When Van Buren elementary school student Michael came home on the bus after school on Tuesday September 6th, 2011 he had an ear-to-ear smile and "Go Play" stickers on his face. That day, BCHS' practice field was transformed into Lucas Oil Stadium, and Michael was a Colt.
Starting in 2004, the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana's NFL team, has traveled to elementary schools around Indianapolis in coalition with Play 60. Play 60 is an organization that helps motivate kids to get outside and play, and lower childhood obesity. Today, Nashville elementary hosted this event.
The event is run by former NFL player Mike Prior, who has been a part of the program since 2005. While the elementary school students ran through drills, with help from the Brown County high school football team, Prior walked around and observed the students. At points, he would go in and chase them down to get them running faster and would clap and cheer them on as they went.
"We've been doing this program since about 2004. We usually go about an hour, hour and a half outside of Indianapolis", Prior said.
The Curse of the Black Pearl has taken over the Brown County High School band department. BCHS Band took part in IU Band Day this past Saturday. The band performed one continuous song with music from the hit movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Although none of the band students became skeletons in the moonlight they were ready to set sail and take over the IU Band Day ship by storm.
BCHS Band has been working on this music since the first week of August. Lots of time and effort has been spent practicing and perfecting this music. With all great performances there will be some weaknesses and along with that, some strengths. "The strength of this performance is the weakness." Band Director Mr. Evan Cooper said. "We are achieving things never done before with this marching band."
The music along with the formations was very complex, but this was done so that way the audience could relate what they were seeing to what they were hearing. "Capture what the music is about." Cooper said. "Recognize the theme."
The Band gave a sneak peak of the music at last Friday's football game during half time. It was easy to see the difficulty it must have been to learn this music, plus the formations, but our Band can (and has) achieved the ultimate best performance they can give.
Every year, Brown County High School welcomes a handful of new teachers. This year is no different. brown County welcomed Mr. Evan Cooper, Mrs. Justina Smith, as well as Mrs. Hannah Newlin to the building this year.
Mr. Cooper is the new band teacher this year, replacing Mrs. Lisa Ritchel. He attended Ball State for one year, after a year he moved to Indiana University. At IU, he studied music and wanted to become a teacher so he secured his teaching license. "I have always been interested in music,"Mr. Cooper said. My dad was a band teacher so I grew up playing an instrument." He plays mainly the trombone as well as the baritone. His first major event as the band instructor came at IU band day on Saturday September 17th. "It went very well, everyone played very well and IU came out with a win!"
Mrs. Smith is our new Algebra 1 and Geometry teacher. Before coming to Brown County High School, she had a job teaching junior high in Marion, Indiana. For her, there has been a noticeable difference in junior high students and high school students. "If you're teaching at the junior high level, you're going to have to find tons of different ways to explain it, for a high school student, you'll be able to grasp the concept and I can break it down into easier steps", Smith said. "I've always liked math, it was my favorite subject in school, and from when I was in pre-school I knew I wanted to be a teacher."
Mrs. Newlin is taking over for Mr. Bauers as the French teacher this year. She had previously taught French at a school in New Orleans, Louisiana. "My job in New Orleans, Louisiana was very different from this one. It was inner city and my students were involved in a lot of craziness, to say the least", Mrs. Newlin said. She is originally from Brown County and attended high school here. "I just love French! I was in French class in Brown County and my teacher was Madame Owen and I absolutely loved her."
On the surface, Underground Indiana is a mystery. However, under the surface, a lot happens. The Underground Indiana club is a group that gets together and goes on many adventures, including cave trips, mining, and to the IU Geology Center. Many people were wondering if Underground Indiana is going to continue this year, and because of popular demand, it will.
Last year, the club went to the Underground Mining Industry of Indiana, learned a lot, and had a blast! They take four trips a year. The first meeting was on September 21st in Mr. Makurat's room. There, they talked about planning trips, and decided that their first adventure is going to be on Friday, October 21 (no school), and they are going to a cave!
There are about 8 people in the club at the moment, but if anyone is interested in geology, they can still join. If you have any questions, you can contact Mr. Makurat. He says that since the class Earth Space Science was cancelled and replaced with Environmental Science, Underground Indiana will be good for students. This will give them a chance to learn about the earth in a fun way!
This past Wednesday was the Fall Concert for Brown County High School choirs. Elegance performed first, then treble choir, and concert choir closed the concert. With exciting dance numbers and beautiful songs this concert was definitely a concert worth seeing and worth remembering. All choirs performed their absolute hardest.
Even though there was no specific theme for this concert; each choir had one choreographed song. Elegance and Concert Choir's choreography was created by Mrs. Andrea Swift-Hanlon. Treble Choir's choreography was created by Mrs. Terri Warne. Elegance performed four songs. Moon River (which featured 2 soloists: Siera Updike and Noah Matlock), The Long Day Closes, This Marriage and Happy Together. Happy Together was also the song the choir had choreography for.
Treble Choir performed 3 songs. Afternoon on a Hill, Pacem (with Flutist Izzy Wilhelm), and Don't Go Breaking My Heart. This choir danced to the song Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Concert Choir performed 4 songs. Let All Nations Sing, Home (which featured two soloists: Stefanie Walls and Bailey Leedy), All I Ask of You, and Hello, Goodbye. This choir danced to the song Hello, Goodbye.
All choirs had been working on this music since the beginning of school. All the hard work they put forth showed this past Wednesday night. "The Choirs were very focused and professional." Choir Director Mr. Klink said. "They sounded good on stage and they looked good on stage." Although all choirs did amazing Klink still says there could be improvement in sound and blend.
