Welcome to the Blue Connector, an e-newsletter from Brookville Local Schools.
Please contact us at communications@brookvilleschools.org with any questions.
January 23, 2017
 48th Edition
 

Brookville Local Schools, (937) 833-2181 | http://www.brookvilleschools.org
In This Issue
Side Subheading
Brookville High School
1 Blue Pride Drive
Brookville, OH 45309
937-833-6761
937-833-6302

Principal
Mr. Christopher Bronner
Asst. Principal
Mrs. Lynne Sayre-Nickell


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Blue Devils
Athletic Schedules
S
Brookville Intermediate School
2 Blue Pride Drive
Brookville, OH 45309
937-833-6731
937-833-6756

Principal
Mr. Erin Wheat
Asst. Principal
Mrs. Lynne Sayre-Nickell

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Non-Sponsored Flyers
2017 Cotillion
Brookville Booster Annual Fish Fry
Si
Sponsored Flyers

Brookville Elementary School
3 Blue Pride Drive
Brookville, OH 45309
937-833-6796
937-833-5354

Principal
Mrs. Stephanie Hinds

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School Calendars

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School Lunch Menus



District Office
Side SubhBoardeading
Board of Education Offices
75 June Place
Brookville, OH 45309
937-833-2181
937-833-2787 - Fax

Superintendent
Timothy L. Hopkins

Treasurer
Mrs. Tiffany Hiser

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Our Mission
The Mission of Brookville Local Schools is to challenge, prepare, and support all students to realize their full potential.
Links You Might Like
OHSAA
SWBL
YouTube Brookville
Board of Education
Side Subheading
President
Scott Rutherford

Vice President
Judy Hoover

Members
John Gordon
Joe Mellon
Rick Phillips

2 Hour Delay Schedules
High School
9:50 a.m. - 2:35 p.m.

Intermediate School
9:50 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Elementary School
Grades K-3
11:00 a.m. - 3:20 p.m.

Preschool
AM 11:00 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.
PM 1:40 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Statewide OHSAA Military Appreciation Night
Shapes BHS Pep Rally
BHS Honors Trainer Vic Billheimer for his Service
The Ohio High School Athletic Association established January 20th as Military Appreciation Night. On this evening the OHSAA encouraged Ohio high schools to take part in a statewide military appreciation initiative honoring active and veteran United States Armed Forces members at their athletic events.

"Education-based athletics in the great state of Ohio are far more than winning and losing," OHSAA assistant commissioner Jerry Snodgrass said. "High school athletics encompass everyone. They are a school and community event. This entire school involvement helps develop student leaders on the courts and fields of play as well as in the classrooms and student groups that support their teams. This initiative is designed to emphasize these great student leaders in our schools and their support for our military."

Because BHS did not have a home game last Friday, recognition of an active member of the military who is very close to our student body occurred at our afternoon pep rally. Brookville's athletic trainer, Vic Billheimer, is a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy Reserve. Vic, who works for Premier Health, recently returned from a 1 year tour of duty off the coast of South Africa. While deployed, his naval ship escorted ships in and out of port, guarding against acts of violence and terrorism.     

BHS Recognizes Vic Billheimer for his Service
BHS Recognizes Vic Billheimer for his Service
While at sea in late September, Mr. Billheimer requested that the U.S. Flag flown on his ship be dedicated to the Brookville High School Athletic Department. The flag was then brought back to our school with a certificate of authenticity. The dedicated flag has been framed and will now be proudly displayed at BHS.  

During Friday's pep rally highlighting Military Appreciation Night, the BHS student body and staff took time to honor Vic. Dignitaries from Premier Health and the City of Brookville were in attendance. Brookville's mayor, Mr. Dave Seagraves, read and presented a city proclamation making Friday, January 20, 2017, Victor Billheimer Day in Brookville, Ohio. 

The entire program was well done and Vic, who was completely surprised by the recognition, was most appreciative. It was a great way to bring personal meaning to our students about honoring active and veteran US Armed Forces members.      
Superintendent's Corner
School Board Takes Action on Hill St. Purchase Agreement
At their January 9th meeting, the Board of Education took action to approve a purchase agreement regarding the old school lot on Hill St with a buyer who is interested in development of the land. The agreement is written in a fashion that allows for environmental testing and necessary steps to be taken over the next 60 days before it becomes binding. The near seven acre lot has been empty since the fall of 2005.

We will keep the community informed of the sale if and when it becomes final. 
Upcoming Events At Brookville Local Schools
We invite you to take a moment to watch the following video which highlights some of the exciting things that are coming up in the next few weeks at Brookville Local Schools.



Clearing Up Some Confusion and Anxiety About the 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee
Mrs. Hinds Shares Optimism on Final Results
Anxiety for parents and students alike over state mandated testing effects even our youngest of learners. Results from this fall's 3rd Grade Reading and Language Arts test have been received and will be sent home to parents at the end of the week. Some third grade parents will likely receive notification soon that their child is being placed on a state mandated Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan (RIMP). What is that? Why is that? Are our kids falling behind in reading?  Who can I talk to about this? Is he/she going to be retained? All of these questions may cross your mind and while they are understandable, to the contrary of the concerns, our success rate on the 3rd grade reading guarantee has been impeccable. Since the inception of this law, 100% of our 3rd graders have met the needed reading score for promotion.  

Understanding the 3rd Grade Reading Guarantee
Understanding the 3rd Grade
Reading Guarantee
In the video, elementary principal, Mrs. Stephanie Hinds, takes a moment to explain the guarantee law, the difference between a promotion score and a proficient score, what a RIMP is, and how you can help give your child confidence when taking the test.

If, as a parent, grandparent or community member, you still have questions or concerns, there are great sources available to answer your questions. You can talk to your child's teacher or Mrs. Hinds. You can find great information at the Ohio Department of Education website about the  3rd Grade Guarantee . The following videos are also good resources and provide additional information and clarification. Why Third Grade Reading is so Important and Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee - What it Means for You.

Blue Devil Athletics
An Unprecedented Start
The BHS boys' basketball team is off to the best start in modern program history. The team record stands at 13-1 with only 7 games remaining. Excitement is mounting as the season progresses and the Blue Devils have put themselves into position to play in some very big games down the home stretch. Anchored by a strong senior class, including four starters, the cagers set the tone early with 10 consecutive wins. Within those were victories on the road at Bellbrook, Monroe and Dixie plus bringing home the championship of the Franklin-Monroe Jet Holiday Tournament. Despite a tough home loss in arguably the biggest basketball game in the brief history of our current school gymnasium, the team seems destined not to slow down. With seven games left, including a rematch against Franklin, (our lone loss at 54-47), a SWBL boys' basketball title is still very much in reach.

Taking into account the success of individual players, offensive leaders at this point include Sr. Dalton Stewart with 14.7 pts./game and So. Jacob Gudorf who leads the league with 6.8 assists/game. However, a likely key to this team's success has been on the defensive end of the court. To date, the Devils only give up an average of 37.2 points/game. Defensive leaders include Sr. Cameren Alber with 6.5 rebounds/game, Sr. Tyler Scherer with 1 block/game and Sr. Cody Cox with 2.3 steals/game.  

Those attending Blue Devil games have seen a sharp increase in crowd size. Momentum is behind this fine team as they head into a critical part of their season. You can see the remainder of their schedule on our website.  We wish them the very best as they work to continue their winning ways!  
New Course Having an IMPACT
Student Projects Have Real Life Meaning
In what was a perfect storm of initiatives, BHS added a senior elective course this year titled IMPACT (I Make a Positive, Authentic Contribution Today". While the curriculum is based on better preparing high school seniors for life beyond classrooms, the instruction was to be anchored in Project Based Learning (PBL) . Approximately 25 of this year's seniors took the leap of faith to sign up for this new course. The instructors are social studies teacher Mr. Caudill and business education and computer science teacher Mrs. Ketron. What has developed from this elective course is a life changing experience for those involved.

Students studied innovation, entrepreneurship, careers, workplace teaming and employability or "soft" skills. Activities included current event searches centered on innovation and entrepreneurs. They studied career paths, completed job shadowing, and have written resumes. They put together soft-skill portfolios and have been through mock interviews with representatives from Montgomery County's Ohio Means Jobs Department. Learning the feedback cycle while working with colleagues and clients has been enlightening and one thing is obvious in talking with both the teachers and the students involved; there has been real life value in this new course.

The culminating experience was the result of happenstance. While looking for a capstone PBL experience for the students, instructor Kristin Ketron received a postcard in the mail promoting a student design challenge by an organization named SourceAmerica. The challenge asked students to invent a process, device, system or software that helps remove employment obstacles for people with disabilities ( SourceAmerica.org/Design-Challenge ). The essential question, a cornerstone to Project Based Learning, was "How can your team design/create a product that helps someone with a disability to successfully do their job?"  Having limited access to disabled employees, the teachers broadened this to include devices that would assist disabled students in the classroom.  

The class was broken down into six groups and all six of the class groups finished amazing project designs.  Possibly the most popular project was a desk built to allow one of our wheelchair bound elementary students greater access to activities. Elementary Intervention Specialist, Mrs. Lathrop, says "What I love best about the desk is that it is portable. The student is now comfortably able to participate in circle time using his desk to set his communication device on instead of his lap."  She went on to say, "we are very appreciative of the hard work these boys put into making such an awesome product for our classroom!"  

Other projects included: "Lighting up" the walker of a student for a Christmas program, developing a web-based iPad app for a handicapped employee to fill in their timesheet, calculate the hours and electronically submit the information to payroll, attaching a device to an employee's wheelchair to hold their cellphone so that they still had freedom to use both hands on the job and even a jar opener for students in a multi-handicapped classroom. As part of the class curriculum and design challenge, the teams had to submit short videos describing their project. You can see more of the videos on our YouTube channel which you can access here.

The process of having an essential question or challenge, the teamwork of design and build, the feedback and reworking of a design was a rewarding experience. The feeling of Making a Positive, Authentic Contribution was priceless. Senior Austin Hill, who worked to program an app for a disabled employee said, "It was a great opportunity to help others with disabilities. It was good to be able to create something that improved their lives."  Likewise, Senior Erin Tomlin spoke of the joy she had in developing a costume to help a second grader with disabilities play a key role in the class Christmas concert. "It was so satisfying to see him happy," stated Erin. She went on to say that for the first year, she believed the class was a great success. "At the end of the semester, we were given the opportunity to give feedback to the teachers about how we felt the class went and what changes they may make in the future!" It seems very fair to say that this first IMPACT class has made a significant influence on all those involved.  
Staff Spotlight
We would like to introduce you to Mr. Mark Brown, one of our BHS social studies teachers. The Staff Spotlight is a regular feature in the Blue Connector and is designed to assist you in getting to know our teachers and staff. Please take a moment to learn a little bit about Mr. Brown and what he does at BHS.

Where is your hometown?
Columbus, Ohio
 
Where do you live now? 
I live in Englewood, Ohio.

How many years of teaching experience do you have?
This is my 34th year of teaching.

How many years have you worked at Brookville?
I have been a teacher at Brookville for 33 years.
 
What is your position in the school district?
I am a social studies teacher. I teach 10th grade Modern American History, 10-12th grade Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics and 10-12th grade Advanced Placement U.S. History.

Tell us about your family and hobbies outside of teaching?
I have been married for 25 years and have 2 daughters (1 in college and 1 in high school). I like to read, travel and bike.
 
What is your favorite thing about working in Brookville?
My favorite thing about Brookville is that the people are easy to get to know and generally supportive of community organizations including the schools.
 
How do you spend June and July?
I spend my summer reading, biking and relaxing. I like to take a vacation and day trips and prepare for the upcoming year (new preps, new technology, new state requirements).
Where Are They Now?
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.

Our current profile is of Jeff Shultz a 2002 graduate. Please take a moment to view this latest profile  here. You can also view our past profiles on our  website.
High Five's
BHS Wrestling


Congratulations to the BHS Wrestlers for their recent 1st place finish at the Tri-County North Invitational. This young team continues to hone their skills and get better each time they take the mat.



Athletic Booster Club

Thank you to the Brookville Athletic Booster Club for their continued generous donations to our athletic programs. The Boosters are always "at the ready" to lend a hand and financial support to our teams, coaches and student-athletes. 

Columbus Blue Jackets & UD Hockey

Thank you to the Columbus Blue Jackets for their donation of an online STEM program, " Future Goals" to our STEAM students. This interactive program discusses STEM concepts behind hockey as well as the many STEM based careers in the sports world. 

STEAM teacher, Mrs. Lauren Henry contacted our local University of Dayton hockey team and they came to Brookville and met with the STEAM classes to discuss college, future careers and of course, hockey. Thank you Blue Jackets and thank you UD hockey players for making learning fun and sharing your insight with our young students.

Around Town
It's Time for Cotillion

couple_latin_dance.jpg For over 50 years, Brookville 7th and 8th grade students have been given the opportunity to participate in cotillion dance lessons and the Cotillion Ball. This tradition allows our students the opportunity to learn different dances, improve their social etiquette and develop good manners for social occasions. Lessons will begin on Saturday, February 4th. Please see the flyer for more information and to sign up!


Athletic Booster's Annual Fish Fry

The time has arrived for the 6th Annual Fish Fry sponsored by the Brookville Athletic Booster Club. The event which will be held on February 11, 2017, is the largest fundraiser for the Booster Club and continues to be a fun evening of great food and games, silent auctions and time spent with friends. For more information and to purchase your tickets, please see the flyer .