A mutual groan erupted amongst students. “It was so pointless,” one student shouted out. Nods and grunts of agreement filled the room. For this class, it was unanimous: registration night, which had taken place the night before, was not worth students’ time.

While the night wasn’t completely pointless, it also wasn’t worthwhile for all students. So what are the reasons that it was beneficial? What made it unnecessary?

For students who need a lot of guidance, registration night was successful. Through an opportunity to touch base with their advisor and ask any questions they may have, students were able to successfully register in a way that was fit for them. Additionally, parents/guardians of registering students were able to better involve themselves in the registration process. Many parents/guardians find it important to be involved in decision making regarding their students’ education, and the night provided an easy opportunity to accomplish this.

“We want to be as effective as possible in setting up a schedule for next year that meets the needs of our students,” Principal Mark Mischke said. “So in order to do that, we need to have accurate registration information.” 

To accomplish this, advisors were involved in making sure all of their students complete their registration by filling out their whole schedule. Additionally, students were required to fill in alternate classes to ensure that they are taking classes they are interested in if they are unable to get into their first choice classes. By getting multiple sets of eyes on each student’s registration plan, incomplete plans were less likely to slip by.

In addition to current high school students, current eighth grade students were among the crowd present the night of registration. To begin their high school experience, eighth grade students and families met in the Performing Arts Center, where Mischke gave a presentation highlighting the core values of BHS, what it means to be a member of the BHS community, what students should expect out of high school and what is expected of them, and more. After the presentation, students and families were given the chance to explore the school, asking questions and talking to teachers and high school student volunteers about courses offered at BHS. To its credit, this was an effective way to involve parents and guardians in the registration process for their upcoming high schooler.

“The only people who bothered to go to registration night were the same people who would’ve been on top of it anyway,” one junior stated.

For students well-versed in the registration process, the night was seen as a waste of time. It was unclear to these students why there was a need to attend the event. After all, they were able to register on their own, and many took advantage of this opportunity. Additionally, not many people who needed significant help attended registration night anyway. 

As well as being unnecessary for students who were experienced in registering, the event was poorly communicated. Day of, many students were still confused about the format of the night. According to Mischke, communication with students was attempted, but he was aware that it didn’t get through to all students. 

“Last Thursday afternoon, just as an awareness, we shared our monthly newsletter,” said Mischke. “It isn’t always read by all of our students, but we send it to our kids [as well as families].” Other than the monthly newsletter, a voicemail was left in the inbox of BHS students and families, but there was minimal communication during the typical school day. Because of this, many students were unsure of what they were supposed to do for registration. Many thought the night would be an important communication of new information, but in reality, it was the same quick and easy process that many students have experience with and would have been able to complete on their own. Because of the lack of clear communication, many students were frustrated by the amount of time they spent at registration night. 

“I was there for 15 minutes tops,” said another junior. “There was no need for me to be there.” Because of this, many students took advantage of the ability to register at home. If this was the route they wanted to take, these students were required to turn in their registration forms with their advisor the next day.

Through talking with advisory teachers, many advisors were okay with their students not attending registration night, but rather registering for the upcoming year during advisory. The two advisory periods following the night will be dedicated to this, so why was there a need for a night dedicated to registration? Being that registration is something that needs advisor approval and checking, it would’ve been more worthwhile for students to get registration help during advisory, rather than spending a short amount of time at school for something that could have been completed in a more efficient manner.

Many staff members were just as frustrated with registration night as students and families were. BHS teachers are contracted to work four evenings outside of school hours each year where they are required to interact with students and families. While running the block schedule, all four of these nights were conference nights, which gave students and families a chance to check on student grades once per quarter. With the switch to the trimester schedule, only three conference nights are needed. Because of this, registration night was added in place of the last required evening.

Numerous families thought registration night was pointless due to the short amount of time they were in the building for. Many spent more time getting to and from the event than they did registering for their child’s upcoming school year. 

From the perspective of many teachers, there would have been a better way to build relationships with students and families. Some felt guilty about having families using their personal time to help with registration that students were previously able to do on their own.

Overall, it is clear that registration night was created with the intent to help make the registration process go as smoothly as possible, but it was partially ineffective in doing so, being that it only targeted certain people. It was beneficial to students who were in need of an adult to walk them through the registration process, but for experienced students, the evening was a waste of time. This event would be better approached as an optional event for students and families who are looking for extra help navigating the registration process.

The life of an exchange student is not one often thought deeply about. People mostly think about the surface things, like how different it would be to live with a new family for a whole year. Talking to a foreign exchange student opens the mind to things most people wouldn’t have thought of. Rather than finding the basics, like living with a new family weird, Benny D’attilia 23’ had something else that surprised her.

“The weirdest thing to me when coming to America is leaving a tip at a restaurant,” Said D’attilia. “We never do that In Italy, and it’s super common here.”

After most people learn to live with something, they don’t imagine what it’s like without it. This isn’t the case for exchange students. Most of them have to very quickly leave the things that made their exchange year run smoothly. Even if it doesn’t necessarily help their year run smoother, it still could be something that brings them great joy.

“I will miss seeing animals roaming around,” Said D’attilia. You never see wild animals in Rome.”

Some of the little things that exchange students love so much in America might go forgotten after leaving. However, some things stick with foreign exchange students forever. The family that they stay with and the friends they make are memories they won’t ever forget. The thought of leaving friends and family bonds she’s made has started to hit D’attilia.

“Thinking about leaving makes me really sad,” Said D’attilia. “Knowing that I will probably never see some of them again upsets me. I’m so grateful for my host family and friends here because they made my experience here amazing.”

Moving to a different country and learning new things can seem scary for most people. Looking at the positives and focusing on making the best of the experience is something for many to learn from Foreign exchange students.

New to BHS, there was a change with Advisory from doing Character Strong to video lessons. Different from everyone else, freshmen have not experienced the old curriculum.

Jillian Pack ’26 has successfully finished over half of her first year with the new Advisory lessons where she gets to focus on fun, but sometimes she can’t meet her needs. “It’s a lot of fun,” Pack says, “but when I want to get work done it’s hard.”

Every Advisory is different. Some can be the opposite of what Pack experiences. Faith Schmidt ’25 doesn’t feel so positive about hers. “It’s just kind of boring, and I don’t really like my Advisory,” Schmidt says.

Although upper-classmen have had more time to be in Advisory than Freshmen or Sophomores, they still-with the most recent years of inconsistency-have finally gotten into the swing of it. “I have just gotten a good community,” says Bode Russell ’24. “I like that I have time, but still less because of the lessons,” Russell says.

Now the ones whose first year of high school was over a screen. The students who have a span of fewer than three months left of their high school careers. Which means they are on the last stretch of Advisory. Gavin Juenke ’23 shares his thoughts on what he has had for almost four years. “My teacher is cool, but most people don’t pay attention,” Juenke says. “The lessons have been good, but people don’t care,” Juenke says.

Last, but most certainly not least, teachers. The ones who while we have been experiencing it all, they have been here every step of the way. Ashley Lostetter, a FACS teacher, currently has juniors, and she’s sharing her experience as a teacher in Advisory. “The legitimate reason could be helpful, but with my 11th graders, I am just getting to really know them.” Lostetter says. “Independent relationships are there whether it’s related to the lesson or not,” Lostetter says.

All the opinions and different perspectives about something people all have in common here at BHS can never be shared through 5 people, but it’s a start to hearing voices from a wide range of the school.

“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.

6:30 Koren starts her typical day by snoozing her alarm, trying to preserve what little sleep she got over the past night. She does her morning routine slowly and sluggishly, only half awake after her long hours the day before.

8:10 Koren prepares her backpack, throws on her coat, and leaves for the bus stop.

8:45 She heads to her first block trying to cram as much information into her brain as it can take the entirety of the school day.

3:25 Koren sprints out of the school as fast as possible and heads straight to the rink for hockey practice.

4:00 She spends an hour working hard on the ice.

5:15 Koren begins her post-ice workout.

6:30 She departs the rink.

6:45 Koren arrives at home and hurries to make dinner. She pieces herself together whatever leftovers she can find from the dinner the rest of her family already ate without her presence.

7:30 She changes out of her sweaty clothes and takes a shower.

7:50 Koren then does her homework, typically spending an hour and a half across her four subjects.

9:30 She then does some hockey stickhandling and shooting practice that is technically optional but is expected of her team by her coaches.

10:15 Koren gets in bed and watches TV for about 45 minutes.

11:00 She goes to sleep only to repeat it all again tomorrow.

To many people, Koren’s schedule seems perfectly fair. Others might assume she has everything balanced and she is handling it fine That is not the case. Being a student-athlete sacrifices some parts of being a teenager.

Koren is missing out on sleep. Teenagers are supposed to get around 9 hours of sleep per night. Koren typically gets about 7 hours. Getting enough sleep is very important, and it has many benefits, yet many student-athletes don’t get enough sleep. The extra hours of sleep that many student-athletes miss can bring down their mood, productivity, and performance in both school and athletics.

Because of her busy schedule, Koren doesn’t have much time to spend with my family, and she never is available to hang out with her friends. Social connections are very important for growing and developing teenagers, and not getting these connections can affect both their mental and physical health.

Another thing she is missing out on is her hobbies. Koren loves to read, paint, sew, and bake. These things truly bring her joy. But lately, she hasn’t had time to do much of anything besides the sports she plays.

The immense amounts of pressure on students who choose to double as an athlete are causing them to miss out on important things in their lives. Students-athletes are going to be healthier and happier if we take away some of that pressure and let them live their teenage life to the fullest. Being productive and doing things that matter is great, but having fun and enjoying life is important, too.

    BHS used to have a “Giving Tree” where students would grab an ornament that would suggest what to buy for the kids in need. While the students loved it, parents and adults gradually grew less fond of the idea of the tree. The tree thought to represent Christian imagery became a complaint that pushed to have the tree taken down. 

    Many religions use the spruce tree or branches as part of their representation, but a tree itself does not have to be specific to a religion. Mason Davis ‘24, a non-religious affiliated junior, has thoughts about our idea of the Giving Tree having another chance.

“There’s been so much divisiveness and hate at school in the last two years,” Davis said, “and having something where we can give to others is a great idea.” 

    People tend to think of Christmas when they see an evergreen or a spruce tree. The one BHS previously had for their Toys for Tots drive didn’t push any religious beliefs. It represented the toy drive to give to the kids that don’t get things for the holiday season. It was argued otherwise and complained about until there wasn’t a tree to have or represent the toy drive. Now all that is left are a few posters due to the controversy.

   However, according to the MN Government Holiday Guidelines, secular holiday decorations are allowed in public workplaces. The Supreme Court case of Allegheny v. ACLU states that things like trees are categorized as secular decoration, which technically does allow us to put something like The Giving Tree up at school.

By this time of the year, most of us are in a routine and do the same thing every day. It can get repetitive and put people in a bad mood. When we’re little, this time of the year can be one of the most magical and memorable parts of our childhood. As we get older the magic can get lost in the stress of the school year. Bringing back the Giving Tree would put people in a cheerful mood and make people more aware of the opportunities we have to give back to our community. 

      Here at BHS, our Toys for Tots drive is one of the only times of the year we give, but there are very few things we are doing to reach out about it. We want more people to know about this because it is for a really good cause. It doesn’t matter what religion you are a part of and what you choose to believe in. Giving back can not only make your holiday season better but help all those children in need of something during this time of the year. The only advertisement for this is a few posters in the halls. We are so used to our routines, that putting a small poster on the wall isn’t going to do much. People walk past the posters every day and don’t care to take notice of them. The only way for it to be more known is to make a big difference in people’s daily lives and break their routines. They don’t even make any announcements about the campaign during the morning announcements. That just shows how unimportant this is to our school and says a lot about the values people have here. 

     In a world where culture, opinion, and beliefs are always changing it’s important to try to be inclusive and make sure everyone’s voice is heard. The easiest way for us to achieve that inclusivity is to be as neutral as possible. Using a spruce tree is simply to hold our cards of suggestions for gifts, and with the tree being big, bright, and green, it appeals to the eye. Reaching out to more people with the display of the tree helps advertise our mission.  We will stray away from decorations, lights, and tree toppers to keep the religious idea out of the picture.

      A survey done by www.pewreasearch.org shows that 81% of non-Christians celebrate the Christmas holiday. Although 65% of Christians say it is religious, almost all non-Christians according to the survey say it’s a “cultural” event rather than religious. Most senior citizens say it is a religious holiday. With the results, we have seen in the younger generations it has become more of a cultural meaning where we spread the cheer of winter, love, and giving. 

       It could be argued that Toys for Tots is a religious-based operation, but in a world that is growingly selfish, and self-centered, the goal is not to push religion to the audience. The main value of  Toys for Tots is to bring joy and give to those who need it. In times where there can be little positivity and a winter gloom, something that has a positive impact on others could create a happier environment no matter what your stance on religion is. We know that giving isn’t just going to help others. We get that little burst of serotonin and feel those tingles of joy when we know that others feel good about something we voluntarily did. A study was done in 2010 by www.esu.edu relating to giving back. In a short overview of the study, giving makes us happier, especially when we freely decide so.

The importance of bringing back the tree is not about spreading religious beliefs, but rather more gift-giving and helping those in need.  Along with the schedule change, they had to get rid of clubs like SCC or AAA that are student-giving services because there was no time to run those in the morning. Having a second chance for a new and improved Giving Tree would let BHS have an opportunity to give back to the community again while staying neutral based for everyone in our community. The action of giving is an important moral to both of our lives, and our hope is to have others start feeling the same and spread the joy of giving. 

When I was on a church retreat up north with no reception, my friend brought her phone everywhere we went instead of enjoying the beautiful scenery that we only get to see for two and a half days. She would check her phone every few minutes like a notification is going to magically appear. She was very excited to discover that one of the games on her phone still worked even though she didn’t have reception. 

She spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch in the loft not talking to anyone but one of her best friends. The next day she was in the loft again on her phone. After a twenty-minute conversation, with a leader, she realized she lost her phone. As the day came to an end she had just about everyone looking for her phone claiming she would give them 5 dollars if they found it. 

All of that day I kept telling her it was probably in the couch she was sitting on but she kept getting mad and saying she already looked there. In my mind, I knew that was the only place it could be.

She proceeded to say, “Someone just please find my phone” and blamed someone she disliked for taking it but she had no reason for the blame. I got so annoyed that I couldn’t handle myself. I went up to the loft and the couch she has been sitting on the past two days and I dug my hands into the very old and disgusting couch.  There it was: her phone. 

 As much as I wanted to not tell her I found it,  I marched downstairs, handed her the phone, and said, “Here it was – right where I told you it was – in the couch you were sitting on” in a not-so-happy voice. She got so happy but all she did was turn on her phone and again see if those magic notifications popped up. I just walked away so I didn’t say something rude.

Is this seriously how we live these days? Addicted to our phones and do anything to have our phones even if we don’t need them.

Some people believe that technology and Social Media are making our lives better and making us more connected to people, but people are actually getting more and more disconnected from others and reality. 

With all these never-ending social media sites, there is always something that you can do and it will just keep loading new content so you have the urge to go back on your phone to scroll for more addicting content. We end up spending more time on social media than with the people around us. 

Social media only shows the good parts about people’s lives and it allows you to edit, crop, and morph just about anything you want and it allows you to cut out everything you don’t like or don’t want people to know about yourself. So everyone reading and looking at your social media is getting to know someone that isn’t really you.

An article titled “Filter vs Reality” by Sakshi Udavant talks about how we compare our real life to edited photos. The article also states that “Filtered and photoshopped pictures set an unrealistic standard of what ‘attractive’ looks like.” People doing all that work to look pretty only succeed in making themselves uglier in real life by comparison. 

That the average teenage girl spends 50-60% of their waking time online. So around 50% of a teenage girl’s time awake consists of looking at pictures and videos of people who spend time editing and contorting their bodies to make them look like whatever they want to look like. telling them that, it is the so-called “best way to look and live.” This is wrecking their self-esteem and making them insecure about their own self.

According to a study from The Prince’s Trust, two years after the start of the pandemic, 30% of young people say they don’t know how to make friends and have never felt more alone.

People are forgetting how to have a conversation, myself included. I have found it hard to talk face to face with people I don’t know very well. It’s something I wish to be good at but our society tells us to hide behind phones and plan out everything we say before posting, tweeting, texting, etc.

At family gatherings, family members will all be sitting around on their phones not even acknowledging the fact that they are together even though some of them haven’t seen each other in years. 

When we talk face to face you get to know more than just what they’re talking about. You get to know their personality and who they are as a person and not just who they are behind a screen.

People want to know the real you. Not the contorted and filtered you. Not the person you are online. People want to know the in-person living body that is you.

Students gathered by the Rock, a meaningful spot for many BHS students. The Rock is a monument unique to BHS. To memorialize significant events, students get the chance to spray paint the Rock, a boulder that has been part of BHS history since 1984. It has also been the site of multiple walkouts and marches among BHS students. This walkout, like previous events, was organized and publicized by students. Principal Mark Mischke emailed families later in the day, saying that administrators were present to ensure students stayed safe. 

As students surrounded the monumental place, Ella Kragerud ‘25 and Mae Knoell ‘24 stepped up onto the rock and addressed the crowd of their peers. They started the gathering with a moment of silence to honor the lives that have been lost to gun violence and to acknowledge all that are affected.

The moment of silence was followed by powerful testimonies from several students. Olivia Telecky ‘24 was one of many to speak.

“We, as students, don’t deserve to live in fear and shouldn’t have to. In order to make things safer, we all need to join together as a community,” said Telecky.

Between suicide, homicide, murder, and accidental firings, there have been 18,056 gun related deaths in the first 5 months of 2022 in the US (gunviolencearchive).

In 2014, there were 12,356 gun related deaths in 12 months (gunviolencearchive). The numbers are only rising. BHS students are pushing for action. 

“There needs to be a lot more ability and willingness to want to try something for change because not everything is going to change overnight. I don’t even know if I’ll get to see it in my lifetime, but to get the ball rolling is the most important part,” said Jack Hintz ‘22.

“We can write letters to our congressmen or to local state officials. We could even write [letters] federally. And even though they may not read it, if we crowd up a room full of mail, or clutter their inbox on email, that sends a message enough and then they’ll get annoyed,” said Hintz. 

Gun violence lies close to the hearts of many BHS students and Buffalo community members. In February of 2021, Allina Health Clinic suffered a major tragedy. An active shooter walked into the clinic and opened fire, injuring 4 and killing 1. After the tragic event, BHS students wanted to get involved. Andrew Macheel ‘23 took an extra step to make a change.

“Following the tragic shooting at Allina Clinic, Zach [Muellerliele ‘23] and I were upset and saddened and it was scary to see this happen in our own community. Obviously it’s sad whenever something like that happens, but when it happened in our own community, it was almost unreal. So we decided to take action,” said Macheel. 

He and Muellerleile planned the March For Change, a march through downtown Buffalo to protest gun violence. They planned the date, made an Instagram page to spread the news, found a location, and found guest speakers from different organizations. Around 100-200 students and community members took part in the event.

The Allina Health Clinic shooting was a turning point for many BHS students. Macheel and other students are working to make a change in their community and the world.

“The walkout didn’t immediately change anything,” said Macheel, “but it was a step in the right direction.”

Walking the halls of Buffalo High School, you can often see students wearing LGBTQ+ flag accessories, pins, lanyards, etc. to either show support for the community or to show pride for their identities. Most LGBTQ+ students haven’t gotten a chance to speak about what it’s like being a non-cisgender person at this school.

Daniel

Q: What do you identify as?

A: “Generally, nonbinary, but if you want to get more specific, agender or the lack of any gender at all really.”

Q: What was the process of figuring out your gender identity?

A: “When I was around 10, I realized I didn’t mind which pronouns people used for me, and went by any for a while until I found other trans people sharing their experiences and identities and realized those resonated with me more than the gender I was assigned at birth.”

Q: When did you come out?

A: “I came out to my friends before my family, but September 2019 is when I came out to my friends, and around March 2020 is when I came out to my family.”

Q: How has your social life been affected by coming out?

A: “Not a lot, actually. All of my good friends and close family took it well and understand it at least enough to respect me being trans.”

Q: What are some ways the school district has been supportive?

A: “The biggest I think is having good teachers who respect their students. And also the gender neutral bathrooms are a blessing.”

Q: What are some ways the school district has been unsupportive?

A: “Not that I can think of really. The district itself has been pretty good all things considered.”

Q: How have students responded to your coming out?

A: “I haven’t come out to many students other than my friends, but most of them take it pretty well with the worst just asking some pretty weird questions.”

Q: What are some of the comments people have made, good or bad?

A: “I’ve actually been called a trans icon by a fellow trans student whereas the worse comments are just more invasive questions.”

Jay

Q: What do you identify as?

A: “I’ve changed my labels a lot, because I’m still trying to find myself. I originally came out as nonbinary, but now that it’s been a little more than a year and I’ve had more time to grow and learn as a person, I’ve realized the reason I came out as nonbinary in the first place was because I had internalized transphobia for myself, I was too scared to say I was trans because it’s kind of a ‘big thing’, and I thought nonbinary would be taken better by more people.”

Q: When did you come out?

A: “November, 2020.”

Q: How has your social life been affected by coming out?

A: “There’s a lot more people than I expected that support me and use my pronouns. There definitely are still some people that know that I’m trans but still use my deadname just to tick me off, I guess. People do it mostly to get under my skin, I’ve noticed that a lot.”

Q: What are some ways the school district has been supportive?

A: “I have had some support, it’s nice seeing teachers having a rainbow flag and seeing a teacher’s pronouns on their lanyards. Mrs. Lostetter especially has really made me feel comfortable in her classroom. She openly told people to knock it off if they were being homophobic. It’s the little things that you can do. There should still be more support from staff and students, however.”

Q: What are some ways the school district has been unsupportive?

A: “I think we should have a better health ‘unit’ or talk about human sexuality, because the one that we have right now just covers the bare minimum, and there’s definitely a lot more to learn about.”

“I hate having to go into the girls locker room, it feels so unwelcoming. As a trans person, not saying this is for everyone, but it feels very not nice if you don’t want a lot of people to know, you’re masculine presenting, and forced to go into the girls’ locker rooms just because you have boobs, it feels like you’ve basically been outed and all eyes are on you.”

Q: How have students responded to your coming out?

A: “It’s been a mixed bag of reactions, I would say there’s definitely been more good reactions than bad, but there still are some bad. There’s always a ‘am I gonna get hate-crimed?’ thought everyday. I definitely feel like here I’ll get hate-crimed more than other places.”

Q: What are some of the comments people have made, good or bad?

A: “I’ve been called a f*****, and I’ve definitely gotten some weird looks.”

You can find more information about gender identity and the LGBTQ+ community from these sources:

GLSEN. (2021). School Climate for LGBTQ Students in Minnesota (State Snapshot)

GoodRX Health. (2021). What Do Each of the Letters in LGBTQIA+ Acronym Stand For?

MPR News. (2021). A Guide to Understanding Gender Identity Terms

“I’m surprised at how many people want to see pictures of me,” said Mayo. 

Junior Drew Elo, who is one of the creators of the account, said the spirit of the account is one of genuine appreciation.

“I’m just amazed at how many followers it’s gotten in the span of less than a week,” said Elo.

The account was originally started by Ovie’s friends to celebrate his achievement of getting a date. 

“I was out bowling,” Mayo said, “and they were like ‘We should make you a fan page,’, so I agreed to it. Well, they would have made the account anyways, so I didn’t have a choice.”

At a time in BHS where Instagram accounts are popping up every day, the boys stood out against the rest. Their sincere account, made to appreciate their friend, was a wholesome outlier compared to the harsher, vindictive pages.

“It’s cool how many people are getting involved, but some of the accounts have gone a bit too far,” said Junior Lucas Hegland, another creator of the account.

It’s not just the boys who are excited about the growing account. Many people at Buffalo are happy to see Ovie in the spotlight.

“I love Ovie. He has never been anything but kind to me. He 100% deserves the account and all the attention with it,” Junior Megan Estrada said.

Estrada hasn’t had many experiences with the account itself, but its influence over BHS is powerful. She recounts a time during lunch where everybody started to applaud Mayo because he got a second date.

“Ovie is an amazing person, and the account shows exactly that,” Estrada said.