Spotlight
Shining a spotlight on the Kind, Proud, Driven Leaders that make Buffalo High School stand out.
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This year, Jess Nickelsen, a fundamental employee of Buffalo High School’s library, recently found herself in the Spanish classroom yet again. In previous years, Nickelsen had only been seen working in the library; what many students may not know is that before she began to work in the LLC, Nickelsen taught Spanish classes for 21 years. Before Nickelsen began to teach, she had been a Spanish major in college. Throughout college, Nickelsen studied abroad in…
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Most language students could probably agree that learning a language can definitely be difficult. But for German teacher Michele Strassburg, connecting with the German language (and culture) has never been hard work for her. Despite growing up in a family with a fluent German speaker, Mrs. Strassburg had only begun her linguistic studies when she entered high school. “It was something that came very easily to me,” Strassburg commented. “And I would always dream about…
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Many students unwind from the day by scrolling through social media, playing video games, or reading a book. For Connor Gallart ‘27, however, peace comes from tending to his 240-gallon fish tank after a long day. Gallart first got into fishkeeping when he and his aunt lived together. His aunt was a lifelong fishkeeper, and together they repurposed the 240 gallon scorpion enclosure in the basement of his home into a fish tank. “She got…
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As of the second trimester of the 2025-2026 school year, English teacher Madi Miller is the only English 10 instructor who has adapted curriculum to align with the updated Minnesota K-12 Language Arts standards, which went into effect July 3, 2023. These standards state that students should be able to “Analyze influences on content, meaning, and style of text, including fact and fiction, time period, and author perspective and identity, including Dakota and Anishinaabe perspective,…
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Chloe Erickson ‘26 originally started her small business, Chloe’s Embroidery and Crafts, as a way to make extra money, but since then it has turned into fun bonding time with her Grandma. Erickson sought out her Grandma to be her business partner because she had taught her how to sew and has been a big supporter of the business. “I asked for an embroidery machine one year for Christmas, and I was expecting a little…
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Mr. Monson has been teaching for 12 years, eight of those being outside of Buffalo. He used to teach exclusively business classes at BHS, but this year, he teaches both history and business. So what was his life like before being in Buffalo? When he first went to college, he had no idea what to pick for his major. “People told me that the best way to make money was computer science, so I majored…
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Respected by students and colleagues, Heather Tierney has become a pillar of the community at Buffalo High School. Every day she can be seen teaching English courses, but her true dedication to her craft doesn’t just occur in literature class. Along with being a teacher, Tierney is also an author. In 2014, she published her first book, The Freedom of a Tangled Vine. Despite having a yearning to write more, she thought that was the…
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At Buffalo High School, students of all grades are presented with the opportunity to dive into learning about different languages. Most popularly taken is Spanish, which is only taught by three teachers. For Spanish teacher Karrie Alberts, teaching goes beyond textbooks and busy work. Sitting at a desk in Alberts’s classroom involves not only the exploration and discovery of the Spanish language–she furnishes students with a remarkable outlook on cultural appropriation and customs. Alberts always…
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Tracy Hagstrom Durant, the head director at BHS, has spent more than four decades bringing stories to life on stage and inspiring students through theater. Hagstrom Durant taught in the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose district, and brought her passion for inspiring and helping youth into her work as a director, having directed over 140 shows. “I like to use theater as an educational tool, so that’s why I like doing it best with kids,” Hagstrom Durant said. Beyond…
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As opening night quickly approaches, the cast and crew of BHS’s fall musical, Hadestown: Teen Edition, are prepared to bring a story of love, loss, and perseverance to life. Set in the Depression Era, the re-imagined post-apocalyptic world of Hadestown presents its characters with many psychological and physical challenges. These powerful, emotionally demanding scenes require a great deal of intense focus, endurance, and a large time commitment from the actors and technicians. As preparation continued…