Over the past decade the Buffalo High School Future Farmers of America program has been one to watch in state and national competition.
Specifically, the program’s Market Plan teams have won state and advanced to nationals in six of the last seven years, in addition to successes in various other fields. At the 98th annual FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Buffalo’s most recent Market Plan team of Isaac Erhard, Brendan Park and Coltonn Peterson earned a Silver Rating, placing them squarely in the middle of the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards earned by 38 total teams.
“The whole experience was just surreal,” said Peterson. “Winning state was probably a Top 5 moment, maybe higher. And going to nationals was really cool. I’ve never seen so many people from different states in my life. Just looking around – we wear these blue jackets that are our official attire – you see Alabama, California, Texas, Delaware, Hawaii. You meet so many people, everybody is really nice, you get to talk with them, and it’s so much fun."
After a series of high-profile appearances in recent years, the Unified Music program at Buffalo High School is now preparing for its most prominent performance yet.
On Monday, Nov. 24, BHS Choir Director Zack Carlson-Giving informed the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose School Board that the 32-member ensemble of students with and without disabilities has been invited to perform at the 2026 Midwestern American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Regional Conference in Milwaukee.
“This is one of the most prestigious professional gatherings for choral educators in the nation, representing nine states across the Midwest and featuring only the most innovative and exemplary programs,” Carlson-Giving told the board.
Superlative singing, a pit orchestra on stage rather than in front of it, unique lighting and set pieces, and a story that has endured since antiquity await audiences who attend Buffalo High School’s fall musical, “Hadestown: Teen Edition.”
Four shows in the refurbished Performing Arts Center are scheduled at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14 and 15, as well as 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22.
A unique fusion of Greek mythology in a soulful Depression-era New Orleans-inspired setting, the sung-through production tells the story of young dreamer Orpheus and his love interest, the disillusioned Eurydice. The pair journey to the underworld, where they meet King Hades and his wife, season-changing Persephone. Throughout, the story explores the themes of doubt against faith, fear against love, industry against nature, and heroic action in the face of overwhelming odds.
It’s no simple thing to stand out among one’s peers when all have dedicated their professional lives to educating the next generation, but four Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose educators were recently recognized for just that.
Those invited to the Leadership in Educational Excellence Awards banquet at River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud on Wednesday, Oct. 29, included Kristine Johnson, third-grade teacher at Tatanka Elementary STEM School; Karmen Harnois, speech language pathologist at Montrose Elementary School of Innovation; Erik Cagle, science teacher at Buffalo Community Middle School; and Joel Peterson, math teacher at Buffalo High School.
A recent visit from French counterparts helped Buffalo High School students connect to the wider world, improve their language skills, and see their own surroundings in a whole new light.
As part of an ongoing connection that began in 2011, BHS students and their families hosted 27 students and three teachers from Bergerac, France, from Oct. 8-18. Later this school year those same BHS students will travel to France over spring break to take their turn as guests in a new culture.
Not many school board meetings feature a standing ovation for a staff member, but that’s exactly what occurred after the board recognized Anita Underberg for four decades of service to Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose Schools on Monday, Sept. 22.
Underberg, the administrative assistant to the superintendent and board of education, retired after her final workday on Tuesday, Sept. 23. She was in her 40th year with the district, the last 35 of which were in the superintendent’s office.
“You hear all the time, ‘There will never be another…’ said Board Chair Bob Sansevere after Underberg’s last meeting. “But there will never be another Anita. Whatever the highest praise is, I’d like to go a step above that.”
As an educator committed to helping students of various ages find personal meaning in their learning, Terrisa Fisher has helped shape countless lives.
Recognizing her skill in that endeavor, the statewide Literacy Action Network named Fisher its Teacher of the Year during its annual Summer Institute in Waite Park on Aug. 14.
Orchestra students from Buffalo Community Middle School and Buffalo High School came together for the fourth annual Summer Orchestra Camp from July 7–11. Throughout the week, students rehearsed in both large and small groups, with BCMS students also receiving mentorship from high school musicians.
A wide variety of students were recognized at the WEST Adult Education Consortium’s Honors Ceremony in Discovery Auditorium on Tuesday, June 10.
One highlight of the program was the recognition of dozens of individuals who earned their General Educational Development (GED) certificates, a credential equivalent to a high school diploma. Nineteen of those individuals were present at the ceremony, and two of them, Rachel Darrow and Danielle Stover, spoke about their path to earning their GED.
For the second time in as many years, the Buffalo High School Repertory Orchestra has achieved the rare feat of emerging from intense regional competition to perform on stage at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.
That the group did so under extraordinarily difficult circumstances this spring makes the achievement that much sweeter.
The ensemble was one of only three ninth-grade groups, and 11 groups in all, to earn the two “Superior with Distinction” ratings necessary to advance to the showcase State Middle Level Festival Honor Concert on April 7. A total of 28 schools competed at three regional sites around the state in March.
