At Brookstone, we really are a family, which means we share in our successes and celebrate collectively! It also means there can be a little playful banter back and forth on any given day!

To highlight that, see the emails below from two of our amazing highschool teachers, Dr. Belle Harrell and Mr. Jason Quinley.

From Dr. Harrell:

I just wanted to let everyone know that we had a great day in Macon at the Region Literary Meet!  Our big win was earned by Catherine Cole, who received 1^st place for her essay on A Prayer for Owen Meany (she recently read and studied the book in Will Lundy’s AP class).  This earns her a spot at the state competition.  Our other students did a fabulous job as well.  They all received high marks and praise.  Our drama team, composed of Anna Katherine Drew and Jonathan Hart, earned 3^rd place in their categories.   Asim Ahmed also earned 3^rd place for extemporaneous speaking.

I’ve included a couple of photos from today.  As you can clearly see from these images, our students are indeed beautiful, and I mean this in every sense of the word.  When I’m with students outside the classroom, I’m always reminded of just how special Brookstone kids are.  They all arrived on time this morning (we left at 6:45am), they all showed up well dressed and looking nice, and, most importantly, they brought their open hearts and minds with them to the meet.  In her personal essay, Redding Byrd had the opportunity to discuss her experiences and work with Mercy Med.  In addition, for the argumentative essay competition, Anne Henley Walker tackled the health care system.  Josh Long spoke on Bernie Sanders and socialism (and discussed the Presidential campaign with me on the bus ride home).  Asim spoke on Isis and Iran, a complex topic, but he handled it well.  And I’m hoping we’ll all get the chance to see Anna Katherine and Jonathan perform their pieces at some point this spring.  Those two always shine on stage.  Jonathan got to see Anna Katherine perform her monologue.  He had tears in his eyes as she walked off stage.  According to Jonathan, it was beautiful! 

When you see these students tomorrow, please give them a pat on the back, or better yet, a hug!  They deserve it!  Also, please be sure to thank Kim Drew and Laura Byrd.  Laura helped in transporting students who needed to get back early, and Kim stayed with us all day and brought our lunch to us.

It was a beautiful Brookstone day!

Peace,

Belle

Matthew Hannay #1 JV

Asim Ahmed #4 Calculus

Don’t text and derive.

I love these folks!

If I were to add my own email to the thread, I would remind everyone that these students are not simply great scholars, but they are incredibly well-rounded individuals. They are athletes, musicians, thespians and servant leaders. That’s the gift of Brookstone. You don’t have to pick one thing to pursue. As a Brookstone student, there is a world of opportunity at your fingertips. Our job as a school is to help you pursue the ones you are passionate about.

And if the above emails don’t perfectly exemplify it, our teachers are phenomenal at guiding the way.