Graduate Luke Bricker

On Saturday, May 23rd, Brookville Schools held their 126th Commencement Exercises. It was a beautiful day and lead into a fabulous weekend of celebrations and graduation parties. In all, 120 seniors received diplomas this year.  As in recent years, the ceremony was held at the Salem Church of God in Clayton.

 

The program was highlighted by the speeches of six valedictorians and one salutatorian. Those who spoke during the ceremony were outstanding.  Class president Sarah Bowen and vice president Nick Calvert took time to honor class advisor Mrs. Ann Stammen.  Graduating senior Madison Schick performed a vocal solo of the song "I Hope You Dance". 

 

As has become customary, every senior who applied to the Brookville Community Scholarship Foundation received financial support from the organization. The scholarships were presented by Dr. John E. Rhoades, Jr., D.D.S. a charter member of the Foundation's Board of Trustees. There were 73 scholarships awarded totaling $83,100.  Brookville Schools are bursting with pride in this years' graduates.  We wish them the very best in all their future endeavors. 

 

Please enjoy the video below which contains highlights of the ceremony. 

 

BHS Graduation 2015

Brookville Schools are pleased to announce that Mr. Erin Wheat was approved by the Board of Education to serve as the district's next intermediate school principal.  Mr. Wheat comes to Brookville Schools after having served the last six years as the principal of Miamisburg Middle School.  Erin, his wife Brenda, and their three children already live in the Brookville School District. 

 

Mr. Wheat comes to BIS with many experiences throughout the Miami Valley as a classroom teacher, coach, athletic director, assistant principal and principal. He looks forward to bringing those years of experience to the children of Brookville. Superintendent Tim Hopkins commented that "throughout the interview process, Mr. Wheat continued to show an understanding of the curricular and assessment challenges facing teachers today. Likewise, he stressed the importance of working to meet the academic and social needs of all children. His principles and beliefs fit nicely with the mission statement of our school district."

 

Mr. Wheat will finish his work year with Miamisburg City Schools and will join Brookville Schools at the start of the 2015-16 school year.  We welcome and look forward to Mr. Wheat being a part of our faculty.

BIS Robotics Club hosted a Robotic STEM Fair on Monday, May 18th.  Nine students spent every Wednesday after school developing inquiry-based activities and information to share with our 1st-6th grade students.  The Robotics Club members created and facilitated learning stations. They spent the day "teaching" BIS students what they have learned and assisted them with hands on experiences.

BIS students were introduced to the basics of coding and taught a robotic arm how to compute simple commands. They identified the angles and measured in degrees on the robotic arms as they operated each apparatus. Students were engaged in a webquest where they were exposed to a video on robotic technology from National Geographic as well as a coding simulation provided from NASA.  They also tested two different building materials to see which made the best structure while using their robotic arms.

All in all, it was an incredible day in which BIS students were exposed to 21st century technology and STEM career paths. We are hopeful that this can become a yearly event in our District. The Robotics Club is very appreciative for all who participated and assisted in making this event a success. A special note of appreciation to Goldenrod Research and 3M, two companies who provided the grant for the equipment used.

To see the robotic arms in action, please click here, here, and here for short videos.

Brady Stout, Coach Boyd Kyle Wheat and Allie Conry

The month of May was filled with many things relating to college and the future. On May 12th, the class of 2018 took a field trip to Sinclair Community College. These freshmen were greeted by two admissions advisors who explained the history of Sinclair, the benefits of attending a community college (the cost, close to home, etc.) and the importance of doing well academically. The students then took a campus tour, ending in lunch at Sinclair's cafeteria before returning to Brookville.

On May 14th and May 19th, the classes of 2020 and 2017 traveled to Wright State University to tour that campus. For the class of 2020, this is the first in a series of college tours which these 7th grade students will take during their next few years in school. The sophomores have visited Sinclair, a large private and now a large public university.  Many of our sophomores have already been to Wright State University, but stated that they truly enjoyed being able to tour the campus, see the available housing and hear the admissions presentation. WSU is one of the few schools that still offers valedictorian and salutatorian scholarships which means that students who receive these academic awards earn a free four year degree from Wright State.

Finally, on May 20th, the class of 2019 toured the University of Dayton. They were greeted by enthusiastic tour guides who helped to engage the students. These 8th graders were advised at the beginning of their tour to pay close attention to their guides because at the end of the tour, there would be a trivia game for valuable t-shirt prizes. It was reported that the students did a great job of listening, learning, and winning those t-shirts.

The real focus of these tours is to give our 7th grade through 10th grade students the opportunity to experience a wide variety of college campuses to see what is offered. Our juniors and seniors do not take large class tours, but they are allowed two days during the school year to take college visits. We hope that through these tours, our students learn that a college education comes in many forms and there are many opportunities available to them.

 

Q:  Where is your hometown?

Logan, Ohio.

 

Q:  Where do you live now?

I live in Brookville.

 

Q:  How many years of experience do you have?

I have been a counselor full time for 2 years, and a long term substitute counselor for half of a year before that. I taught for a total of 2 years prior to counseling, both in full time and substitute teaching.

 

Q:  How many years have you worked in Brookville?

This is my 2nd year at Brookville.

 

Q:  What is your position in the school district?

I am the kindergarten through 6th grade school counselor.

 

Q:  Tell us about your family and your hobbies outside of working at

       Brookville Schools? 

My parents still live in Logan, one sister and my niece and nephew live in New Albany and my other sister lives in Key West. My boyfriend is currently working in Jacksonville, FL. I try to see them all as much as possible, so I have been traveling quite a bit lately. Other than that, I enjoy being outside, exercising and baking.

 

Q:  What is your favorite thing about working at Brookville?

I love the sense of family that the district has. I grew up in a small, rural town very similar to Brookville, so it has always felt like home to me. It is a special place for sure.

 

Q:  How do you spend June and July?

I love to be at the pool and/or beach as much as possible!

 

Brookville Schools are proud of our series, "Where Are They Now?" which features profiles of past Brookville High School graduates. These graduates have responded to brief questions concerning their education or training after high school, their current occupation and their words of wisdom to the students in our buildings.

 

For the months of June and July, this series is taking a break. We will be bringing it back in full force with our August 3rd edition.  In the meantime, our prior profiles can be found on our website. 

It is still in the early stages, but work is underway to reconstruct the athletic playing field at Brookville Memorial Stadium. In recent years, significant drainage and "rough" areas, particularly in the middle of the field, have developed. In March, a contract was awarded to The Mercer Group out of Troy, Ohio, to complete a major renovation to the field in the way of reconstructing proper grade, new drainage and irrigation lines and laying sod. With weather conditions being favorable over the last couple of weeks, the work is well underway. At the time of this publication, the playing surface has reached rough grade.

 

If all goes well, we hope to provide our readers of the Blue Connector with a more thorough update on the field work in its final stages in the July 6th edition.

 

Due to the renovation, the stadium will be closed each weeknight at 8:30 p.m. We will also close the stadium each Friday at 8:30 p.m. and it will reopen on Monday mornings.