May 2014

We Applaud

Bufi & Weber Named Valedictorian & Salutatorian

Elion Bufi, ranked number one in his class, will serve as the Class of 2014 Valedictorian. Martha Weber, second in the class of 797 students, will serve as Salutatorian. Both students have over a 100% GPA.

Elion, an AP Scholar with Distinction, has been an active member of several school honor societies and the Model UN. He will study Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech next year.

Martha is a National Merit Finalist, who has been active in school leadership and honor societies. She is an accomplished visual artist, as well as a ballet dancer who maintains a five-days-a-week rehearsal schedule.

Martha will attend Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University on full scholarship to study Civil Engineering.

Students of the Month

Congratulations to our Students of the Month. These students were selected last month by BHS staff for achievement, motivation and acts of service: Kiley Lucier, Steven Ren, Diego Lyons, Yessenia Fuentes, Caitlin Costello, Georgeanne Eagle, Bridget Baldwin, Nick Na, Nina Thomason, Tommy Templeman, Raven Faison, Alex Yang and Cambrilyn Snead.

Budding Entrepreneurs Compete in Snellville "Shark Tank"

Brookwood students in the entrepreneurship program will compete against each other and against students from Central Gwinnett High School in a "Shark Tank" event sponsored by the Snellville Office of Economic Development. Winning student businesses will receive a share of $1500 to fund their operations. Good luck to our budding entrepreneurs.

Choi Takes 3rd in Statewide Essay Contest

Ji (Jenny) Choi was 3rd runner-up in Rotary's 2013-2014 Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest. She received a $300 prize in this statewide competition.

We Commend

Two Broncos Earn Internships at Turner Broadcasting

Visual art students Rebecca Odonkor and Kevin Fuentes were accepted into the internship program for the very competitive Turner Broadcasting's Voices in the Arts program. The program, for high school aged youth, only accepts twenty students across the state. It is a week-long exploration to introduce different creative career fields and will incorporate hands-on learning, tours, panels, speakers and special events, including outings to local arts establishments.

Robotics Club Takes 42nd at World Competition

For a second year in a row, the Robotics Club was one of 800 clubs worldwide to qualify for the World Championships in Anaheim, California. The club, which competed over a three day period, finished 42nd, 30 spots higher than last year. Congrats to club members: Keith Still, Chase Butler, Corey Zheng, Kevin Choi, Kevin Tian, Bowen Ewe, Omar Chowdhury and Wayne Kung.

Georgia Scholastic Press Association Ranks The Sentinel "Excellent"

The Sentinel, Brookwood's student newspaper, was given the rank of "Excellent" by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association for the 2013-14 school year. Congratulations to our hard-working newspaper staff.

Jazz Ensembles Earn Superior Rating

The Jazz Combo, Gold Jazz Ensemble and Maroon Jazz Ensemble traveled to Collins Hill High School for the annual jazz performance evaluation. All three groups earned superior ratings (the highest) from each of the judges.

Six Seniors Receive Walton EMC Scholarships

Walton EMC awarded six Brookwood seniors each with a $4,000 scholarship. Scholarships were awarded to William Walker, Jessica Evans, Brittney Wesner, Drew Cushwa, Saritha Mangones and Allie Myers for leadership, community involvement, achieving goals, overcoming obstacles and chosen field of study.

A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL FORD

Greetings!

We look forward to the next few weeks with our students. Yes, there are exams to take, but we will also attend play-off games, banquets and awards nights. We will get our yearbooks and say goodbye to the seniors.

I especially enjoy sharing the excitement of our seniors, who have made decisions about what will come for them after high school. Whether they will go to college, join the military or get busy with work right away, they are about to embark on an adventure.

I'm proud of what the Class of 2014 has accomplished. It's truly amazing when we reflect back on all they've learned, not just in the classroom, but important life lessons on friendship, hard work and integrity. We expect big things from this group!

We will remember this year as one of Brookwood's best. In this community, there will be many memory-building moments in the coming days. Together, let's celebrate each one.

As always, thank you for your support of Brookwood High School.

Go Broncos!
William Bo Ford, Jr.

We Commit

More Broncos Commit to Play Sports in College

Gianna Zitello (in photo with her parents) signed with Oglethorpe Volleyball.

More Bronco athletes have made decisions about where they will play in college next year. Below is a list of some of our latest signers.

Baseball

Thomas Byelick (Citadel)

Volleyball

Gianna Zitello (Oglethorpe) and Kendall Hardy (Truett-McConnell)

Basketball

Nate Rosetti (LaGrange)

Softball

Sam Leach (Georgia Perimeter)

Runners

Laurel Sumner (UGA) and Nina Thomason (Berry)

Swim & Dive

Sarah Frey (Brenau) and Steven Lewis (South Georgia State)

Lacrosse

Abby Briethoff (Point University)

Tennis

Liz Slaugher (Dallas Baptist), Brandon Mills (Presbyterian) and Will George (Kennesaw State)

Football

Miguel Herrera (Cambellsville University), Brandon Morrow (Presbyterian), Matt Lee (Malone University), Casimir Isles and JonAustin Bridges (Rinehardt), Nigel Simmons (Baldwin Wallace) and Zach Williams (Savannah State)

We Win

Business Students Win Social Media Marketing Contest

FBLA and DECA Clubs traveled to the CNN Center and Philips Arena for a day of activities designed to promote awareness of careers in sports marketing and management. Brookwood club members took a behind the scenes tour of CNN, followed by a speaker series at Philips Arena from executive-level members of the Hawks front office. They finished the evening watching the Hawks in action against Portland.

At the event, club members had a chance to design a social media campaign for an upcoming event at Philips Arena. Members had 20 minutes to create a campaign, and the entries were judged by members of the Hawks front office. The top three were selected to present their social media campaigns on the floor of Philips Arena. The overall winner was chosen based on their campaign and their presentation.

FBLA members Alex Yarini, Kristen Marsh, Tiffany Suwoto, Mahum Ali, and Nkosi Kee won First Place in the 2014 Atlanta Hawks Social Media Marketing event. They created a campaign to #FillUpPhilips because everyone loves to play at "Home."

We Share

Music Industry Veteran Shares Experiences in the Business

Jan Smith of Jan Smith Studios visited school for a music industry question and answer session with some Brookwood chorus, theater and jazz students. Sometimes called "Mama Jan," Ms. Smith runs a 4,500 square foot facility that houses vocal, instrument and music theory instructors, plus a state-of-the-art digital recording and production studios. Mama Jan's extraordinary list of professional credits includes multi-platinum, Grammy winning artists Usher, Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty, Chilli of TLC, India Arie and Collective Soul, as well as industry CEO's such as Matt Serletic, Jermaine Dupri, LA Reid and Clive Davis.

We Succeed

Orienteering Club Wins US Interscholastic Championship

A four-student team from Brookwood won the U.S. Interscholastic Orienteering Championship held in April in Ohio. Team members are Matt Stout, Austin Fowler, Edwin Villatoro and Alex Vazhayinal (shown in photo above with Principal Ford and Club Sponsor Chris Michael). Fowler also was third in the national individual competition. More than 400 entrants participated in this year's meet, hosted by the Orienteering Club of Cincinnati.

Orienteering is a navigation sport. Using only a map and compass, competitors navigate through terrain to locate and check in at electronic controls that are placed in advance. The fastest competitor to find all the controls in the correct order and return to the finish wins.