March 3, 2016
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We Salute 

This year's National Merit Scholar Finalists are Heath Murphy, Iris Liu and Michael Bowler. Of the 1.5 million entrants nationwide, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT scores qualified for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship ProgramIn September, the list was culled to about 16,000 semifinalists. Now at the finalist stage, our three Broncos will have their academic records further evaluated, including a written recommendation, test scores, activities and leadership roles, and an essay. 


Posse Scholarship Award recipients Xaria Jordan and Miles Nolan each received a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to George Washington University and Texas A&M, respectively. Read more about the Posse leadership development scholarship program

Brookwood's PAGE Foundation STAR student is Naisa Rahman. The STAR program honors Georgia's highest achieving seniors and the teachers most instrumental in their academic development.  Naisa has chosen Language Arts teacher Mr. Kling as her counterpart for the award. STAR nominees are seniors with the highest SAT score on a single test date and in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class.


Brookwood has 13 semifinalists to interview at the State level for Governor's Honors Program. Congratulations to these fine Broncos:
     Andrew Barber, Music
     Brian Cho, Mathematics
     Eunice Choi, Music
     Kia Clennon, World Languages
     Matthew Hanagriff, Visual Arts
     Arjuna Karikaran, Science
     Grace Kim, World Languages
     Ruby Lee, Music
     Amaan Marfatia, Mathematics
     Alex Ngo, World Languages
     Ayako Penderson-Takeda, Music
     Sharan Ravigopal, Science
     Emili Sabanovic, Social Studies
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We Care

As of March 3, Brookwood organizations have raised $97,641.26 collectively for local and national charity for the 2015-16 school year. During our March 21 baseball game, our Broncos will be selling Gold Out T-shirts to benefit the Amanda Riley Foundation, and on March 26 our Relay for Life team will hold a Sadie Hawkins dance to benefit American Cancer Society.
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We Applaud

Freshman Eric Phuong was accepted into the National Park Service High School Ambassador program. In the four-year role, he will train for a variety of tasks similar to those performed by park rangers and build leadership skills and knowledge of the park service. 



Junior William Blakely received a certificate and medal from the Georgia Canoe Association in appreciation for his leadership and contribution to the paddling community. William also recently won a blogging competition about kayaking from Bellyaks boat company.




Sophomore James Zelano won best screenplay in the Gwinnett County Public Library Teen Film Challenge. He also acted in the 7-minute film along with his younger brother. Many thanks to our media specialist Jan Wilson for encouraging him to enter.




Senior Matthew Rawsthorn raised funds for, built and installed five new picnic tables for the front of our school as part of his effort to gain status of Eagle Scout. Our students and staff appreciate the useful contribution to our campus. 

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We Award Scholarships

Congratulations to our Miss Brookwood winners: Miss Freshman Nicole LaBarre, Miss Sophomore Paige Allen, Miss Brookwood Julia Howard and Miss Junior Melissa Kumi. Miss Brookwood Julia Howard was also recognized as having the highest GPA among the senior contestants and won the Spirit of the Pageant award. Thanks to our PTSA, which organizes the annual event, providing scholarships to our seniors and funds for educational support at Brookwood.
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Bronco Service Awards
 Brandon Pacheco
 Rachel Blanding
 Nicholas Reedy
 Emmanuel Aguirre   
 Jorden Lewis
 Andra Tutor

Alex Ngo
Jetle Nguyen
Emilio Lau
Will Henson
Michael Galouzis
Mary Nguyen

Departmental Awards
 Sophia Abeyta
 Isabel Veith
 Josh Baker
 Isaiah Jordan
 Emma d'Aquin
 Marshawn Lewis
 Jacob Weekly
 Mackinnon Jackson
 Olivia Campbell-Smith
Emaso Terry
James Lucas Brieske
Sarah Tigu
Hannah Cisneros
Chanise Williams
Zaria Tarver
Aleetha Samuel
Susan Zhang
Justin Baldwin
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A MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL FORD

Greetings!
 
Most every month we have the chance to acknowledge a nationally recognized scholar, artist or athlete, because Brookwood is filled with engaged, high-achieving students. Behind their success lies persistence, talent, a supportive family and, I'd like to think, a teacher or two who helped along the way. 
Georgia Senator P.K. Martin came to Brookwood to present a resolution honoring teacher Cindy Quinlan.

Our teachers don't always get the public recognition they deserve, but in the case of Cindy Quinlan, she rightfully landed the National Teacher of the Year Award from the Association for Career & Technical Education.  Mrs. Quinlan heads our GCPS Entrepreneurship and Work-Based Learning programs and is co-advisor for our DECA marketing club.
 
Along with Mrs. Quinlan's recognition, I want to applaud teacher Carrie Settles-Livers, recently named one of three teachers of the year by the Georgia Science Teachers Association.
 
There are not enough awards to acknowledge everyone's contribution to this school. However, we try our best to recognize a handful of employees at each faculty meeting with our own ABCD Awards (Above and Beyond the Call of Duty). Nominated by co-workers for making our school a better place through acts of kindness or sheer dedication to a cause, these teachers and staff members help make Brookwood highly acclaimed. You would be delighted and amazed at the good deeds and hard work that go on behind the scenes. 

We promise to keep doing our part, and I'm confident that our students will do theirs to carry on Brookwood's tradition of excellence. 

Go Broncos! 



William Bo Ford, Jr. 
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We Reign

Science Olympiad Clinches 7th Region Title
Brookwood competed in the Regional Science Olympiad Championship and earned medals in 21 of 23 events to land its seventh consecutive region championship. The team heads to state to defend its sixth consecutive title.


Boys' Swimming Pulls in 4th State Championship
Our boys' team won its fourth state championship while earning a number of All-American times, new Brookwood swim records and individual state titles. Our girls brought home a trophy for the third year in a row with a third place finish and also secured All-American times and school records.

We Mean Business
 

Brookwood's Future Leaders of America advanced 66 students to the state competition and placed second overall in the region.  Check the region results. Brookwood has the eighth largest FBLA chapter internationally.
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We Harmonize

Fourteen band students were selected for the UGA January Band Festival:
  Kenny Bader
  Andrew Barber
  Amanda Crites
  Ansley Folds

Cameron Gwynn
Abi Ivemeyer
Julianna Lescota
Watson Martin
Karl Patram
Daniel Rogers
Kaitlyn Samela
Hannah Shuman
Tori Swyers
Julie Tritt

All five of Brookwood's orchestra groups received Superior ratings at their Large Group Performance Evaluations: Symphony, Philharmonic, Maroon & Gold, Concert Strings and Symphonic Strings.
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We Score


Brookwood Wrestling finished seventh in the state with four state medalists:
David Key, 2nd Place, 152 lbs.      Thomas Coltrain, 6th Place, 120 lbs.
Miles Nolan, 2nd Place, 170 lbs.    Shane Defreitas, 6th Place, 285 lbs.
   
Brookwood Fencing won first place in Men's Sabre and second in Women's at the Georgia High School Fencing League Championship, hosted at Brookwood in late February.  Sophomore Nicole Wright won gold in Women's Epée, Hendrik Bodewig won silver in Men's Foil, Brittany Groussman won bronze in Women's Sabre, and Pierce Everett and Eddie Thurom tied for bronze in Men's Sabre.
We Perform

Brookwood Theatre's production of Zombie Prom was selected from among more than 40 shows to be performed at the Georgia Thespian Conference