This famous saying was initially coined by NASA officials noting that they had successfully launched a spaceship. For years I’ve used the analogy that schools are a lot like airplanes in that the most dangerous and challenging part of a flight is typically when the plane takes off and then when it lands.  Schools tend to be very similar to this, and getting the year started even under normal circumstances is no small feat. To add to the stress that is already running high at the start of school, we also had the most ambitious construction project in our school’s history happening at the same time.  And just for fun….well, let’s add a global pandemic to the mix with a host of new guidelines. All while striving to empathetically listen to parents, who have differing views on those guidelines and a faculty and staff with differing opinions on those guidelines. What could go wrong? 

I’m not sure that I can clearly articulate what it was like to get this year started.  We have been very upfront that our goal was to have our students on campus for learning. And we are thrilled that this is the case! We appreciate our parents, who made their thoughts VERY clear in our surveys that we conducted this summer. Overwhelmingly, the consensus was that the grand majority wanted their children back in school, and we have worked very hard to make sure this became a reality. These challenges have required us all to come together in a way we have not done before. As I type this, we have just completed our first full week of school, and I am on day 12 of a 14-day quarantine, as you can imagine, I am anxious to be back to work.  One of the most positive things to come out of being quarantined is hearing and seeing everyone pull so fiercely together out of caring and compassion to ensure we provide an exceptional learning environment that is safe for all of our students, faculty, and staff.  

Here are some things I would like to highlight now that we are ten days into the start of the new year:

• Our teachers are doing a fantastic job! Most of them have been teaching both live and virtual students daily. They have done so while wearing a mask and managing students who have parents that want them in a mask at all times as well as students who have parents that never want their child to wear one. They are managing the use of desk partitions, social distancing, schedule changes, new lunch routines, and many other tasks that are seldom seen or appreciated. They are not only teaching their students but also make sure that every student is safe. All of the added stresses are forcing schools to help manage burnout and fatigue. Across the country, and even in our area, more teachers have resigned in the month of August than ever before. Our families have always done a magnificent job supporting our teachers (THANK YOU), and I want to encourage you to continue this even more so this year. They need it. 

• Our parents are doing a fantastic job!  We realize that there are many new “normals” in relation to school. Thank you for helping us as we navigate this journey together. It is not easy for anyone. You are doing a great job logging your child’s health each day into the Ascend platform and helping us with new drop off and pick up procedures. Please know that we desire to return to our preferred manner of doing things, and that means having you on campus! We can’t wait for the day to return when our parents can walk their children into their classes and be seen volunteering on campus! 

• Grace. Now more than ever, grace and kindness are paramount. I have encouraged our faculty to exhibit additional grace to our students and families.  We have all experienced things that have not necessarily gone as we have planned. But pulling together and working toward the same goal as a united front is crucial. You have our word that we are systematically reviewing policies, procedures, instructional approaches, and all other parts of our program. The feedback we have received so far has been mostly positive. The first few days have allowed us to see where adjustments need to be made, and we will begin implementing those changes over the next couple of weeks. 

It is exceptional to see how the Brainerd Baptist School family has come together in a time like this (while being respectful, empathetic, and understanding). We are going to make this a great year of exceptional learning for our students! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me by email, phone, or in person.

As we continue to prepare for the opening of the new school year, we understand that COVID-19 has certainly had an impact on how we are approaching the new year. One of the questions I have been asked is, “What options do we have if we do not yet feel comfortable with our child returning to class on August 19th?” We have worked very hard to create a virtual learning option for our families. This will look significantly different than the distance learning that our teachers did back in the spring. We will be sending additional information to those families who choose to begin school with our virtual learning option.

We have purchased technology that will enable our students to virtually attend their classes. It will be a live experience where they will be able to see the class (and the class will see them as well) and also hear and participate in the learning experience. Each grade level will have a specific schedule for students to follow that will align with their normal school schedule. Our desire is to create a virtual experience that closely resembles the amazing experience that Brainerd Baptist School students experience each day. It will be important for students to have a designated space with minimal distractions. Teachers will also be taking attendance each day (additional guidelines will be communicated later). When possible, we will include fine arts classes throughout the day. Additionally, unlike some other schools, our parents will be able to alternate between the two options.

It is currently the end of June, and this is the normal time where students are typically about one month into summer break by now. Because of the pandemic and move to distance learning in March, it feels like it has been six months since students were on campus. We miss the joy, excitement, and fun they bring into our building each day. I think our teachers would start school next week if we asked them too! I thought I would take a few minutes and provide some updates on what has been happening at Brainerd Baptist School over the last few weeks.. This post is going to be somewhat scattered because there are so many things that are going on in our world currently.

Workers are installing a door in the new school office area.

• Student Health - Our COVID-19 Task Force continues to prepare for the return of on-campus learning. We are meeting regularly to work on sensible plans that will keep both our students and teachers safe but will allow for learning to take place in our classrooms on campus. As we announced back in May, we have plans in place and are fully expecting the start of school on August 19. This committee continues to work on plans and will communicate closer to the beginning of August. While I do not think this will be a surprise to any of our parents, we are in the process of updating our enrollment contracts with specific language that addresses liability and COVID-19. Schools and businesses all across the country are currently working on their own versions of this, and we will be sending ours out for you to review in the next couple of weeks.

• Construction - Our building is literally being transformed. The school has two different projects happening on the 2nd and ground floors while the church has a significant project of their own happening on the 1st floor. Many of you have seen the video updates were we have chronicled the progress of the construction projects. We are so close to being done with our first phase that I am going to wait to do a video update until it is complete. We expect the Hub space to be completed in the next two weeks. The Hub houses our new library, STEM lab, and Learning Center. This week they finished painting this space. They are installing the flooring and lights (Learning Center and STEM) and this space is almost complete. Our new library furniture is scheduled to be installed next week, and the final piece will be the NanaWall that is being installed the week of July 6th. I know I have said this in our videos, but I can not wait for our students to use this amazing new space. Our three new first grade classrooms and new upper school office are almost complete as well. Over the last couple of weeks, flooring has been installed, a new ceiling grid laid, walls painted, and new cabinets installed. They are finishing up the lighting and installing the ceiling tiles early next week, and this space will then be complete.
  Our new school offices that will become our main entry point are proceeding as well. All of the new offices have officially been built as they are finishing the drywall and mudding today. These spaces will be painted next week and the ceiling grid will be installed. This space has been intentionally designed to maximize the use of space and the location will make everyday school life much easier on our parents. We are also excited about our new, expanded student health area. Little did we know when we were laying out this space how different our world would be when our students return to campus. As of now, we expect all of these projects to be completed toward the end of July. We are hopeful to have our library open for students to be able to check out books by the week of July 13.

• Class Lists - I am guessing that some of you saw this bullet and didn’t even bother to read the first two points, but skipped right to this just to see what it says. (I am soo tempted to list the names of people here that I believe actually did this!) Teacher letters will be mailed in about two weeks. Home visits (K3 & K4) and parent meetings may look different this year. Our teachers will be contacting you with additional information soon. Also, our new faculty completed an extensive F&F training under the direction of Mrs. Dahlke and Ms. Robinson.

• Summer Camp - we are finishing our second week of summer camp. We have almost thirty students enrolled and they are going swimming each week and doing other fun activities. We have room for more students, so if this is something that interests you, contact Mrs. Ateca for more details.

• Enrollment - While many of the national associations have talked about declining enrollment because of the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, we are encouraged that our 1st-5th grade and K4 enrollments are actually ahead of our projections. We are lower than we would like to be in K3 and K5. If you know any families that are looking for a great school, please send them my way!

Every year I write a blog post about new faculty members that will be joining the BBS family in the fall. For the most part, those posts are all very similar, and adding new teachers is a fun and exciting (and VERY important) part of my job. In my twenty plus years in education, I have learned that change ALWAYS happens even when you are not expecting it. If you would have asked me in February if I thought we would be adding any new teachers this year, I would have said “not that I am aware of.” As is always the case, circumstances change, and that means that sometimes teachers make changes as well. When this happens, we have opportunities to add talented folks who are excited to become a part of our school. I love the fact that interest in working at BBS is strong. This is the fourth consecutive year that I have hired a teacher that expressed interested (and interviewed) over a year earlier.  As I said earlier, we know that change is constant, but who could've expected trying to hire new teachers in the middle of a pandemic? While COVID-19 has made this process a little more challenging, I am thankful for a dedicated team of faculty members who have helped us with the hiring process by serving on teams to interview and select candidates from a robust applicant pool.

The following teachers will be joining our staff in the fall (or moving to a new grade!) .Complete bios for each of our new teachers will be available soon.

• Mrs. Vikki Cole will be moving from 4th grade F&F to 4/5th Language Arts

• Ms. Lindsay Patty will be moving from teaching K3 to teaching 2nd grade.

• Ms. Jesse Robinson will be moving from teaching 3rd grade to teaching 4th grade F&F.

• Mrs. Erisha Abbott will be teaching 2nd grade. Mrs. Abbott comes to BBS from Hamilton County Department of Education where she has taught for the last eight years, and prior to this, she taught six years in Dalton, GA. Mrs. Abbott has two children that currently attend BBS - Willa in K5 and Kellen in 3rd grade.

• Mr. Zachary Barrows will be teaching 3rd grade. Mr. Barrows comes to BBS from Berean Academy where he has taught and coached 4th grade for the past couple of years. Mr. Barrows has a son (Nolan) who will be in the 1st grade at BBS in the fall.

• Mr. Lucas Webb will become our Athletic Director and PE teacher. Mr. Webb is excited to be joining our team. He is a graduate of UTC where he was a captain of the football team and also an all-conference player for four years. Lucas holds multiple school and Southern Conference records. He has been working with Coach Owens since March on a smooth transition and can’t wait to begin working with our students.

We also want to acknowledge the great job our teachers that are moving on to other opportunities have done. We are appreciative of the great work that Mr. Creed, Mrs. Martin, Coach Owens, and Mr. Winters have done in their time at BBS and wish them well. We will miss seeing them on campus as they move to new opportunities.

A few years ago, we overhauled our technology schedule for 4th and 5th grade and moved to what is now known as the 4Cs program. I've been in charge of the 'Coding' block since this beginning, and I made some significant changes this year.

As I began lesson planning over Christmas break, I made a list of what I liked about Swift Playgrounds (our current curriculum) and what I didn’t like about it. As I began to think through it, I realized that what I didn’t like about Learn to Code 1 in Swift Playgrounds was how quickly the difficulty went up for our students.  By class five, students who didn’t naturally “get” the concepts of coding became frustrated. As I went to search for some different curriculum, I ended up on Code.org for coding curriculum due to its ability to create classes and monitor progress through our Clever portal integration. For those of you who don't know what Clever is, it's a way for students to use a QR code to log in to a portal. This provides them with access to multiple applications and services we use.

We're just wrapping up our quarter of coding, and I am thrilled with the results. Code.org allowed me to create new classes on the fly as students finished up with with our planned work. We even had an "Hour of Code" day where they went through multiple coding projects in a single day. I've heard great feedback from the 5th graders on how much they liked Code.org compared to what we used last year. As their teacher, I feel like we learned a lot more this year than in previous years and had more fun during the process. The previously difficult ramp-up was much more manageable, and I never felt like a student came to a problem they couldn't solve. One of the things a lot of students struggle with in 2020 is the ability to work through difficult problems without wanting to “Google” it. Even in an age of instant information, problem solving skills are still extremely valuable.

Reflecting on the quarter of coding, I was reminded of one of the things that I love about Brainerd Baptist School. We're never content with doing just what we did last year. We're always looking to improve the learning journey for our students. Even though our previous coding curriculum was working fine, the curriculum change provided students an opportunity to learn more in our short time together. I am extremely happy with the results, and I hope your students are able to benefit from this unique learning experience! 

When you see the title of this post, do you automatically envision Billy Mays hawking some item that you simply can not live without on the Home Shopping Network? He made popular the concept of adding bonus items to orders. We have our own “But wait, there’s more” to share with our school families. We have been talking about the new area called the HUB since August. This new space will soon house a new state-of-the-art library and STEM space as well as a new Learning Center. The generosity of both current and former school families, as well as our fundraising focus this year, are making this space become a reality. Many (and I mean MANY) hours of planning have happened over the last few months and now the time for construction is here and we are VERY excited. Over the last few months, plans have been drawn and finalized, the contractor has been selected, furniture has been ordered, and we expect construction to begin on this project in the next week or two. After months of dreaming about this space, we are finally ready to see progress!

The purpose of this post is to share the “but wait, there’s more” piece that we are also very excited about. In addition to the newly designed and constructed HUB space, we have also been working with our partners at Brainerd Baptist Church for some other significant changes that will be taking place this summer. Earlier today the members of the church overwhelmingly approved a new project of their own that will significantly change and upgrade their children’s space that is used each Sunday. Specific details of the church’s plans can be found here. One of the main goals of the church’s new plan was to update their space and also move all of the children’s classes to the same area on our ground floor. This move will create additional new space for church growth that is specifically designed for young children. It will also increase the church’s ability to make the children’s space more inclusive and safe. The space the church is remodeling also includes the space where our main school offices are currently located. This project gave the school the opportunity to think strategically about where our main offices would best located to serve both our students and families well. We are excited to announce that the main school offices are relocating to the bottom floor by the entrance next to the playground. The newly designed school office space (see plans) will use the current classrooms of Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. Duble, and Mrs. Hellmann. Included in this office space is a newly designed space for student health. We will shift all of our classes on the bottom floor down the hall, and our first grade will be moving up to the 2nd floor in new classes that will be wrapping around our new HUB area. We have worked closely with the first grade team on the design of their new space. Another significant aspect of this project is that it marks the first time in our school’s history that learning space is being designed from the ground up for the education of young children. Additionally, there will be a new upper school office space constructed on our second floor (see plan below) to serve the students and teachers on this level.

While this part of the plan may be new to our school families, we have actually been working on this addition for months. As we approach the end of the school, a major part of this plan will be relocating 12 teachers in a fairly quick fashion. Construction will begin immediately on the new HUB and first grade classes with the hopes that this space will be done at the end of May. The next phase will be the construction of the offices for school, with the final phase covering the new children’s space for the church. We will be scheduling days where parents can help us with this enormous undertaking. We are also still raising money to help make this space incredible for our students. Our upcoming auction will play a significant role in this funding. I hope you are making plans to attend this special evening. We will be posting updates to the Hub section of our website as well as this blog. We can not wait for our students to use these amazing new spaces.

If you follow this blog closely, you have read numerous posts about our teacher’s constant work to make their classrooms fun and innovative spaces for learning. This past week, 2nd grade teacher Mr. Tanner Winters created a special experience for his students. I have asked Mr. Winters to write about this experience in the post below. Once again, BBS students benefit from teachers who daily enact what we truly believe - which is that learning should be fun. It’s not an accident that the hashtag #learningisfunatbbs is used so often on our social media posts to highlight what is happening in our classrooms each day.

Harry Potter and the Magic of Reading

By 2nd Grade Teacher Tanner Winters

When I was a student in elementary school, reading was not something that I viewed as a pleasure. I never felt the weight of books in my backpack, the joy of walking the aisles in a library, or most importantly, the rush of adventure that lay behind the covers of each book cover. Looking back, I now consider the absence of reading in my early life a tragedy. In my current role now as a teacher, I refuse to let my students experience this same loss. It is with this mindset that I decided to read to my class the very books that finally opened my eyes and allowed me to view reading as boarding a train bound for a castle full of magic. 

 Harry Potter has found its story in the hearts and minds of my second graders. What began as a desire to fuel a love and passion for reading evolved into conversations about Quidditch at recess, dreams where students were no longer at BBS but Hogwarts, and even lately, inspired by our own house system at BBS for 4th and 5th graders, thoughts about which house they would be sorted into as “first-years” if they were students at Hogwarts. So, instead of keeping the Wizarding World inside their hearts and minds, I attempted to make the very conversations, dreams, and thoughts of my students come true by bringing it to life in my classroom. 

In the books, every first-year wizard at Hogwarts is sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. The houses are built upon the following core values and characteristics: 

Gryffindor: courageous, brave, and chivalrous

Slytherin: ambitious, leaders, resourceful

Hufflepuff: hard-working, patient, loyal

Ravenclaw: intelligent, creative, learners 

Just like the students in the book, I sorted my students according to which houses I believed would best fit each of their own personalities. From there, the houses became teams that competed with each other, to earn points. The houses work together to gain those points by modeling the characteristics unique to their house, behavior, teamwork, and academic (listening, working hard, completing assignments, etc.). The students are to earn these points as a house and team, but can also lose them together. This is to foster a “it’s-not-about-me” mentality, which I believe is the heart of following Jesus. It is easy to lose or gain points for oneself without much thought; however, if gained or lost for a team, the reward and accountability is far more disciplined and impactful. I am using the passage in Proverbs 27 - “Iron sharpens iron,” as my inspiration for this. I renamed the houses to Glory, Honor, Sacred, and Respect. I chose these names because each is a way to show love to our Father in heaven, and since we owe him everything, it feels right to give Him praise for the love of reading.

As my creativity (hint: I would be in Ravenclaw) started flowing, sorting my students into Hogwarts houses was a “brilliant” idea. However, I had to make the experience as detailed and real as possible! On the day of the sorting, I had students come to school wearing white button down shirts, and once placed in their houses, I gave them matching ties for them all to wear like the students do in the story. Then, with a few spells (*cough, cough--parents), I transformed my classroom into Hogwarts itself! From the house banners flowing in the Great Hall to the Forbidden Forest, my students not only got to imagine the Wizarding World, but experience its magic every day.

Who knew a story could leave the pages of a book and enter the life of a reader? Such a truth is one I wish found me sooner, but it’s one I will not let escape my students. 

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” - Albus Dumbledore

Click the pictures below to see the full gallery of pictures from this day

You may have noticed this title on many of our social media posts over the last couple of years. #Learningisfunatbbs is a hashtag that truly embodies what happens on our campus EVERY day. At every level, our teachers do an amazing job of consistently incorporating learning activities that are fun and interactive in nature. The following is a post by 4/5th grade teacher John Creed that describes the most recent House competition with our 4th and 5th graders. This activity was packed with all sorts of educational activities, and was also FUN!

Oh, Snap!

Christmas is in 12 days?! No matter the number that happens to complete that sentence when you’re reading this post, it always seems to bring about some excitement. In addition to the excitement, especially in an elementary school setting, there inevitably seems to be a certain level of craziness. During the last full week of school before Christmas break, our fourth and fifth grade students were able to take part in a bit of craziness and excitement.

Earlier in the year we wrote about the new House system that was incorporated at BBS this year. or the December house competition, these students competed in a gingerbread house contest with their fellow house members. Students were given some guidelines, materials, and a timeframe to construct their final product. They were allotted 20 minutes to develop a plan and delegate duties so that each house member could contribute, and with points on the line, students were motivated to create some quality structures for their house. When the crumbs settled, we had a village with a town square, a mansion fit for a king (sized candy bar), a BBS replica, and a sleigh atop the most ornate, crushed peppermint roof you’ll ever see.

Some of our younger students and other members of the faculty were able to join in the fun by casting votes to determine the winners. While the votes were tallied and house points were given, this event proved beneficial in more ways than just compiling points. As some students took their opportunity to lead, all students were able to shine as duties were shared and every member of each house had a role. The thoughtful planning, positive and encouraging interactions among peers, and shared common goal all served as the ultimate sweet treat of this competition.

When students were asked for their feedback later that day, a few responses really stood out and pointed to some of the benefits experiences like this can bring. “I liked it because it made your brain really work to figure out how to use the materials,” said one student as he twisted his hands on each side of his head. One member of FIDELITAS complimented a couple of our other houses: “I really liked what HUMANITAS and INDUSTRIA came up with.”

Hearing students pass along compliments to others and truly reflect on their thinking process is a Christmas gift in itself for this teacher. While we as teachers truly enjoyed watching the students participate, we hope for our students this activity was the icing on the cake for what has been a fantastic first semester at BBS!

Our school has taken great pride in our innovative and creative approach to the education of young children. I remember our Board of Trustees working on the first strategic plan that I was involved in shortly after becoming Head of School back in 2007-08 school year. One of the parts of this plan was the desire for our school to become a leader in the Chattanooga area of approaching education with the mindset of innovation and creativity. As a result of that plan, we hired Mr. Chambers and one of his first tasks was to help infuse our classrooms with technology and to help our teachers with the implementation of technology like iPads into our classroom. Through the years we have continued to be innovative adding programs like our 4 C’s curriculum, CAT days, STEM lab, world languages, and many other experiences for our students that truly separate our program from the many other independent school choices that parents have in the Chattanooga area. As we have continued to grow and gain a better understanding of how children learn, a relatively new concern has become a reality - the amount of time our students spend looking at a screen each day. In our endeavor to be innovative, we placed iPads in every classroom in our building. While I remain convinced, and research clearly shows that there are benefits to students using tablets, we must also be cognitive of the amount of screen time they accumulate each day. I will reluctantly admit that as a parent, I have put a screen (either a movie in the car, or an tablet/phone of some sorts) in my children’s hands more than once to occupy them. Research is now showing that we must be more aware of how much time our children are spending on screens. Our approach at BBS is to be intentional and purposeful with tablet use/screen time. They are not used as time fillers, or time wasters (which, many of us struggle with!). Smart phones and tablets have become so ingrained into our daily lives that it is hard to remember that tablets themselves were not even available 10 years ago. Let that sink in and consider how much has changed in a relatively short time. Because tablets are relatively new, the research that study their affects are now becoming more available. I hope you will take a few minutes to read the story by Sandeeps LaMotte with CNN that is linked below. I am a

MRIs show screen time linked to lower brain development in preschoolers

If you follow the school on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you may have noticed that we frequently use the hashtag “#learningisfunatbbs” when posting about the fun and creative things that our teachers do with students each day at BBS. We are convinced that students learn better when the process is active, engaging, and to simply put - fun. Learning activities that fit this description happen every day across all grade levels on our campus. This week our 3rd-5th grade teachers collaborated on a project that allowed all three grades to have a unique learning experience. I have asked 3rd grade teacher Jesse Robinson to talk about this experience below.

Glow Room Fun

How do teachers survive the exciting week of Halloween? They embrace the craziness and add to it! The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers decided to transform one of the unused rooms in the school into a Glow Room for the week. Each teacher would have the opportunity to use the room anyway they wanted to. We did this because we wanted to engage the students when all they are really thinking about is Halloween. We have now been in school for 12 weeks and the students can start to get a little bored with the same routine. We wanted to change it up a little and keep them excited about learning. I told my students on the Friday before that I "had something up my sleeve" for them to look forward to next week. It made them excited to find out what we would be doing.  The teachers met on Sunday to get the room ready. We put up black table clothes to make the room dark. We used fun star lights and black lights to make the room glow. There were glow balloons and we even put up spider webs to make the room pop. Each teacher added their own special touch to the room before their class entered. Each teacher also did a different lesson to go with the content they are teaching.  

The 3rd grade just finished a reading unit on Main Idea. We wanted the students to take what they used during our F & F time and use it outside their SPEC logs. The students had to find the main idea and supporting details of a few different passages that related to fall or Halloween. They also were given 6 main ideas with 18 supporting details. They had to match the supporting details with the correct main ideas. They worked hard to find the supporting details that went with the main ideas. The students were focused and working hard while we were in the glow room. They were excited about learning in a different environment. Some of the students came up to me and said thank you for doing this activity with us, that made my heart smile. To see the students engaged and excited in the learning process makes all the planning and time to put it together worth it. Learning truly IS FUN at BBS, but so is teaching!

For the last several years, Brainerd Baptist School has been offering child care for our students over school breaks and holidays. While we are happy to provide this service to our parents, it can often be a challenge because parents HAVE to sign up early in order for us to properly staff the care. We often like to reflect on the various programs at BBS. This mindset is healthy because it affords the opportunity to make improvements that benefit our students. Mrs. Ateca has been working on making some improvements to how we do our holiday childcare, and I have asked her to share those changes in the post below.

Holiday Child Camp

Brainerd Baptist School is revamping the holiday childcare that we have offered the last few years into a new Holiday “Camp” !  We want our students to love coming to school even on breaks and holidays. Our hope is to provide an organized learning environment while not being every day school.  We are  preparing each of the holiday childcare sessions into a camp reflecting the holiday it surrounds.  We will plan activities with the holiday in mind creating festive surroundings and exciting activities for each child to enjoy.  Hopefully, this will make students excited to be here even when they don’t have a regular school day and parents need our help caring for their children. 

The first opportunity we will have for our new Holiday Camps will be over Thanksgiving Break - Monday and Tuesday, November 25th and 26th.  We will explore the holiday and why we have it each year.  We will also learn to set the table for a special meal and make a special Thanksgiving dish to try.  If you need to sign up for the camp, you may CLICK HERE.

“Educating the whole child” is a mindset that permeates our approach to education at Brainerd Baptist School. We have numerous programs for our students that help differentiate our program from other schools in our area. These programs are designed to move away from the traditional subject-based approach (math, english, science, etc.) and educate the whole child. Examples of things that do this at BBS are the STEM lab, our gardening program, CAT days (curiosity, adventure, and thought), our foreign language approach, our house system, and many other things. Whenever I am touring new families for admission to our school, the first thing we see upon leaving my office is our nurse’s office. I tell those families that Mrs. Adams is more than a school nurse. While she does an amazing job of managing student health issues and concerns, she goes way beyond that. Over the last couple of years, Mrs. Adams has developed fun initiatives to help our students focus on creating healthy lifestyle choices. Some of the fun things our students have experienced are a campaign to “catch” them students eating vegetables during their lunch, a screen-time challenges, a hand-washing video competition, step challenges, as well as various other things.

Currently, our students are doing a water challenge for the month of October. We have spent time in chapel talking about the benefits of drinking more water. We have set an ambitious goal for our entire student body to consume 2,000 liters of water in the month of October. Students can earn water drops by finishing water bottles of water each day. This is a fun way to help our students develop the habit of drinking water early. Over the last two years we have installed 5 new water fountains equipped with bottle fillers to help our students in this endeavor. This also helps us be better stewards as students are encouraged to bring multi-use bottles to refill each day. Learning IS fun at BBS!

In our last post, I mentioned that it was the first in a two-part series looking at the thought of innovation at Brainerd Baptist School. I talked about the culture of innovation that we have worked hard to create. If done correctly, I believe this type of culture encourages our faculty to be risk takers and try new things. Many of the innovative things we do that make our program unique have come from teachers in our building. The expectation for our faculty is that they are life-long learners who are constantly working to become better teachers. We want them to try new experiences and techniques. The blog post below is another example. We utilize an “exposure” model and strongly believe that our students benefit from being exposed to many different types of learning in various subjects. I am really excited about what we are offering our students this year in foreign language. Baylor School does something similar to this in their middle school and I have always thought it was great for students. In the post below, our Spanish teacher April Connell explains the fun things we are doing with our students this year.

The BBS Language and Cultures class
April Connell

This year, BBS 4th & 5th grade students will begin a new journey in their language classes. Instead of remaining focused on only one language (Spanish) throughout the year, students will now have the opportunity to discover three additional languages and their cultures. After researching many of the local middle and high school language offerings, Ms. Connell gathered a list of the most common ones that BBS graduates would have the option to choose from at their future schools. By exposing the students to an array of choices, they will leave BBS, not only better prepared to make their language selections in middle school, but also with a greater understanding of the world around them.

There will be four different languages and cultures taught this year, following the school’s quarter system. These are (in order): Spanish, Latin, Chinese (Mandarin), and German. Each year, the fourth quarter offering will flip-flop between German and French, allowing fourth grade students the opportunity to experience a taste of both before graduating. Basic vocabulary, most common phrases, and correct pronunciation will be explained and practiced. Geography, including map studies and virtual travels using Google maps will be employed. Cultural highlights, including holidays, traditions, and pop culture will be explored, along with studying a brief history of the language’s origin and of the people who speak it. Students will create or experience a form of art, both literarily and thru a hands-on activity, that relates to each culture. They will also have the opportunity to try a “taste” of the different cultures with various samplings of popular foods associated with each unit.  All five senses will truly be engaged! 

The students have already shown great enthusiasm towards this new and exciting class, and Ms. Connell is anticipating a unique and fun year ahead. This creative approach to learning is just another way that Brainerd Baptist School is expanding minds and preparing hearts in its students.

The following post is the first of two in which we are highlighting something new at Brainerd Baptist School this year. We strive to develop a culture were creativity and innovation are normal parts of our day. These are traits that we want our students to develop, so it is important that we, as a school, also embody these traits. I believe that schools operate best when there is no fear of failure of trying something new. Teachers will be quick to tell you that we can become entrenched in the way we do things. A culture of innovation removes the fear of failing at something new, and replaces that fear with excitement and encouragement. Our students have been blessed by this innovation over the last few years with some amazing opportunities that are not available at other schools in our area. Some examples would be our 4 C’s curriculum or our C.A.T. (curiosity, adventure, thought) experiential learning opportunities. In the post below, John Creed talks about our new Houses of Brainerd Baptist School.

The Houses of Brainerd Baptist School
John Creed

This school year, fourth and fifth grade students will take part in an altogether new experience at Brainerd Baptist School. In addition to the many aspects of student life that make their final years as Bobcats special, these students will be the first to participate in the House System at BBS. 

The House System at Brainerd Baptist School is designed to serve as an extension of the school’s mission and vision. As both an academic and non-academic program, the House System seeks to nurture unity within the fourth and fifth grade student body. While promoting cooperation, healthy competition, and encouragement, this system will point students toward traits such as integrity, responsibility, kindness, and diligence. Our hope is to further build upon the strong culture and community of our school. 

Each house has faculty representation to serve as heads of the house. These heads are comprised of fourth and fifth grade teachers and fine arts teachers. Students were assigned to four houses after their first assembly of the year. A few days later, they participated in an initial a house meeting where house heads taught students a handshake, song, or chant to share with the members of their house throughout the year. Additionally, house members learned about their house’s unique crest and the house point system. 

During the year, students will have many opportunities to earn points for their houses. These points can be earned by displaying quality character traits or through a simple act of kindness. House competitions and specific academic goals may also contribute to points for a house.

It was a treat to hear the first house meetings draw to a close with the rumble of each house’s newfound chant or song pouring into the hallway. The early excitement of the students has been encouraging, and we are looking forward to seeing this grow and develop throughout the year! 

Much is made about the excitement of children as the first day of class approaches. Today marks the first day of class at Brainerd Baptist School. A LOT of preparation has gone into making this day run as smoothly as possible for our students. My youngest child had her first day (junior year) on Monday and I certainly understand the anxiety that can accompany this momentous occasion from a parents perspective. Moms spend time shopping (often with their child) for the various necessary, (and often unnecessary school supplies -hello locker wallpaper and chandeliers). Schedules are analyzed and memorized. New shoes are purchased, and in many cases, other things like picking out a new backpack is a tradition for many. Today marks the 20th consecutive year where I have experienced a “1st day” professionally. Of course, before that, I experienced many first days of school personally as well.

If I could say one thing to students AND parents that you may not have thought about, it would be this - your teachers are just as excited, and often times more anxious about this day as you are! They have put in MANY hours creating a space in their classrooms that is warm and inviting just for their students. They have prayed over their students and are excited to get to know them, and most importantly, their goal is to positively impact the lives of their students this year. Believe it not, I would almost certainly bet that many of your teachers also had their outfits laid out last night in preparation for the big day. I will even admit that I also got new shoes for today, although I doubt any of my students will fully appreciate my choice in purchasing new loafers from Cole Haan!

Here is to the beginning of a GREAT year! We are happy that many of you have chosen Brainerd Baptist School for your child. Our enrollment is up about 7% over last years first day number. We have added 2 new classes due to growth. For many of you, today marks “the last first day” at Brainerd Baptist School for your child. My advice as a dad that has experienced this three times - soak it up and enjoy it, because it will go by fast. If I can help any of you as the year begins, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I have often said that the most important thing I do as Head of School is hire the right people to join our school. In school life, the end of each year often means change. And although we are sad when teachers leave our family, it is necessary to identify the best people to join our team. I like to joke that at our school, change is often the result of two things - retirement, or pregnancy! As we finish this year, and are preparing for the 2019-2020 school year, we are facing more changes than I can ever remember in my time as Head of School. We have some long-tenured faculty who are retiring, and we are excited that we are also adding two new classes/teachers due to our enrollment growth.
When a job is posted at BBS, we typically have 30-50 applications to consider, and this year was no different. We selected several strong candidates who had impressive resumés to come on campus for a tour, and interviews with our administrative team and also with the prospective team members. This process involves many of our teachers, and I am thankful for their hard work as they helped us select the best fit for each position. All of our new teachers have spent time on campus and in our classrooms preparing for their move to BBS in the fall.
We are excited to announce that the following individuals will be joining our faculty for the 2019-2020 school year:

• K3 - Ms. Lindsay Patty - Lindsay is a graduate of UTC and is coming to Brainerd Baptist School after teaching at East Brainerd Elementary.

• K4 - Mrs. Cheryl Johnson - Cheryl is a veteran pre-k teacher that comes to Brainerd Baptist School from the preschool program at Lookout Mtn. Presbyterian Church.

• K5 - Mrs. Angel Schrader - Angel has been teaching 1st grade at East Side Elementary in Chattanooga for 13 years. She is no stranger to BBS, as both of her children (Elizabeth Grace and Charlie) are students.

• 1st - Mrs. Katie Adams - Katie comes to Brainerd Baptist School after teaching for 5 years in Cumberland County (Crossville, TN area). Katie is also very familiar with our school as she walked the halls of BBS as a student and is excited to be returning to teach at her alma mater.

• 2nd - Mr. Tanner Winters - Tanner recently graduated from Covenant College with a degree in Elementary Education. He is also familiar with BBS. He completed his practicum in Mrs. Ateca’s K5 class last year, completed his student teaching placements at Battlefield Primary and in Mrs. Dahlke’s 1st grade class this spring.

Join us in congratulating our new faculty members. Complete bios for each teacher will be coming soon.

Later today we will celebrate Mrs. Cathy Creed’s tenure at Brainerd Baptist School with a retirement reception. The post below is from our winter 2019 issue of Foundations magazine. I attempted to highlight the tremendous blessing that Mrs. Creed has been to me during my years as head.

The Calming Presence

When trying to think of the right adjectives to adequately describe Cathy Creed, several instantly come to mind like affectionate, compassionate, witty, sincere, observant, patient, intuitive, friendly, loyal, supportive, funny, and most importantly, a champion for doing what is best for students. When I was appointed Head of School in May of 2006, Cathy was the first person I hired, and she has served as our Assistant Head of School for the last thirteen years. In her role she has overseen our  K3/K4, Summer Camp, and Brainerd Baptist After School Care program. Additionally, she has worn many other hats and taken on multiple other roles. Until we added our first Academic Counselor, Mrs. Creed worked with all ages of students who needed additional academic support.

Over the years while working as a team, Mrs. Creed and I have celebrated many highs and lows that come with our profession. Cathy is the type of person who would always be available to listen and provide a different perspective right at the time when I needed one. Many people may not know that she has a very dry sense of humor, which she utilizes extremely well. I cannot count the times our weekly administrative meetings have been interrupted with laughter due to a sly comment that is perfectly delivered by her with a straight face.

However, what I appreciate most about Cathy is her ability to be a calming presence. She is never the loudest person in a meeting or a room. She has a genuine love for her job and the people that work with her. She is an incredible listener and has even been been known to sit and cry with a teacher or parent that is going through a tough time. Over the summer, Cathy told us that this year would be her last as Assistant Head of School.  While we are sad, we are happy to announce that she will still be working at Brainerd Baptist School part time in our academic counseling office. This will prove to be very beneficial for our students who have the opportunity to work with her. There is no doubt they will benefit from her wealth of experience and vast ability to work with students who have learning differences.

As with any change, we are also excited about the future. I am a believer that good schools develop leaders from within. Therefore, we are also excited to announce that Mrs. Regina Ateca will be moving into the Assistant Head of School position this summer.  Mrs. Ateca has been working with Mrs. Creed in preparation for this move, and we know that she will do a phenomenal job.

We will have a special time to honor Mrs. Creed’s service to our school in the spring and will communicate those details at a later time.

Here is our new bus that will be delivered in the next week.

We are a few weeks removed from our annual auction, and I have some exciting news to share with our families. As was stated on the night of our auction, our goal was to raise enough money to purchase a new bus. Our friends at Brainerd Baptist Church have been very accommodating in letting the school use their motor coach (and other vehicles) for the last 24 years. The coach has served us well and we have been incredibly blessed to have such a nice mode of transportation for so long. As you can imagine, maintaining a bus this old has become a burden, because something always seems to need replaced. Additionally, a coach is substantially more expensive to maintain over a regular bus.
Back in 2017, we raised money to purchase a mini-bus for our summer camp and athletic programs to use. This has been a tremendous asset for us, but it can only hold 15 people, so it isn’t practical for field trips where an entire grade level needs to travel. We decided this year to begin working toward raising enough money for a new bus. The cost of a new bus is approximately $100,000. In previous years, our auction has raised around $55,000. Our hope was that our auction would continue it’s trend of raising additional funds for the school, and that money, coupled with money given to the school by Brainerd Baptist Church from selling the Prevost motor coach would allow us to purchase a new bus. I am happy to report that our auction raised almost $80,000! This money, along with money given to the school by Brainerd Baptist Church allowed us to order a new bus that should be delivered this week! Our 4th grade will be using the new bus to travel to Nashville and visit the state capital and our 1st graders will be using it to head to the Knoxville Zoo. As you can see, your student’s have a direct impact on your generosity. We want to once again say a heartfelt “Thank You” to our families for making this night such a success.

Recently, WRCB News Channel 3 featured Brainerd Baptist School on David Carroll’s weekly “School Patrol” segment. The story highlights the efforts of BBS teachers have made to help 1st grade student Hayden Hudgens. Hayden is currently battling Leukemia and often has to travel to St. Judes Children’s Hospital in Memphis to receive her treatment. For the last two years, Hayden’s teachers have travelled to her home to see her, and even over 350 miles to Memphis to work with her on her school work (and have some fun as well).

One of the most recent faculty additions at Brainerd Baptist School is our school nurse, Rachel Adams. This is her third year at BBS, and just about every person at BBS would echo my sentiments of, “How did we survive without her for so long?” One of the things that I appreciate about Mrs. Adams is not only her commitment to overseeing the health of our students, but also her desire to help students incorporate health into their everyday life. She is ALWAYS developing a new (and fun!) way to help our students think about their health. A few examples of some of her ideas include: the indoor walking track, the water challenge, the February fitness challenge, covering health topics (like heart health) in STEM class, and many others.
Below you will read about one of our new initiatives - helping our students realize (AND REDUCE!) the amount of food we waste each day. We are blessed with an amazing cafeteria staff, who do an incredible job of making our students great meals each day. Our new focus will show our students the amount of food that they throw into the garbage can each day at lunch. Mrs. Adams gives more details below about this initiative.

Food Waste Reduction Challenge

This past Tuesday, Feb. 19th, we launched our first ever food waste reduction challenge.  As I began researching food waste in our nation, I was blown away and saddened by the statistics.  According to a study conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Up to 40% of the food in the United States is never eaten.  But at the same time, one in eight Americans struggles to put enough food on the table.” 

This challenge comes on the heels of BBS once again winning first place in WRCBTV’s Share Your Christmas food drive for most amount of food collected in the small school division.  This was not planned, but could not have been better timed.  Last week during chapel, our students learned that 1 lb. of wasted food is equivalent to approximately 1 meal.  Each day we throw away a lot of food, but our staff was curious to see just how much.  This curiosity and the desire, to be better stewards of what we have, led us to take action.  Wingfield Scale Company has graciously loaned us a commercial scale to make data collection possible.  We are so thankful for their partnership with us.

Stay tuned for updates on our progress.