Students at Brookville Elementary are moving
Numerous studies over the past 20 years resoundingly support one simple idea – exercise and movement are crucial for learning. Not only do students in grades 1-3 benefit from physical education and music twice a week, they also have ABL lab every Friday. ABL is an acronym for Action Based Learning, which is the brainchild of Jean Blades Madigan.
That goal of ABL is to help prepare the brain for optimal learning. While in ABL, students rotate through eight stations, spending about 3 minutes per station. Each station is aimed at developing and/or improving one of the following skills – balance, spatial awareness, ocular fitness, cross lateral movement, rhythm, or sensory integration. Physical education teachers, occupational therapists, music teachers, behavioral optometrists, and physical therapists have all provided influence in this current lab.
Wind power STEM event
At Brookville Intermediate School, students are learning to solve problems and persevere using the engineering design process.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, the third of five STEM design challenges welcomed over 50 students. These students worked in teams to design, build, test and refine their own working windmills. Using only a milk carton, rubber bands, and other typical school materials, individual designs were put to the test to see how much weight each windmill could lift.
The after-school STEM events at Brookville Intermediate, which have hosted more than 300 students so far, are a result of collaboration between science teachers, parents, administrators, the Dayton Regional STEM Center Coordinator and the LAGI foundation, under the leadership of fourth grade teacher Katie Henry. The next design challenge will feature student designed wearable technology.
Brookville Athletic Hall of Fame to induct 2
The Annual BHS Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Feb. 13. This years’ inductees include former football coach Craig Turner and three-sport standout Tony Ramsey. Turner, a 1969 Brookville graduate, returned to Brookville to coach from 1986 to 1992. He retired as a Brookville teacher in 2012. His coaching record at Brookville was 65-13, including a 29-game win streak, five SWBL titles and five OHSAA playoff berths. Turner is currently an assistant football coach with the University of Dayton. Ramsey is a 1975 Brookville graduate who lettered in baseball, wrestling and football. He was a state qualifier in wrestling and a stand out as a football lineman. Ramsey was all conference, all district and third team all-state as a senior. He went on to be a four year starter at Wittenberg University where he played in three national championship games. In college he was a 1st team All American and academic All American.
Toys for Tots
Brookville Local Schools, in collaboration with the Brookville Police Department, collected 560 toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Brookville officer Whiteaker organizes this event each year, which collects toys and books for needy families.
Principals in both the high school and intermediate school encouraged a friendly class competition in which the eighth graders and ninth graders collected the most toys for the district. A notable contribution by Brookville High School juniors included collecting approximately 50 books for children to read.
About the Author