When a student is fighting a devastating disease, it isn’t easy to stay on track with the school curriculum.  Brainerd Baptist School isn’t just going the extra mile to provide an education for seven-year-old Hayden Hudgens.  We’re going 350 extra miles.

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.” 

The month of February has been designated as Black History month since the 1970s when President Gerald Ford urged Americans to, “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Over the years, our teachers have done an amazing job of incorporating meaningful activities into our curriculum that celebrate the accomplishments of African-Americans throughout our history.

Rachel Adams, our school nurse, has done a phenomenal job of developing challenges to help our students focus on improving their health. Last year, Mrs. Adams partnered with our PE program to develop a monthly fitness challenge. This year, Mrs. Adams and Mr. Owens have developed another fun and challenging month to help our students focus on their health. I asked Mr. Owens to write a blog post that gives more details about this special challenge and those details are listed below.

From the first moment the visiting accreditation team arrived on campus for the three-day visit, the welcoming, caring, considerate and loving school culture of Brainerd Baptist School was evident. Incredibly loyal and appreciative parents, interested and supportive board members, delightful, engaged and happy students, a devoted, cohesive and competent faculty, and a committed and dedicated leadership team all presented Brainerd Baptist School in a most positive manner. With a healthy enrollment, a sound financial position, innovative programming, and legions of community supporters, Brainerd Baptist School finds itself in an enviable position in a highly competitive independent school market in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A focus on continuous school improvement, servant leadership, and student achievement distinguishes Brainerd Baptist from other educational options. In a faith-based school, parents view teachers as living out their individual calling and vocation in the classroom. In a Christian school setting, students at Brainerd Baptist not only benefit from a top-notch educational experience, but they also acquire values and a moral education which provide an exceptional foundation for their future. The visiting team was clearly impressed with the warm, friendly, wholesome and positive culture that permeates every aspect of Brainerd Baptist School.

Though I boast of no previous theatre experience, I am now convinced of the absolute necessity of such activities within an elementary school program. Such productions provide an excellent platform from which children can gain hands-on experience in collaboration and grit.

I like to say that teaching elementary students is such a neat experience because, their minds are like little sponges, absorbing so much!  However, we are faced with the challenge of providing a high quality academic curriculum with the understanding that you have a limited amount of time for sustained attention! As educators, we are always trying to seek the most effective way to teach our students while also providing the best possible learning environment for them. For years, we have implemented movement and various seating options to help our students with sustained attention, but there is still, room for improvement.

I hope you can see how your involvement in our fundraisers has a DIRECT and IMMEDIATE impact on your child. I know that it can be a bit of a hassle, but all the time and effort you put into it is worth it in the end! We are so blessed by our families believing in what we do and supporting it.

Our school year is off to a smooth start. Our enrollment is up from last year, and we are excited about all the new families that are now a part of the BBS family. Now that our students (and parents) are in a routine, we have turned our focus to a pretty major event that will be happening in November.