be strong.

 

My curls

My body

My skin

My nose

 

The evil in others completely shows

I’m not a threat

But my breathing is dangerous

To someone close-minded

 

I’m black.

The Hoofprint reached out to counselor Mark Jones for more insight on the big decision.

What will the switch to trimesters look like? 

In the current block schedule, there are four blocks a day throughout four quarters, which means that there are 16 total slots to place classes in. The most common class lengths are one and two quarters, and very few run for three or four quarters.

In the trimester schedule, there will be five blocks a day throughout three trimesters, which means that there are only 15 total slots to place classes in, one less than is currently available. The most common class lengths will likely still be one and two terms, but instead of having two additional possibilities, there’s only one, being three terms, or a full year.

Class curriculums are currently being adjusted and developed to lengthen or condense the teaching schedule in order to fit into the new class and block lengths.

How will scheduling change with the new trimester schedule?

When students register for next year’s classes, all of the choices are put into Campus, where an algorithm mashes the entire system’s selections together to create the best fitting schedule for each student, prioritizing the classes they selected. Because of class conflicts and required classes, there tends to be quite a few “holes” or unscheduled blocks in the resulting  official schedules. After this initial scheduling, counselors go through and put in your alternates to fill these gaps, but even then there are many holes.

Counselors try to fill as many holes as possible before the year starts, but some have to be filled at the last minute, just before the term with a hole begins. This is done by contacting a counselor once the hole has been identified and working to find an acceptable replacement class that will fill in the opening.

Registration is important for more than just making student schedules. The classes students register for determine how many times that class will be taught throughout the year, which teachers are needed to teach that class, and can determine if more staff needs to be hired to fill the demand for classes. 

“You need to choose [which classes] are the most important to you,” Jones said. “Your choices have a role [in everything].” 

After the classes are determined, there are limited spots available in each one. The goal is to have every spot filled with the people who initially registered for that class. However, some people choose to drop a class between the schedule being finalized and the class taking place. This can lead to classes that were expected to be full to have quite a few open spots. Because they have fewer required classes left to take, upperclassmen often have more holes in their schedules, but they also have more opportunities to fill them, with senior study and peer coaching opportunities. 

The school expects that the trimester schedule will offer more flexibility with scheduling because noncurrent curriculum classes that do not build off of the previous term will be able to be split up. This would mean that in addition to T1-T2 or T2-T3 (consecutive terms), classes could run during T1 and T3 (skipping trimester 2 and resuming during trimester 3). The treatment of multiple term-long classes as separate halves allows for more possible arrangements of one and two term classes. 

What can students do to avoid scheduling issues?

Above all, Jones recommended reaching out to your counselor as soon as possible to solve scheduling issues. Check your schedules in advance of the new semester and make sure there aren’t any holes to fill, and if there are, send your counselor an email.

“Getting [to a counselor] early will lead to more choices [for everyone] because less classes will be full,” Jones said. “[Seniors taking] senior study can lead to openings in classes and can really give flexibility to underclassmen.”

The biggest roadblock to students getting classes that they want is procrastination. Students often don’t check their schedules in time to catch and fill holes, or they’ll neglect to contact their counselors once they find out. 

“Terms one and three have a lot of foot traffic,” Jones said. “We have walk-in days the first few days after the schedule is released. I probably see a hundred or so kids those days. Sometimes we call kids with empties [to student services]. They won’t schedule a meeting with us but then they won’t get the classes they want. Procrastination.”

While the majority of Buffalo High School’s bathrooms contain paper towel dispensers, the women’s music department bathroom now differs with the new addition of hand dryers. Students are left frustrated with this update.

One of the popular reasons students hesitate to use hand dryers is the question of if it’s sanitary. According to Healthline.com, people who use hand dryers have twenty-seven times more bacteria on their hands as compared to the use of paper towels. In addition to bacteria-filled hands, the germs can be transferred onto clothing. Many students are also displeased with the poor drying capabilities of the dryers.

“I don’t like the new hand dryers because they never fully dry your hands, they take forever, and they are more unhygienic. Paper towels should always be at least an option for people who don’t like the dryers,” says Vivian Grambart ‘25.

Paper towels are quicker for students to use. During passing time the bathrooms can get crowded and hand dryers would only add to the time spent in the bathroom. Paper towels allow multiple people to dry their hands at once, and eliminate wait time.

There are some good things about hand dryers. Hand dryers are much more cost-effective and better for the Earth. They can also decrease the resources needed to keep up with paper towel dispensers. “In general, air dryers use fewer resources than paper towels, since towels constantly need to be produced and transported to users, and eventually take up space in the landfill,” says stanfordmag.medium.com.

“[Along with the decreased waste,] there’s some cost efficiencies as well,” said Principal Mark Mischke. “Paper is more expensive than ever. Getting ahead of a renewable resource like an air dryer also creates some long term financial stability in that particular area.”

Despite the controversy, hand dryers have made their way to the music department’s bathroom and have now reached the lunchroom restrooms.

“We’re testing them out in the four bathrooms for exactly that purpose; to see their effectiveness, their pros and cons, and what [a paper towel-less bathroom] looks like,” Mischke said. “Most schools are switching to [hand dryers], and we see other schools that are changing over, but that doesn’t mean we have to [change as well]. Our buildings and grounds person was looking at what other schools are doing, and how to do it safely but also efficiently. We may [make a change school-wide], but we haven’t made the decision yet.”

Although the four bathrooms are currently hand dryer-exclusive, the decision could be made to provide both hand dryers and paper towels in BHS bathrooms to allow for student preferences.

Both students expressed interest in the new roles and responsibilities that came with their positions, and particularly wanted to experience the band in a new way.

“If there’s one thing that I’m excited about being drum major is that I get to see the band from a completely different perspective,” Holt said. “I’ve always been inside of the band so being able to see what all of our maneuvers look like from the outside sounds pretty cool.”

“One of the things I’m excited about this year for marching band is practicing with the whole band rather than just a single section,” Baloun said. “I’ll be like a bridge between the instrument sections, [and] making way more friends than [in] any other season.”

It’s understandable why both Holt and Baloun were anticipating the ability to see the band as a whole, as both of them recalled a shared favorite memory: the Fourth of July parades The HERD performed in at Breckenridge and Frisco, CO. 

“My favorite memory from marching band was last summer when we got to perform for the people in Colorado,” Holt said. “They seemed so excited to see us and it was fun to showcase what we can do to people outside of Minnesota.”

“My favorite memory in marching band was going on the Colorado trip and seeing kids just in awe, jaws agape at the band,” Baloun said. “Those kids didn’t know a real marching band until we showed up in flaming purple and black.”

In the summer of 2022, a meeting was held for students that wanted to be considered for the role of Drum Major in the following year, and by attending, they would be put into the competition. While anyone is invited to attend, (in Director Scott Rabehl’s words, “there’s no such thing as a wasted audition,”) the general demographic of students who attend are veteran HERD members who have gone through the entire experience, from arriving as an inexperienced rookie, to returning year after year as reliable members of the band. 

“When I started [in] marching band I didn’t want to be there,” Baloun remembered. “I was a terrified little 8th grader and I couldn’t play five notes in a row. [Back then,] to imagine myself in a role such as drum major was incredible. I went into [the meeting room] because of my peers, and I left realizing that my passion for Marching Band came from a desire to be a leader. Hearing others’ goals and passions for this band made me realize my own passion for marching band. I want to be a role model, I want to be confident, and overall I want to be an excelling leader.”

“When I started marching band I was in 9th grade and I didn’t ever think that I would be a drum major,” Holt said. “I never had any intention of being a drum major, but my peers thought that I would be a good fit for the role, so I went to the drum major meeting and put my name in the mix. I was shocked to see that I was chosen for the role because I am the last person that you would expect to be a drum major,” he added, “but it’s such an honor to be chosen that I can’t back down.”

According to myself and several volunteers, these are the best and worst locations in BHS to do your business.*
*most factors based on time of review

(Please note that The Hoofprint doesn’t put any blame on the custodians for the state of our bathrooms. They have done an incredible job throughout the building despite staffing difficulties and an abrupt return to normal school attendance.)

Men’s Bathrooms

Men’s Gym Bathroom 

7.5/10
Inconvenient location but very clean.

Men’s PAC Bathroom

6/10
Was found with a soap dispenser on the ground and generally unclean.

Men’s Junior Locker Bathroom

3/10
Usually busy, doesn’t have dividers between urinals.
Was found with a sticky floor and generally unclean. 

Men’s Senior Locker Bathroom

3/10
Dirty mirrors and paper towels on the floor. Sinks were sticky.

Men’s Sophomore Locker Bathroom

2.5/10
Smelled awful, a little bit cleaner than the Senior Locker bathroom.

Men’s Cafeteria Bathroom

2/10
Was found with paper towels on the floor and in the sinks, and with one sink left running.

Men’s Freshman Locker Bathroom

1/10
Smelled truly awful, wet paper towels in the sink, unclean.

Women’s Bathrooms

Women’s Senior Locker Bathroom

8/10
Clean, not sticky, mirrors were usable.

Women’s Gym Bathroom

6/10
Fairly clean (no visible dirt, but paper towels and toilet paper on the floor).

Women’s PAC Bathroom

5/10
Large, mirrors were nice, relatively clean. 

Women’s Cafeteria Bathroom

3/10
Several sinks contained wet paper towels, bathroom is often unclean.

Women’s Junior Locker Bathroom

1/10
Smelled strongly of vape, paper towels on the floor, one toilet found unflushed.

Women’s Sophomore Locker Bathroom

1/10
Mysterious substance in the sink, smelled bad, floor was sticky and unclean.

Women’s Freshman Locker Bathroom

1/10
Sinks were green (?) and contained hair, floor was sticky, smelled bad.

Gender Neutral/Single-Stall Bathrooms

Gym Bathroom

9/10
Spacious, nice lighting, good water pressure, clean, fun pattern on the floor.

Freshman Locker Bathroom

7/10
Rusty table inside, good water pressure, but messy floor (stains, paper towels).

Sophomore Locker Bathroom

7/10
Good water pressure, fairly clean, mediocre overall.

Junior Locker Bathroom

7/10
Graffiti on the wall (?), toilet creaks when you sit on it, generally alright.

Art Hallway Bathroom (blue stalls)

5.5/10
Intense water pressure, cold, stained urinal and floor, unclean mirror, ominous.

Art Hallway Bathroom (red stalls)

3/10
Toilet found unflushed, popsicle stick found in another, sticky floor, weak water pressure.

Conclusions

Of course, there were some flaws with my rating system, including but not limited to the fact that we only visited each bathroom once, the different people rating each bathroom, and the arbitrary scores that were largely based upon the cleanliness of each restroom. Despite the flaws, there’s several trends that can be seen through the results of our trials.

Across the board, the biggest issue with the bathrooms was the condition that each one gets to by the end of the day. Paper towels littered across the floor that never made it into the trash, toilets and sinks left with mysterious substances within, and the oddly sticky floors in several rooms. The biggest flaw with the lowest rated bathrooms was the cleanliness (or rather, lack thereof) of each. This is not the fault of our custodians, who do incredible amounts of work throughout the building during and after the school day, and instead more of a fault of the large amount of students that go into each one throughout the day and don’t take the amount of care when using them that is necessary to keep them in good condition by the end of the day. 

Another thing we found was that across the building, the school bathroom experience is incredibly varied, although in general, the gender neutral/single-stall restrooms would be the most pleasant to use, even after school hours. Some were described as almost ideal, and others were described to me as dimensions I wouldn’t dare step foot into. 

Having clean bathrooms is often overlooked as a privilege that many aren’t fortunate enough to have, and that’s reflected in the things we often see in our bathrooms. Paper towels were the most common offenders, but we’ve seen other questionable things in our sinks and toilets too. 

Unknown red substance found in a sink.

Cracked egg found on a men’s toilet.

“RAGE” written on the side of a toilet paper dispenser. 

From stall doors not locking in bathrooms with empty soap dispensers, to pristine, lockable, and perfectly private single-stall lavatories, BHS offers a wide range of water-closet experiences. Unfortunately, many of them are far from ideal. The Hoofprint wishes all BHS students an egg-free commode experience (unless you’re into that sort of thing.)

“Definitely a few mistakes, and stuff to improve on, [but] it was a good first show,” said Oliver Holt, a clarinet player who joined the drumline this year as a bass drum player. 

Prism is structured in three main sections named after the primary colors: yellow, red, and blue. The first two were performed on Saturday for a large audience of family and friends.

“[Drumline is] a lot of fun,” said Holt. “You get to meet a lot of new people, and it’s a lot of hard work too.” 

The Drumline is close to entering its competitive season, when their show will be put up against those of other schools.

As the end of the semester rapidly approaches, so does the end of Journalism 2. However, unlike other classes, it isn’t coming back next term, or, as of now, even next year. Journalism 2 was included in the list of discontinued courses for the coming year of 2022-23, and as a result, this fall semester is the last time that the class will be run. 

The Hoofprint used to be a print publication but now only exists online, and is run entirely each semester by the students in the current Journalism 2 class. With the upcoming cancellation of the class, the future of the publication is unclear, but there are two major options to keep it up and running. 

Option 1: Journalism 1 (soon to be just Journalism):

Without a Journalism 2 class to run the paper, responsibility falls to Journalism 1 to learn the skills and produce content. One option would be to offer the choice of making Hoofprint articles in place of the other assignments students are given. Once students graduate the class, they could be provided with the opportunity to join the publication more permanently, largely through our second option. 

Option 2: Extracurricular activity:

The Hoofprint could remain as an extracurricular activity, run by students during BASE times and before or after school. There would be opportunities to Letter in the Hoofprint, like in any other Minnesota State High School League recognized school activity. Students who have gone through a journalism class or have experience with creating content could join a dedicated team of students who work to create a steady stream of articles. 

These options are both valid and could likely be combined, with veteran creators helping the current class of students learn how to create and graduating students joining the team if they enjoyed their time making content. 

As of now, the future of The Hoofprint is unclear but hopeful. A small team of dedicated students have been assembled to hold the publication together until a plan for the future is solidified. 

“Journalism is fun, and I like doing it,” said Bella Polman, a sophomore taking Journalism 2 this semester. “[The best part was] getting recognition. [Mrs. Thompson] was talking to McCallum because she found me talking to one of the [people from my Instagram article] in their DM’s, and then she told McCallum that I was doing a lot of good work.”

“[Working on The Hoofprint] is really cool,” said Danielle Bloomberg, a senior who joined the group of students working to keep The Hoofprint running even after the semester. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a newspaper and I feel like this was a really good opportunity. Being a journalist is like my dream job, so this was really cool as a step towards that goal.” 

Bloomberg reported that she learned, “not to be afraid to ask the hard questions, not being afraid to go for a certain story, and just to do what you want to do because somebody’s going to care about your story regardless of if you think so or not.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said Caleb Hultmann, another student in the team. “As a journalist, you can dive deeper into processes than you see from the outside. For example, [I did an article on] the Winter Dance petition that went around a couple months ago. It was fun to see how those kinds of things manifest and what’s needed to actually make them.” 

Hultmann said that he is “learning how to sort of ‘find stories’; looking into what’s happening in the school where normally you’d just go about your business. “

Journalism 2 was established as a class in 2007 and has been running The Hoofprint ever since. It’s sad to see it go, but it leaves a strong memory in the minds of many and a foundation for The Hoofprint’s future. 

“…It wasn’t much of an instrument,” Lubben remembered, “it was kind of a piece of wood with some strings on it. I didn’t know how to play it.” 

He wouldn’t graduate to a real guitar until the age of nine, and by then he had already added a new instrument to his repertoire: the piano. Now, as a senior in high school, Lubben’s instrumental range expands as far as the alto saxophone. He now can play as many as five different instruments, (countless more if you include the wide range that percussionists learn), and sings in both the Concert Choir and BHS Singers. His other involvements include Jazz I and III, Concert band, musical theater, and the worship group at his church. 

Described by his teachers as “fearless, kind, and respectful”, Lubben has become an integral part of the music department at Buffalo High School.

“[He has a] really diverse set of skills that is making a difference for all the students around him,” said band director Scott Rabehl. “I think the thing that really jumps to the front of my mind when I think about him though, is that he has turned into one of those kids that does whatever needs to be done when it needs to be done, without thinking about whether he wants to do it or not. He’s a terrific, terrific leader, a terrific mentor for students around him, and just someone that’s going to be almost irreplaceable around here when he graduates.”

PATRICK LUBBEN

Q: When did you start becoming interested in music?

A: “I’m lucky that my parents signed me up for music stuff since I was really little. All my sisters are older than me and they went through piano lessons. As soon as I was able to take them I was in the piano lesson rotation so I was probably around five.”

Q: Is it hard to make time to practice and participate?

A: “It’s not much of a chore [to practice], it’s more of a ‘I’m done with school’ [thing], and it’s never hard to go to bed thirty minutes later or wake up thirty minutes earlier if it means getting to practice something that needs to be done.”

Q: Do you see yourself doing anything musical, professionally or otherwise, in the future?

A: “I’m going to [the University of Wisconsin] Eau Claire for college and I’m going to be playing in their jazz ensembles, so I’m taking music past high school. I’m planning on minoring in guitar while I’m there, they’ve got a good program apparently, so that might mean that I might teach guitar lessons on the side, but music won’t be the center of my life. It won’t be what puts food on the table.”

Q: When did it really start to feel like you were a “musician”?

A: “Since I started kinda young, it’s always kind of had to be part of who I am, you know? When your parents pay for lessons you don’t want to let it go to waste, so it’s always kind of had to be part of who I am, but it wasn’t until I was probably in fourth or fifth grade that I really adopted it and wanted it to be who I am.”

Q: What is your ‘why’ as a musician? Why do you play and continue to play?

A: “Music is probably the best way to connect with people. I can’t speak for everybody but everybody likes music, so I think it’s to make connections.”

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

“Another musical thing that I do is worship team at my church. I’ve been doing that since I was in sixth grade. I remember I’d always go to church and see how many people having fun on stage and wanting that to be me. This might not be interview material, but it was selfish at first because I just wanted to look cool, but then it also started to be one of the mediums where the work I’ve put in can have an output where it can bring people together and that also makes me like music more. It all kind of boils down to a love of music. It’s not like I love the guitar or the sounds a piano makes, it’s just like, I don’t know, it’s driving.”

SCOTT RABEHL

Q: If I asked you to describe him, how would you do so?

A: “First of all, he’s a fantastic musician. He’s a great singer, a really fine percussionist, and a terrific guitarist, and he’s made a real difference around here. As a freshman, he had all those skills, but I would say probably focus was a challenge for him, and just kind of being on top of things in the transition between middle school and high school and the number of activities and interests that he had was really challenging and daunting for someone to be as involved with as he was. Jazz became one of his favorite things for his high school music experience and he has learned to play drum set, guitar, and when we needed a bass player for Jazz I, he flipped from guitar to bass. He knew how to play it already, but learned to be really good [at it], so now he’s a bass player in Jazz I, and he picked up an alto sax[ophone] this year and is learning to play that in Jazz III.”

Q: What would you consider his most noteworthy qualities?

A: “Empathetic, caring, considerate, respectful of students who are his peers, [respectful of] students who are less experienced than him, and he’s respectful of the adults in his life. I just think that he’s a person of quality.”

Q: Considering his current trajectory, where do you think he could end up if he continued to involve himself in music as much as he does?

A: “It’s possible that he’ll end up studying music at the next level, that next level being college. I know he’s going to college and I know that he wants to have guitar study as part of his curriculum at the college level. I don’t know that he’s planning on being a music major, but the beautiful part about the guitar is that you can be a lifetime guitarist, whether you’re making a living off of it or not. I would foresee Patrick being a lifelong lover of music and a lifelong performer of music as a guitarist, either as an individual or in small groups that he can be involved in, not just in college, but forever.

Q: What could younger people learn from him?

A: “Be fearless. Being a musician or becoming a skilled musician requires that you not be afraid of failing. You have to fail a lot in order to get good at anything, and Patrick has been willing to experiment with things for his entire life. When you fail a lot, you learn to get good, you develop skills. Kids who are afraid of making mistakes never get good at anything.”

ZACK CARLSON

Q: How do you know him? How would you describe him?

A: “Patrick has been a choir student of mine since his ninth grade year and I’ve known him only through music, only through the realm of music, so that’s kind of the way I think of him when I hear you say Patrick Lubben’s name. I think ‘oh, music kid, awesome, hard worker, really flexible.’”

Q: How different is he now as opposed to when you first met him?

A: “I think he’s probably come out of his shell a little bit more. I think in ninth grade he was a little bit more quiet and now as a senior he’s certainly a little more not so reserved. I think he found his group of people, which is good.”

Q: What would you consider his most noteworthy qualities?

A: “Kind and respectful. Really open to any kind of musical ideas or trying anything different. For example, asking if he would be able to play this certain kind of thing on this date, [he’ll say] ‘oh, sure, I can figure that out.’ That kind of nature is really great.”

Q: Considering his current trajectory and how much he wants to be involved, where could you see him going in the future?

A: “I think he would be very successful as any kind of musician, like a working professional musician, because his skill set is so broad that he could be a gigging musician especially in any large city or place. I also think that he’d be really successful in any kind of music business, or, really successful in anything, because I know that the skills that he’s learned in music or through music are completely transferable to whatever industry he would desire to pursue.”

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: “He’s awesome.”