Brookfield Academy Now

In March, Marilee Nygro (Level 10) was selected to represent Brookfield Academy at the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) High School Conference at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Marilee spent four days hearing from speakers, participating in workshops, and getting to know other defenders of freedom and The Constitution from high schools around the country. She also had the opportunity to meet Scott Walker, the former Governor of Wisconsin and current President of YAF. Marilee was excited to leverage the education she has received at BA to lead thoughtful conversations and ask thought-provoking questions of the speakers at the conference. She looks forward to continuing her work with YAF now and into the future. Also - a special thank you to Mr. Joel Nettesheim for sponsoring Marilee for her conference attendance!

Congratulations to Brianna Boucher for her impressive riding and earning a nationwide award. She won Best in Breed, which means she performed the best overall for her age class, 13 and Under. Brianna has been riding since she was seven years old and rides in Show Pleasure. In this class, she must walk, trot, and canter to present her horse in the best possible way to the judges. It requires lots of practice and cooperation between her and her horse. She's now preparing for a new show season in which she will ride in eight to ten shows between April and October. 

Bella Smith was recently featured on WISN news. She started a non-profit called Dress Campaign, Inc. to collect gently used dance dresses and share them with students who might not otherwise be able to have a dress. Watch the story here.

History teacher, Karen Ray, has been named High School Teacher of the Year by the Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Watch the story on Spectrum News 1.

Rachel was just named the first-place winner in the 2023 Congressional App Challenge for Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District, thanks to her mobile app, "Renal Dialysis." On Tuesday, Feb. 20, Sun was congratulated in a special ceremony by Congressman Scott Fitzgerald. In the spring, she will travel to Washington D.C. to present her app to congresspeople and tech companies at a national science fair.

Watch the CBS 58 story here.  Watch the FOX 6 story here.

Level 3 student Lillian Wickman has been dancing ballet since the age of 2. In the fall, she auditioned and was invited to perform with the Milwaukee Ballet’s Professional Production Company, for the debut performance of Drosselmeyer’s Imaginarium Nutcracker. She was among the youngest in the cast. This tremendous opportunity took time and dedication from Lillian as she needed to keep up with her studies during practice breaks. She continued with her traditional training, along with her training and rehearsals for the performance.

BA Sophomore Neerja Ahuja earned second place in a national Bill of Rights Day contest sponsored by the federal courts. Students in grades 5-12 submitted essays and art projects proposing a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The panel of judges included U.S. Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Katherine M. Menendez from the District of Minnesota, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Kellie M. Barr from the Southern District of Indiana. Neerja Ahuja's essay can be found here. 

BA sophomore, Raghav Vijayapal, founded a not-for-profit organization called ForeGood. The primary goal of the organization is to raise funds to support Alzheimer's research and awareness. His grandmother's courageous battle with Alzheimer's and dementia was the reason he decided to establish the organization. He held a golf outing at Wanaki Golf Course in June 2023 and has a second event scheduled for July 13, 2024. He also participated in the Alzheimer's Walk in September. Raghav said, "ForeGood is my way of turning personal adversity into a force for positive change, one golf swing and one step at a time." He was featured recently on The Morning Blend on WTMJ. You can view his interview here.