Austin
By TRENT AUSTIN, guest columnist
During the past 24 years, I have had the privilege of serving Brown County Schools and the community.
I served as a math teacher and assistant principal at Brown County Junior High School then principal at Brown County Intermediate School. In late July, I was offered the opportunity to become the principal at Brown County High School by our school board and Superintendent Emily Tracy.
Upon my placement at BCHS, the warm reception from the Brown County community and the staff at Brown County High School has been amazing. It has been a privilege to serve our community in this role for the past six months.
In this column I would like to share with the community many of the amazing things that are happening at Brown County High School.
Weekly, our high school teachers meet in professional learning communities to improve their instructional practices under the NIET (National Institute for Excellence in Teaching) framework. Our master and mentor teachers support our classroom teachers to continue to improve our impact on student learning.
During each PLC session I observe teachers working together to make their classrooms an environment that promotes a positive space for students to learn. Teachers work in small groups to support each other and work together to make each other better at the work we do every day. During the past two weeks, teachers have taken time to observe their colleagues in the classroom to learn strategies they can use in their own classrooms.
This type of professional development creates a positive culture where teachers support each other and generate relationships that have a positive impact on our students’ learning. High school teachers sometimes get the stereotype of only caring about the content they teach. Teachers and staff at Brown County High School care about the well-being of each of their students socially, emotionally and educationally. It is a privilege to work alongside these amazing educators each week.
The teachers and staff at Brown County High School are truly amazing people who care so much about our students and community.
Brown County High School teachers, staff and administrators and the Regional Opportunity Initiative (ROI) team are also working together to improve and expand learning opportunities for our students. Over the past few weeks, we have been spending time focusing on the programs of study that have the highest level of impact for our students.
With Brown County located in the south central region, our students have access to career opportunities in the areas of construction, engineering, machining, digital design, entrepreneurship, business management, marketing and sales, biomedical sciences, computer science and early childhood education. These are the programs of study that Brown County High School is currently prioritizing so students who enter the workforce or post-high school education have the highest level of preparation to be successful.
In these areas of study, students are also learning important skills to communicate, collaborate and innovate. These programs of study provide students with a path for graduation, learning that is relevant and meaningful, and learning that engages students in work that benefits our region. Brown County High School is currently a regional leader in many of these programs of study. It is common for neighboring schools to visit BCHS to learn how to implement these programs into their schools.
Teachers and district administrators are currently working with local community members to expand Eagle Manufacturing, our student-led business. Currently, this student-led business can be offered to approximately 24 students per school year. With this potential expansion, our goal is to triple the number of students who can enroll in this program on an annual basis. The team has been in contact with local donors who are willing to make this dream a reality.
In addition, the team is working to expand construction educational opportunities for our students. Currently, our building footprint is relatively small for our construction teachers and students to participate in large projects. We have a plan to use existing space in the building to create opportunities for our students to engage in these larger project opportunities. Our business department is also working to expand our offerings at BCHS. Brown County is a community that is based on the entrepreneurial spirit. Our goal is to offer three business pathways where our students can grow their business experiences: entrepreneurship, business administration and marketing/sales.
To highlight our fall season, I would like to congratulate our theater department for a successful production of “Clue.” It was wonderful to see our students back on stage.
Congratulations are also extended to tennis sectional champion Josh Miller, cross-country sectional champion Chase Austin and cross-country sectional champion Hadley Gradolf. Chase and Hadley also qualified to the state finals where Chase finished 68th and Hadley earned 23rd place. The cross-country team advanced to the semi-state round this fall. Our winter athletes are preparing for sectional play in the upcoming weeks. Good luck to all of our athletes.
Brown County High School offers our students world class opportunities, small school relationships and lifelong impact. The world class opportunities are offered based on excellent and intentional programming. Small school relationships focus on teachers and staff members in our schools caring for our students’ overall well-being.
I often tell our teachers and staff members they are heroes for our community and students. If given the opportunity, thank a teacher for their caring and dedication that they give daily to our kids.
Trent Austin is principal of Brown County High School. He can be reached at [email protected].
