From the desk of Laurie Humphries, Director of Advancement:

In the summer of 2002 my family and I went on a vacation to Chicago.  I remember several people asking us why we would take our 7, 10, and 12-year-old children to Chicago for a summer vacation.  It didn’t seem like the “obvious” summer trip for a young family.  Because our family loves sports and it was baseball season, we went to 4 major league baseball parks and enjoyed some historic games.  We also went to Navy Pier and strolled along Michigan Avenue.  One of the best, unexpected highlights was the Museum of National History.  We spent a whole afternoon there and the kids loved it.  I remember when we got home from that trip I couldn’t stop telling all my friends about what a great “hidden jewel” Chicago was for a family vacation and encouraged everyone to put it on their vacation bucket list.

When I get passionate about something I just can’t keep it to myself. This was true about Chicago and it’s true about Brook Hill.

Fast forward to the summer of 2005; all three of our kids were preparing to start another school year at local public schools, and although our two oldest were excited, our youngest, who was going into 5^th grade, had been struggling with a severe case of fear and anxiety of night-time.  He had a lot of anxiety all summer long and through a lot of prayer, my husband, Mark, and I decided to look into sending him to a private school.  This was totally NEW to us as we had never considered private school for any of our children. But, when one of your kids needs something different, you do all you can to give it to them.  We knew it would be a huge sacrifice and that we would have to make some financial changes in our life, but we also knew we needed to do something different for our son.

We live in Tyler, so we had a lot of different choices when it came to schools.  We had close friends at several of the private schools in town and only knew a handful of people at Brook Hill, so it was not the “obvious” choice. For some reason, however, God directed us to this “little school in Bullard, Texas”.  It was the first year of the Lower School and the school day was spent in the church building across the street from the main Brook Hill campus.  It was not the ideal learning facility our lower school is today, but the feeling of love and support was unlike anything I had ever seen.  Everyone was so kind and welcoming.

Mrs. Sandra Fritcher was the 5^th grade teacher and I remember the day I took my son to look at the school.  After a 10-minute conversation with Mrs. Fritcher, she not only told me she would pray for him as he worked through his fear of night, but that she would pray WITH him too.  I instantly knew (and I think he did too) this was the place God wanted us to be.

It was only a few short months later that I started working in the development office and my other two children became students of The Brook Hill School. It didn’t take us long to know that Brook Hill might not have been the “obvious” choice, but it was by far the best choice for our family. Was every day perfect? No. Some days were hard and sometimes things didn’t go “our way”.  But, I would never in a million years want those hard days to be anywhere else.  My children were shaped in ways that I could never have imagined.  They were taught to reach beyond what they thought they could do; they were taught by a loving faculty that went above and beyond at all times; they were taught how to share their faith with confidence and how to love people from all over the world. They were beyond prepared for college and the path God has planned for them.  We had found a “hidden jewel”.

Like I said earlier, when I get passionate about something I just can’t keep it to myself.  Besides my faith and my family, there are very few things in life I am more passionate about then this amazing school. As I am finishing up my tenth year on staff and first year as Director of Advancement, I could have never dreamed that Brook Hill would be such a major part of my family’s everyday life.  In some ways it is pretty similar to that summer in 2002 when I got home from our Chicago vacation, but on such a bigger scale.

I can’t stop telling everyone about what an amazing “not so hidden anymore jewel” The Brook Hill School is and I encourage everyone who will listen to jump on board and be a part of it in any way possible.

I feel so blessed to have the job of giving people opportunities to be a part of God’s work at Brook Hill.  I believe in Brook Hill and its mission so much that I constantly tell people about opportunities to be a part of it.   Whether it’s becoming part of the Brook Hill family by sending your child here, making a financial gift that will help us be all we can be for each student, or partnering with us by praying for God’s will to be done here, we are eternally grateful for your involvement.

Jump on board, you won’t regret it.