Upper School
HEADS Up!
Mr. Bill Harrell
Hallway Happenings
The AP Biology classes will be taking a field trip on
Thursday, September 18, to the Glacier Creek
Prairie Preserve in Bennington. Glacier Creek
Prairie Preserve, owned and operated by UNO,
is approximately 80 acres of land that has been
restored to tall grass prairie, which is native to
Nebraska. The AP classes will participate in a Fire
Ecology lab facilitated by UNO staff. Students will
load a bus at 8:15 am and leave Glacier Creek at
approximately 2:15 pm. Please email Mrs. Wayman
if you have any questions.
Faculty Focus
Mike Dorsey MS/US History
Normally, I spend my summers on the road. When
vacation calls, I answer in
grand style. This summer was
no different. In fact, I spent
a mere 8 summer days out of
80 in Omaha.
Heads of School
Bi-Weekly News
September 12, 2014
UPPER SCHOOL
KEY DATES
The senior Economics classes are actively
participating in the annual “Stock Market Game.”
Mr. Lauren Hiebner, instructor, has seven student teams entered in the contest which runs two
sessions, one in the fall and again in the spring
semester. This annual investment simulation asks
the question, “What would you do with $100,000.”
Look for updates on team performance as the
fall session progresses. Parents can learn more at
http://www.stockmarketgame.org/
Little Bighorn National Battlefield in Montana.
Then came a week in Ponca State Park, Nebraska,
for a family reunion with 100 extended relatives.
It was back to Colorado briefly and then on to
another student trip with 18 incoming freshmen to
Washington, DC.
Service Learning
Keep Omaha
Beautiful
Thu Sept 18
8:45-9:10 am
US/MS Forum
Swanson Auditorium
Upper/Middle
School Coffee
Fri Sept 26
9-9:45 am
MS/US Library
Topic: Students’
role in their
education.
Parent Teacher
Conferences
No US Classes
Fri Sep 26
10 am-1 pm
3-6 pm
MS/US Gym
The summer began in Europe with BT students
where we swam in the Aegean and Mediterranean
seas, climbed medieval monasteries above the
Greek plain, hiked in the Alps, and toured grand
palaces. Upon the tours end, I remained behind and
spent an extra 10 days in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
Six hours after I landed in Omaha, I was back on
a plane headed to Hawaii. This was a long-delayed
trip that I won with the Tradition of Excellence
Award at BT in 2011. Twelve glorious days were
spent experiencing waterfall pools, Hurricane
Iselle, the Road to Hana, ancient Maui ruins, rain
forests and swamps in Waimea Cayon, Koke’e State
Park, and the Na Pali Coast on Kauai.
After returning home, I hiked in the Rockies, and
spent some time with my parents. From there, a
friend and I visited the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore,
Crazy Horse, the Black Hills, Wind Cave, Devil’s
Tower, Fort Laramie, the Grattan Battlefield and
Fetterman Disaster site in Wyoming, as well as
I landed on the first day of teacher meetings, and
trust me, it’s always nice to get back into the school
routine. We can read about being better teachers by
surfing the web or we can get out and LIVE those
experiences. I choose the latter, and it makes all the
difference.
Service Learning
Green Apple Day
of Service
Sat Sept 27
10-11 am
Memorial Park &
BT Campus
Faculty Development
Blended Learning Pre-Calc Workshop sponsored
by The Center for Innovative Teaching
Mike Recker - Theory of Second Language
Acquisition class at UNO
Elsa Glasford - AP Spanish Language and Culture
Workshop at UNO
Lauren Hiebner - AP United States History
Workshop at UNL
Amber Straka – National Endowment for the
Humanities history workshop at Ft. Ticonderoga,
NY.
US Chess Club
Begins late Oct.
The following teachers attended professional
development workshops or classes during the
summer. Information and teaching methods learned
will directly impact our students and stimulate
growth in our US curriculum.
Darin Larsen - AP Workshop for Literature and
Composition in Chicago
Bob Williams - Functions in Tandem: A Working
1
Senior Parent
Tailgate and
College
Conversation
Fri Sept 26
5:30-6:30 pm
MS/US Library
___________
ALL-SCHOOL
KEY DATES
MS Volleyball First
Home Game
Sat Sept 13
MS/US Gym
Upper School
HEADS Up! Mr. Bill Harrell
Upper School Antics
Founder’s Day
Wed Sept 17
Celebrating 151
years of tradition
Blue & Gold Day
Fri Sep 19
Photo Retakes
Tue Sep 23
Mudzilla Run - Will Calderon, Caravaggio Caniglia,
Albert Jizhang, Robert Goetschkes, Jake Vann,
Jordan Proby
MS Football First
Home Game
Tue Sep 23
4 pm
Skutt Field
Lower School
Coffee
Wed Sept 24
8:15 am
Fireside Room
“Arrgh!” “Give ‘em the Hook” These, and other
cheers were heard recently as a large group of students
were on hand to support the Lady Raiders in the
opening volleyball match on September 4.
Ingalls House Girls
ERB Testing
Mon Sept 29Fri Oct 3
Upper School Coffee
LS/MS Chess Club
Tue Sept 30
3:45 pm
Worthington
Dining Hall
For anyone unfamiliar with this event, I would
like to invite you to join me on Friday, September
25 from 9-9:45 am in the MS/US library where
I, along with Bridget Collins - Head of Middle
School, will be discussing the topic of your
student’s role in their education.
These coffees are hosted quarterly and last 45
minutes with topics that span a number of issues
concerning your children and their education.
It is an open forum where parents are encouraged
to ask questions and participate. Consider bringing
another parent with you and joining us.
Upper School Grade Parents
We are fortunate to have room parents plan and
implement grade level activities and special events.
They ensure other parents from their class are
apprised of these activites and events with the
opportunity to volunteer or participate.
The 2014-15 list of US grade parents can be found
on the Parents Association Organization Chart in
the Parent Portal section of the brownell website.
https://www.brownell.edu/userlogin.cfm?do=logoff
No School for
Lower School
Thu Sept 25
Teacher
Development
Moment of Silence Ceremony - Memorial Park
Senior Parent Tailgate and
College Conversation
We invite all senior parents to join Mrs. Stacey
Evert and Mr. Dave Thomas following parent
conferences and prior to the Brownell-Talbot
football game Friday, September 26, 5:30-6:30 pm
in the Upper School Library to gather for light
appetizers and conversation.
Mrs. Evert and Mr. Thomas will revisit topics and
handouts from the August Senior Parent Night
and discuss the college application process from
the parent’s point of view. Parents will learn best
practices on how to support thier senior students
throughout the year. Find more information on
the College Counseling page. Please RSVP to Dave
Thomas at [email protected].
2
Parent Association
Meeting
Wed Oct 1
5:30 pm
Fireside Room
and
Thu Oct 2
8:15 am
Worthington
Dining Hall
Homecoming Week
Oct 13-18
Other News
BT Service Learning Defined
To streamline the BT Service Learning
efforts, Kassandra Mayo was
appointed the Service Learning
Coordinator in April, and with the help
of a committee comprised of faculty and
staff volunteers, and countless hours of
research, two non-profits in Omaha were
selected for a two year partnership.
Our partners are Completely Kids - a local non-profit that
ensures families have access to the knowledge and skills
necessary to break the cycle of poverty, and YES-Youth
Emergency Services - serving homeless, at-risk youth by
providing critical-needs resources empowering them to
become self-sufficient individuals.
There will be more information regarding our activities
and how they relate to and have a positive impact on both
our students and our two community partners as our year
progresses. We will also continue to work with Opportunity
Education and our sister school, Ashok Memorial Public
School, in India.
To make a difference in the world, we must start at “home.”
BT is our home-base. We will first learn to serve our BT
home community and then the city and world. With that, we
kick off our year by partnering with Keep Omaha Beautiful
for the Green Apple Day of Service. The Green Apple Day
of Service gives parents, teachers, students, companies and
local organizations the opportunity to transform all schools
into healthy, safe and productive learning environments
through local service projects. Our efforts include cleaning
up Memorial Park and the Brownell campus on Saturday,
September 27, 10-11 am.
Please mark your calendar and sign up to participate in this
school-wide event with your student at: http://service.
mygreenapple.org/page/event/detail/4jtgk
Parent Association Book Fair
The bookfair is October 13-17 in the LS Gym. Find more
information, sign up to volunteer, and download the App by
visiting http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=brownelltalbotschool
Gala Date and Chairs Announced
Save the date of May 8, 2015, for the Brownell-Talbot Gala.
Gala is a fun-filled and important event at BT each year.
More details will be announced in the weeks ahead.
This year’s gala chairs are Fatima and Farhan Khan, parents
to Emaan (’23) and Zayd (’27) and Fatima Basith and
Pirzada Sattar, parents to Lukmaan (’17) and Rayaan (’23).
“My daughter has loved coming to
school from the moment she started in
pre-school at BT,” says Ms. Khan. “I
attribute that to the wonderful teachers
and staff at BT who have continued to
inspire her and push her to do her best.
I am thrilled that my son is starting his
BT journey this year. Farhan and I are
excited to be a part of such a wonderful
and supportive community.”
Ms. Basith points out that “Brownell
Talbot was one of the most important
reasons for our family as we moved to
Omaha from Boston 15 years ago. Since
then, the school and its community have
given my children and me so much. We
cannot be thankful enough. We are happy
and humbled by this opportunity to
celebrate and recognize our BT community. We are looking
forward to meeting new people, strengthening our existing
friendships and broadening our horizons.”
Due to a splash meet on campus, families and students
participating in the Green Apple Day of Service should park
in the Happy Hollow lot.
Every year, gala success depends on the generous donations
of time and talent by our BT parents. To volunteer please
send an email to Fatima Khan at [email protected] or Fatima
Basith at [email protected]. See you at gala next spring!
Blue & Gold Days
BT is a Nut/Peanut Safe School
Throughout the year, students and faculty have the
opportunity to show School Pride in support of activities.
We call these Blue and Gold Days. The apparel guidelines are
as follows:
• Brownell-Talbot Blue & Gold shirts, t-shirts, sweat
shirts or sweaters. (MUST incorporate Blue/Gold
school colors)
• Regular School uniform is also acceptable
• Jeans and tennis shoes are acceptable
• Hiking/Cargo shorts are acceptable
• Athletic shorts or short-shorts are NOT acceptable
Our school has students who are deathly allergic to nuts,
peanuts, nut/peanut oils, and nut/peanut products. Their
allergy is so severe that it is expected that they would go
into immediate life threatening anaphylactic shock if they
have any contact with these items. Staff members have been
trained specifically on how to provide immediate life saving
first aid if this were to happen. One of the steps we have
taken to protect these children is to make our campus a
Nut/Peanut Safe School. It is not acceptable to bring nut/
peanut products for snack or in a packed lunch.
We appreciate your support of this school policy.