Brown County Schools has a history of creating world class opportunities for our students and 2021 is not any different.
There are so many incredible projects going on in each of our schools and we wanted to share our work with the Indiana Department of Education.
The Indiana Department of Education made a visit to our beautiful Brown County High School in early November.
Barb Kelp, our special education teacher at the high school was in attendance along with Jane Ellis, the executive director of the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Our school counselor Brad Harting was also in attendance along with Debbie Harman, the director of student services, and Christy Wrightsman, the director of Career and Connected Learning for Brown County Schools.
High school Principal Trent Austin and myself helped lead a collaborative discussion centered around developing pathways at the high school that reach various interests for our students. It is crucial that we build out graduation pathways that are centered around access and equity for all students.
Barb Kelp has worked tirelessly to build out the Essential Ingredient for her students.
OVERSET FOLLOWS:This is an opportunity for our students at Brown County High School to gain real world experience in restaurants within our community right here in Nashville. We are lucky to have joined forces with Chef Dustie Condon at the Ferguson House to provide an authentic internship experience for our students.
Our educators at the high school were able to share not only these experiences with the Indiana Department of Education, but also seek guidance on the next steps to designing an official graduation pathway for these students. Stay tuned for more information as we build a coalition with the community to put the vision into practice!
Our visit did not end there!
This was an opportunity to share with the Indiana Department of Education our great programming and experiences with our student led business, Eagle Manufacturing. Mr. Chris Townsend and Mr. Dean Keefauver were able to empower their students to lead a tour with our guests and they were beaming throughout the entire tour!
Senior Rhett Silbaugh, senior Josh Miller and junior Joey Denison led the group through each of the facets that make up this pathway.
Rhett is the manufacturing manager for the program and leads the entire team through the various orders that come through Eagle Manufacturing. Rhett is an accomplished student and I was proud of his ability to communicate and listen to our guests throughout the tour.
Josh Miller is the “assistant to the regional graphics manager” and provides the graphics manager, Kiley Harden, with some mad skills! Josh always brings a radiant light to the room and on the tour his personality shined through as he taught us about graphic design and how it fits into Eagle Manufacturing.
Joey Denison is a CNC mill operator and he impressed our guests with his vast knowledge of the machine and its capabilities. Joey recognizes the employability skills he has learned through Eagle Manufacturing and how it will help him further a career when he graduates.
And Madalyn Purlee is perhaps the power behind all tours of Eagle Manufacturing. Madalyn is the sales manager for the program and she works very hard to organize, introduce the team and is the lead for each visitation. She is the youngest in the program and eager to absorb and learn as much as she can through Eagle Manufacturing.
We wrapped up our visit with information being presented to our team by the IDOE on the new Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed (Indiana GPS) initiative.
This new initiative led by the state will take a close look at the following five characteristics of the graduate profile: Academic mastery, career and postsecondary readiness (credentials and experiences), communication and collaboration, work ethic and civic, financial and digital literacy.
We look forward to the future collaboration with Dr. Katie Jenner and her team at the IDOE.
It was a great day to be in Brown County, as always, and to show off the amazing work being led by our students at Brown County High School.
The Indiana Department of Education was grateful for the visit and will be talking about Brown County to other schools they visit!
Emily Tracy is superintendent of Brown County schools. She can be reached at 812-988-6601 or [email protected].
