
February 2013 |
We Recognize
Broncos Among Medal-Winners in Science & Engineering Fair
Forty-two Broncos created projects for the Gwinnett Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Six received first place medals and will advance to the state competition. Medal-winning Broncos were:
1st place
Asiya Abbas, Ryan Chen, Ruth Melka, Rylee Mercer, Emily Ruengvivatpant and Adarsh Suresh
2nd place
Zach Birkholz, Suzanne Bradley, Mckayla Brown, Emma DeJarnette, Justin Dumrongkulraksa, Laboni Hoque, Alyssa Huenniger, Jasmine Ito, Obeng-Marnu Jack, Sarah Kang, Sabrina Moin, Lucas Montouchet, Tanner Pace, Luke Rucker, Projol Topiwala, Kenna Valles, Susan Zhang and Corey Zheng
3rd place
Elizabeth Clerke, Kaitlyn Cundiff, Kaushik De, Holly Gunder, Evie Jones, Cindy Nguyen, Nkosi Kee and Jason John |
We Excel
Science Olympiad Dominates, Taking 1st in 14 Events
In February, the Science Olympiad teams competed in the Regional Science Olympiad at the University of North Georgia. It was the first time that Brookwood took four teams to a regional tournament. Brookwood's four teams finished 1st, 5th, 7th and 13th out of 28 teams competing. Brookwood's varsity team dominated the competition finishing 1st in 14 of 23 events. To determine the championship team, the place in each individual event is added together and the team with the lowest total wins. Brookwood's total of 63 points was 82 points lower than the second place team. |
We Applaud
Two Broncos Are State Reflections Winners
Congrats to Luke Rucker and Caleigh Derreberry who are winners in the statewide PTSA Reflectons Contest. Luke won in the photography category. Caleigh won in the film production category.
Lindahl Inducted into Thespian Hall of Fame
Longtime Brookwood Drama Teacher Patty Lindahl was inducted into the Georgia Thespian Hall of Fame at a theatre conference in Columbus, Georgia in February.
Wilson Commits to UGA
Girls cross country runner Payton Wilson has committed to run for the University of Georgia. Payton has been a staple in the cross country program and an important part of the team's success. Payton has been on the varsity team since her freshman year. This year, Brookwood's girls cross country team was State Champions.
Two FBLA Members Head to State
Congrats to Nick Na and Xxavier Robertson. They placed so high in the Future Business Leaders of America Region Competiton that they now move to state. |
We Salute
Mock Trial Takes 2nd in Region Competition
Brookwood's Mock Trial team competed in the Region 9 Mock Trial Competition at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center. The team made it to the final round and took second place. In addition, the following students won individual awards: Outstanding Attorney Awards - Robert Cunningham and Julia Howard. Outstanding Witness Awards - Sameer Thakker, Emerson Harmon and Gabrielle Schuett.
Broncos Inducted into Language Honor Societies
Congrats to the following Broncos who were inducted into Foreign Language Honor Societies in February.
Spanish
Shannon Alexander, Janie Hester, Allison Myers, Sanah Aslam, Alyssa Huenniger, Nicholas Na, Wendolyn Barquero, Gabrielle Issa, Eric Oliver, Nicole Blanding, Marisol Iturbe, Judy Park, Vanessa Boyle, Madeline Jackson, Aashka Patel, Grace Bullabaugh, Sarah Kang, Mary Plauche, Caleigh Derreberry, Young Hun Kim, Grace Puckett, Hayley Doyle, Layla Leon, Shaquay Robinson, Maria Paula Echavarria, Mindy Luong, Leslie Stinnett, Bowen Ewe, Haley Luther, Brittany Tan, Tori Flot, Siddhartha Meka, Benjamin Tesema, Abril Hernandez, Jonathan Meza and Lindsey Thomson.
French
Yasmeen Belhseine, Chase Fretwell, Vamsi Reddy, Anthony Choo, Kevin Lee-Alston, Krishna Shah, Gabrielle DeJesus, Paige Miller, Amira Yanni, Nichole Encardes and Danielle Ramos.
German
Fiorella Gamarra, Connor Palmquist, Diana Lane, Kelly Reid, Sahil Mithwani, Bryan Single and Maria Otero.
Latin
Oluwatomisin Adelusi, Alexis Jacob, Caitlin Pozarelli, Saniya Ahmed, Regan Jolley, Sonia Punja, Rebecca Angoyar, Daniel Keo, Geoffrey Richardson, Michael Bell, Al Maaz Kadri, Clara Sims, Charles Chang, John Kim, Sally Seo, Olivia Chong, Reece Morrow, Matthew Stout, Tochukwu Chuma-Okere, Kevin Nguyen, Adarsh Suresh, Abigail Dudman, Madison Pannell, Erika Sutton, Nyemkuna Fortingo, Aparna Parvathi, Paul Wakim, Adam Foster, Rahil Patel, Brittany Wesner, Emily Hudson, Shiv Patel, Annelise Wilson and Zachary Petty.
Latin Students Recognized for Performance on Exam
Congratulations the following Latin students who have won awards based on their scores on the National Etymology Exam, a 50 question multiple choice test on English derivatives from Latin and Greek.
Gold
Adam Foster, Ryan Chen, Jack Obeng-Marnu, Malison Young, Griffin Dangler, Naana Obeng-Marnu, Adarsh Suresh
Silver
Allen Chan, Alexis Jacob, Aparna Parvathi, Neil Shah, Ryan Capone, Matt King, Bailey Ivemeyer, Michael Opara, David Phan, Anna Thornton, Karen Su
Bronze
Justin Dumrongulraska, Diamond Griffith, Sam Gudger, Cameron Cummin, Zach Davis, Abby Hurst, Huzefa Husain, Cindy Nguyen
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We Honor
Congrats to our Students of the Month. The following students were selected by BHS staff for achievement and motivation.
Ezra Gebrekidan, Jason John, Tyler Longmate, Michael Bowler, Matt Aycock, Heather Towhey, Matt Boone, Martha Weber and Shanen Johnson |
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Brookwood's Star Student Eric Yao has been named Star Student for all of Gwinnett! This honor is bestowed on the student with the highest SAT score. Eric chose Dana Kling as his STAR Teacher. They are shown here with GCPS Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks. |
A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL DEBBIE DEES
Greetings!
Sometimes I feel guilty about all the credit the high school gets for student success. We are the ones who get to tout SAT scores, AP courses, student scholarships and awards from publications that track these things. But, we know there are many factors at play, including the strength of the elementary and middle schools in our cluster.
In the Brookwood cluster, we think of a student's entire school career as one system, a process that maps out content and mastery from grade level to grade level. In education, we call it vertical alignment.
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Brookwood Assistant Principal Malinda Martin visits a cluster school as guest reader. |
Communication is key; so Brookwood cluster principals meet monthly to discuss an array of items that effect student success. We discuss instructional strategies and plan cluster collaboration with our teachers. We talk about reading, writing, math, science, acceleration, remediation and teacher evaluations.
In addition, representatives from each cluster school meet several times throughout the year to ensure we are all on the same page. The content teachers meet in vertical teams. We currently have vertical teams in Math, Language Arts, Science, Technology and Special Education. They visit each other's schools, develop a common language to use throughout the cluster and talk about strategies that can transfer from level to level.
Students benefit when the right hand knows what the left is doing. We learn from each other and pass it along to students K-12.
Warmly,
Debbie
P.S. Our cluster has a lot to celebrate. Just last week, Brookwood was named an AP Merit School, AP STEM School and AP STEM Achievement School based on the number of students taking AP classes and succeeding on AP Exams.
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We Shine
Miss Brookwood Contestants Impress the Judges
Congratulations to the top winners in the Miss Brookwood Scholarship Pageant: Ariana Stringfellow (Miss Brookwood), Savannah Bishop (Miss Junior), Gracie Abercrombie (Miss Sophomore) and Alycia Rehmatullah (Miss Freshman). Also, thanks to the sponsors who make this PTSA fundraiser possible. (Photo by Keepsake Portraits)
Sponsors
Brisendine Law Firm, Calvin Nabors Automotive, Jeff Traub MD Sports Medicine, Drs. Gerald and Candace Rausch P.C. Family Dentistry, BTG Broadcast Technology Group, Dr. Marie Soracco, Sangria's Mexican Cafe, Total Learning Concepts, Clay R. Thompson, Solar Dimensions Tanning Spas, A Daisy A Day, Ground Pounder Graphics, Men's Warehouse, Moe's on Hwy 78 Lilburn, Green Financial Resources LLC, Richard Schmidt State Farm, AC Spine & Wellness Center, Safe & Sound Interactive Security and RPS Printing. |
We Compete
Ultimate Frisbee Team Spends Wet Weekend at Tournament
The Varsity and JV Ultimate Frisbee teams traveled to Chattanooga on a very wet weekend in February to participate in the annual Deep Freeze tournament.
The varsity squad came into the tournament seeded 11th and finished 5th. Its 4-2 record included a thrilling 9-8 victory to make the quarterfinals over Grady High School of Atlanta. The JV came in seeded 23rd and finished 20th with a 2-4 record, losing twice on double game point.
The week before the tournament, the JV team also defeated Parkview's Varsity Ultimate team 15-10. (Sophomore Chidike Iromuanya in photo) |
We Build
Robotics Team Qualifies for World Championship
In February, Brookwood Robotics competed in Georgia's last tournament of the year. Brookwood walked away with tournament champion trophies & invitations to the World Tournament event in Anaheim, California. There, they will meet teams from across the US, as well as countries like Saudi Arabia, Australia, China and Japan. Members of the Robotics Team are Bowen Yang, Alex Vazhayinal, Rohit Ganesan, Chris Iverson, Bradley Gwynn, Corey Zheng, Pernathie Venigandia, Reed Champion, Drew Farmer and Lauren Brennan. |
We Create
Student Artwork Chosen for Metro Atlanta Show
Artwork by Sally Seo, Sarah Cherney, Abby Summers and Meredith Bradley was accepted into the Atlanta High School Student Art Exhibit. This show is a tradition established by the Arts Festival of Atlanta in the early 1970's to recognize and encourage fine quality art from students from the 14 metropolitan Atlanta counties. It is a juried show and typically has some of the best work in Georgia. The show travels to several locations, but ends up on exhibit at Piedmont Park during the Annual Dogwood Festival (April 19-21).
Most Medalists in Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Brookwood had the most winners ever in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. A sample of winning entries is pictured above from Marissa Dilisio, Bryn Bassett, Abby Summers and Brittney Gallagher. The following students also received awards and will be recognized at a reception at SCAD this month:
Sydney Beatty, Mallory Butlin, Alexis Jacob, Rikki Taylor, Shanice Chesney, Kevin Fuentes, Jasmine Ito, Krystal Ly, Rebecca Adams, Jessi Butler, Brett Dvorak, Dayana Mejia, Alexis Vitovic, Darian MacLeod, Emily Hudson, Ena Aguilar, Grace Renshaw, Haley Peacock, Heidi Schureck, Jenna Still, Lauren Clay, Meredith Bradley, Olivia Chong and Phillip DiGioia. |
We Calculate
Math Team Mentors Middle School Mathmaticians
The BHS Math Team hosted over 60 middle school students from around the state at the first annual BHS Middle School Math Tournament in February. Thanks to the hard work of our math team, the middle school students had a great experience and enjoyed a morning full of mathematics. |
We Care
Key Club Brings One for the Chipper
Brookwood Key Club students (Left to right: Yashawinie Jayaratne, Bryn Bassett and Julie Pan) gave back to the community at the "Bring One for the Chipper" event at Bethesda Park. Student groups from Gwinnett high schools helped recycle Christmas trees that will be used as mulch in our county parks.
Student Government Raises Thousands for Children's Healthcare
Brookwood's Student Government Association, working with UGA, organized several fundraising projects in February, including a Friday night Dance Marathon. When all the donations were tallied, a total of $3,434.43 went to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. |
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