November/December 2015

We Salute

Eunice Choi, Evan Butterworth and Ruby Lee have been selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in the High School Honors Performance Series. Out of the 18,000 worldwide who auditioned, only 750 were selected for one of three instrumental or two vocal groups.

Amanda Ablan, our starting softball pitcher, set the new county record for career strikeouts (1088) and was named Gwinnett Diamond Club Pitcher of the Year.

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We Care

As of November 30, Brookwood's clubs, teams, students and staff have raised $48,750 for charity.

Educators Rising, our club for future teachers, organized our 9th Annual BHS Faculty Costume Contest. Students voted for their favorite costumes by donating money in teachers' trick-or-treat buckets. In all, we raised $1,125 to fund two scholarships for seniors who plan to study education in college.

Our first teacher talent show showcased 13 acts, from singing, dancing and skits to martial arts, bullwhip tricks and stand up comedy. By the time the curtain fell, we raised nearly $1,500 for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Helping Hands and Hearts.

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We Build

Michael Burkholder (fourth from the right) is dual enrolled at Maxwell High School of Technology and part of the team that won the Quaker State Best in Class Challenge to restore and customize a used car.

We Create

Seven Brookwood students have qualified for the state level competition of PTSA's Reflections Contest. Below were their awards from the county competition:

Choreography, Claire Ofotokun, 1st place, 12th grade

Literature, Kaiyan (Ivy) Le, 1st place, 9th grade
Literature, Dieja Donaldson, 1st place. 11th grade
Literature, Angelina Suwoto, 2nd place, 11th grade

Music, Jamie My Le, 1st place, 9th grade

Photography, Damara Sochacki, 1st place, 9th grade

Visual Arts, Iris Liu, 2nd place, 12th grade

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October Departmental Awards

Branden Thomas

JaiChina Baldwin

Cassandra Davis

Christopher Peele

Kwame Akuffo

Madison Wilson

Andrew Barber
Jalen Brown

Aibangbee Rawlings

October Departmental Awards

Jamie Morrow

Zain Freshly

Tanner Winskie

Taylor Anderson

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A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL FORD

Greetings!

If you attended our first community pep rally this fall, it should come as no surprise that we intend to make it an annual event. The same applies to our teacher talent show, which raised nearly $1,500 for charity and revealed creative and sometimes amusing abilities. I encourage everyone to mark the dates when they come around again next year.

Mr. Ford welcomed Dr. Rudy Jackson of Georgia Gwinnett College to serve as

Principal for a Day at Brookwood.

As we approach the halfway mark of Brookwood's 35th year, we are establishing these and other new traditions to strengthen school spirit and uphold our principles of citizenship, advocacy, respect and engagement. Our new Upstander and Habitudes programs already have a strong presence on campus.

I mentioned the Upstander campaign in previous newsletters, and you will hear more about it as the year progresses. Habitudes is the character-building curriculum we use in our advisement sessions to help form leadership habits and attitudes. Together these programs will help prepare our Broncos to be tomorrow's leaders.

Our football team showed its passion for tradition this season too with its own hashtag of #TraditionReinvented to usher in a new head coach and athletic facility. We are proud of Coach Jones, our boys, and the Bronco spirit that soared all season. Bronco Nation is as strong as ever.

As our motto declares, Brookwood is committed to a tradition of excellence -- be it old or new, in the classroom, or in the community.

Go Broncos!

William Bo Ford, Jr.

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We Reign

Brookwood Cross Country Swept Region

All four of our Bronco teams earned first place at the Region Championship: varsity and JV, boys and girls. Five boys and three girls finished in the Varsity Top 10 races. Our varsity boys proceeded to earn second at State, and varsity girls, sixth.

Lady Broncos Softball: State Runner-up

The girls played with heart all season long, making it to the final round at the State Tournament against Mill Creek.

We Harmonize

Six Broncos Selected for All-State Chorus

Alexandra Backfisch, Alto 1

Daniel Boaitey, Bass 2

Nicole Kinnunen, Alto 1

Lindsay McGee, Soprano 1
Walker Owen, Bass 1
Nehemiah Robertson, Bass 1

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We Teach

Brookwood's Cindy Quinlan was named National Teacher of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). Ms. Quinlan is a GCPS Entrepreneurship Program Specialist and co-chair of our Business & Technology Department. She also serves as our Work-Based Learning Coordinator and DECA Club Co-Advisor.

This is Jennifer Maloney's second year as head coach of our softball team, leading them to win region twice and to rise to state runner-up this fall. In the classroom, she teaches Honors Biology and Anatomy and Physiology. Coach Maloney was recently named 2015 Georgia AAAAAA Softball Coach of the Year by the Georgia Dugout Club.