When you have visited Brookwood, you have probably encountered an engaging teacher, a friendly secretary, a helpful counselor and an on-duty administrator. But, there are others who act in supporting roles and have a big impact on the success of the school. I'd like to introduce you to some of our unsung staff you may never meet personally.

For over 15 years Ann Smith, our Athletic Secretary, has supported our athletic programs including the coaching staff and students on the teams.  This spring there 785 students on school teams. Ann will ensure that each one has a physical form on file and that they meet eligibility requirements. She'll arrange for buses that will get them to and from competitions and handle hundreds of other details to make sure these students have a great experience playing high school athletics.

Ask anyone. No media center staff can match Brookwood's for energy and enthusiasm. They have personally selected the over 20,000 items housed in the library. They offer SAT prep, maintain 100+ cameras, teach classes and work with teachers to design projects. Over 1,000 students visit the library each week during our extended lunch period alone. Students know they can turn to Brenda Neisler, Jan Wilson or Jan Barnes if they are desperate for help on a project due right now!

For eleven years, school nurse Melanie Pickens has managed medications and medical plans for tens of thousands of students. Although she's trained in emergency preparedness and all sorts of medical conditions, she also has an empathic heart and a bandaid for anyone who needs one.

Dewey Hay and Marc Torres are our part-time parking attendants. They ensure campus security and parking lot safety. They organize the comings and goings of class field trip and event buses throughout the day. However, they are sometimes called upon to change a flat, jump a dead battery or give a student on crutches a golf cart ride.

Under the management of veteran head custodian David Long, a team of seventeen cleans and maintains our 665,000 square foot facility. They are also the ones tasked with making sure there is enough lunchroom and classroom seating, the bleachers are pushed in or pulled out, set-up is ready and breakdown speedy for banquets, concerts and so much more. There is at least one member of the custodial staff at school from 3:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

It takes twenty-four staff members and a logistics genius to cook 13,000 meals per week for hungry teenagers. We were lucky to get new cafeteria manager Bill Mallard from Rocksprings Elementary in January to run our nutrition program. We look forward to the ideas Bill plans to implement.

Our paraprofessional teachers assist teachers in the classrooms to keep classes running smoothly. This usually means helping students one-on-one, but it could include making copies, ordering supplies and running errands so classroom teachers can stay focused on teaching and learning.

I am blessed to work with such a great team. I'd like to offer a special thank you to these who work behind the scenes to make Brookwood run efficiently and safely.

Warmly,

Debbie

Cunningham Earns Wrestling State Title; Jozwowski Runner-Up

The wrestling team finished their season at the State Wrestling Championships in February. Brookwood had two finalists, Blake Cunningham, a senior in the 285lbs weight class, and Wyatt Jozwowski, a sophomore in the 113lbs weight class.

Wyatt lost in the finals to the returning state runner up, but wrestled a solid match giving his opponent everything he had. We look forward to his continued success over the next

Check out this video of Cunningham's win.  The incredible reverse and pin happend about four minutes into the match.

two years. Blake opened up his match with a 3-0 lead and then was taken down by his opponent to close the gap 3-2. However, Blake quickly worked towards an escape and his competition started to counter with poor technique. Blake used his athleticism to reverse his opponent and finished the match in dominating fashion by pinning Stacey Wright of Lowndes in the State Finals.

 

This is Brookwood's first State Champion in over a decade and Blake is the 3rd State Wrestling Champ in the school's existence. We are very proud of the varsity wrestling team and all of their accomplishments this season. They concluded the dual season with a 33-7 record, and placed 6th in the state dual tournament.

 

 

 

 

Foreign Language Honor Societies Induct 104 New Members

Congratulations to the following students who were inducted into foreign language honor societies during a ceremony in February. 

Société Honoraire de Français (French Honor Society)
Jennifer Abrams, Shannon Cordon, Julie Pan, Joshua Carey, Ashley Dawson, Anna Preece, Karla Castillo-Hernandez, Saritha Mangonès, Christie Roth, Leslie Castrejon, Aryn Melton, and Supriya Sajja
 

Delta Epsilon Phi (German Honor Society)
Sayyaf Ali, Matthew McClintock, Steven Ren, Patrick Boyle, Tran Nguyen, Farzana Shamim, Austin Fowler, Austin Papageorge, Jay Tandon, Kyle Mackey, Katherine Read, and Rickki Taylor
 

Latinam Honoris Societatem (Latin Honor Society)
Ronald Adams, Kathryn Hedlund, Ryan Phanor, Nida Ali, Cherechi Iromuanya, Malahkai Pizarro, Murphy Boales, Ashely Jacob, Christopher Powell, Suzanne Bradley, Sandro Juric, Gloria Quirarte, Stephen Bray, Patrick Kendrick, Aaron Ragans, Sarah Bruyere, Quan Alexander La, Edie Schuermann, Farrah Butter, Morgan Malanoski, Brandon Sherwood, Akshay Chandora, Naana Obeng-Mamu, Meby Skariah, Abigail Coker, Nathan Massey, Jamani Smith, Sarah Corbett, Matthew McClintock, Momoko Takenaka, Andrew Dennis, Bryton Merritt, Lauren Taylor, Keelie Denson, Amarin Montroy, Jenny Truong, Mirabella Garrett, Mackenzie Mothorp, Judy Varghese, Gabriela Griffith, Leah Pate, Maliq Winter, Miah Harris, Christopher Patrick, Jake Whyte, and Nhu-Y Phan
 

Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (Spanish Honor Society)
Johnny Andia, Jasmine Ewe, Maria Olwine, Yusra Asif, Gabriela Feliciano, Cece Onyegbule, Adrian Backus, Colin Fite, Jonathan Pabon, Alison Blackshire, Brandan Harris, Ahmad Rathor, Ashley Brown, Micah Henson, Kelly Roudebush, Ivey Burrell, Nelly Hernandez, Carmen Schrack, Sofia Calicchio, Rachel Horton, Neal Thacker, Avery Cantrell, Lily Lau, Lindsey Thrift, Melanie Chandler, Azalea Lokhandwalla, Samantha Vasallo, Shanice Chesney, Curtis Maafoh, Yoselin Vasquez, Ashleigh Cox, Kevin McElroy, Julia White, and Michael Ochs

Visual Arts Students Finalists in SCAD Design Challenge

Seniors Jessica Meadors and Rebecca Romesburg are both finalists in Savannah College of Art and Design's Design Challenge, an art contest open to any high school senior. Jessica was chosen in the 3D category and Rebecca was chosen in the 2D category. From all the international entries, SCAD Challenge mentors selected finalists whose work best embodied the kind of original, visually striking artwork characteristic of SCAD.

Sharon Pak's Drawing to be on Display in NYC

Visual Art student Sharon Pak has had her colored pencil drawing "Son of Man" chosen to be displayed on the Big Screen Plaza in New York City during the National Art Education Association Convention in March.

Members of SADD Attend Highway Safety Event

Members of Brookwood's Students Against Drunk Drivers Club attended the Youth and Young Adult Leadership Conference at Callaway Gardens in February.  The conference, organized by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, was designed to bring together student advocates and focus on new ways to communicate life-saving ideas to their fellow high school and college students.  SADD members Sarah Chico, Obumneme Imonugo, Yohanna Hailgrebriel, Selam Tesfamariam, and Malahski Pizarro in photo with sponsor Amber Simmons.  More from the Gwinnett Daily Post.