From the desk of Robin Bynum, Academic Teams Director:

What If There Was Never a Game? What if there was only practice? Every morning, every night: practice, practice, practice? How many years would you keep practicing volleyball, football, basketball, track, orchestra if there was never a game or a tournament or a concert?

So has been the case for Brook Hill Lower School and Middle School students. For at least 5 years, they have come to practice early and stayed late learning to read, write letters, create essays, memorized multiplication tables, and identified nouns, verbs, adverbs…but no game…just practice.

Well, no more! Last Friday, January 15, 2016, Brook Hill held our first PSIA Academic District Qualifying Competition – THE GAME! 4-8 grade competed for a place on the District Academic Team! Essays were written, math skills were under fire, and artist completed works of art in a matter of minutes! Scores were tabulated and points awarded. 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place were determined by a point…sometimes just a tenth of a point!! Was there a perfect game, you ask? Why, yes, yes there was! Congratulations to Nate Dahn for bringing in all 250 points in his event!!

What’s next for these students? Why District Competition, of course! The Academic District Title is on the line April, 1, 2016. That is just a few short weeks away so be sure to congratulate and encourage the following students when you see them on campus! They are amazing! Congratulations!!

BH 4-8 2016 Academic Team:

4^th:  Dennis Chen, Brooklyn Davis, Gracie Dawson, Brooke Holland, Olivia Martin, Maddox Nelson, Shy Shinalt, David Sims, Drew Sims, Kurtlee Smith.

5^th: Callie Bailey, Nate Dahn, Colin Dement, Luke Graves, Tess Goddard, Noah Langemeier, Zoe Grace Mazzare, Meredith Priddy, David Weisberg, Vivian Willis

6^th: Skylar Anthony, Suvonna Bynum, Johnny Carter, Beaux Christian, Josh Collins, Harley Cooper, Kayla Dahn, Bethany Durrett, Marlee Gunter, Emma Hamlin, Allyson Jaurez, Emma Lambert, Aiden Mason, Madyson McEuen, Evan Moreau, Austin Randall, Lorien Rhodes, Maeci Wilson

7^th: Kobe Ayria, Adam Bell, TyJuan Cannon, Jackson Conser, Kayla Dahn, Boston Durrett, Chandler Fletcher, Timothy Humphries, TyShuan Johnson, Clay Kelley, Olivia Kim, Heather Kroll, Emily LIvesay, Benjamin Lundy, Annie Newman, Zack Reed, Mary Roberts, Willaim Roberts, Bryce Schwab, Kendal Turner, Zakhar Zapolski.

8^th: Kamron Ayria, Mason Barker, Angel Basile, Rachel Berkley, Colm Conneen, Cole Fitzgerald, Andrew Gragg, Kegan Gunter, Mason Kelley, Cate Kimball, Alyssa Luker, Asia McGowan, Sydney McNeel, Katherine Mondrick, Parker Moreau, Walker Steele, Ruby Timmons, Natalie Travis, Madison Washburn, Annaka Willis