From the desk of Shawn Rhoads, Director of Residence Life:

A boarding student’s day starts with a greeting from their House Parent as they leave their boarding home early in the morning. From there, they may go to The Cabin for a cup of coffee and be greeted and served by either Mrs. Lambert or Ms. Rebecca, or even a fellow boarding student.

Then they will head to the Commons and be served a hot breakfast by either Chef Wood or Topulo with Flik Food Services. While eating, they will likely be joined by a faculty or staff member who will ask about how things are going and just share some conversation together.

Then the student will head off to any variety of classes. Maybe they are off to Mr. Moore’s class to study Dante’s Inferno, or perhaps Coach Reed’s class for a discussion on world views. No matter whose class they are in, they are not only being taught valuable information, but they are receiving that information from a person who is committed to nurturing and caring for kids. If they should happen to be struggling in a class they will get a tap on the shoulder from either Mrs. Mize or Coach Ryle, the Academic Advocates, who will then set up a meeting to find out what is going on and how they can best support that student until they are back on track.

Or maybe they need some direction on what to do for university. If so, they could head up to the Academic Office and sit down with either Mrs. Tucker or Mrs. Bouwer to get valuable college guidance.

After classes, they will head off to PE or any number of sports where they will not only be coached by a member of our highly qualified coaching staff, but they will also be mentored by those same coaches, who are as equally concerned about our students’ character as they are their physical development.

Following athletics, they may opt to hop on one of the shuttles into town with either Ms. Tawni or Ms. Laurie who will drive them to get a haircut, pick up a dress, stop by Best Buy, or whatever they need to do that day. Then it’s back to the Commons for dinner with their house mates and boarding parents where they will once again be served by a caring kitchen staff person and enjoy the company of friends. That will be followed by study hall where Mrs. Rachel, Ms. Amanda, Mr. Caleb or Ms. Tawni will make sure they have a quiet environment in which to study. Or if their grades are high enough they might choose to go into town with a House Parent on the fun run for coffee, frozen yogurt or boba tea.

Then it’s back to the houses, maybe for a weekly house meeting where the house parents find out if there are any big needs or prayer requests from among their students. By the end of their day, our boarding students will have come in contact with a whole village of caring adults who are each committed to the success of each and every student they encounter. It is the very reason that Brook Hill exists – to be the RIGHT kind of nurturing village that a student needs to become the best version of themselves. It truly takes a village to accomplish that.