Brehm/OPTIONS staff meet Deion Sanders

Before the Atlanta Falcons honored Deion Sanders at halftime of their game against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, November 11, 2010, Deion was spotted by Char Reed (OPTIONS Coordinator) and Richard Ventura (Assistant Director of Admission at Brehm School) in Olympic Park in beautiful downtown Atlanta, Georgia, on November 9.

Char and Richard were in Atlanta for the CHADD conference being held the week of November 9 -13. Deion was in Olympic Park the morning of November 9 answering questions for the general public and news media.

Emmanuel Ochenje signs with UTC

Brehm Preparatory School senior Emmanuel "Manny" Ochenje signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

"What I like best about Manny is as a person," said UTC head coach John Shulman. "He's a wonderful young man looking for a home and he found that here. There were a lot of big names mentioned with him in this process, but, in the end, he knew what he had here and we are thrilled to have him join our family."

A native of Nigeria, Manny is a 6'9, 210 lb. forward/center ranked #1 in Illinois by Chicago Hoops. He plans to major in business at UTC.

Brehm students and staff celebrate Thanksgiving

Brehm School students, faculty and staff celebrated Thanksgiving prior to Thanksgiving Break with a potluck-style lunch in the Dining Facility.

Tables were filled with turkey, breads, side dishes, desserts and more provided by Brehm staff and faculty and the Brehm Food Service staff.

Brehm art students decorate pumpkins

Brehm Preparatory School art students decorated pumpkins for the Fall Parent and Family Weekend recently. The pumpkins were put on display outside throughout the campus.

The students did a tremendous job and enjoyed the art project.

Brehm campus enjoys 'Big Ball Game'

To enjoy one of the last beautiful fall days and to have some fun before Thanksgiving break, students, faculty and staff participated in Coach Douglas' famous "Big Ball Game."

"It is a great stress releaser," said Terri Douglas, Coordinator of Educational Services.

Paintball team completes "Zombie Conflict"

The Brehm Paintball Team participated in "The Zombie Conflict" recently at Bailey's Battlefield in Niangua, Missouri.

"Our kids did well all weekend," said Wade Brady, paintball team leader. "Our students worked together, virtually problem-free, all weekend. They did a great job and had a lot of fun!"

Bruce Barron signs to the University of Oregon

Bruce Barron, a 6'4 senior point guard on the Brehm School prep basketball team, signed a letter of intent with the University of Oregon.

Bruce is a native of Carbondale, IL.

Brehm Varsity Basketball team scores a win

The Brehm Preparatory School varsity basketball team defeated Caledonia Christian School at home on November 16 with a score of 31-45.

"Team Brehm has once again succeeded through a great amount of effort, commitment and cooperation," said Brad Siemer, head varsity basketball coach at Brehm. "Thanks to all of those who helped in the many successes here at Brehm!"

The varsity basketball team will play Westwood Baptist on December 9 at home.

Brehm students are keeping the school green

Brehm Preparatory School students are keeping the school green.

In 2008, Brehm initiated a recycling program on campus with recycling containers in every dorm, outside, in academic buildings and the administration building. This was possible due to the support of Jackson County Health Department.

"We have a recycling dumpster from the Jackson County Health Department on campus, and, in order to keep the dumpster, we have to meet requirements," said Pam Altman, supervisor of boarding services at Brehm Preparatory School. "The last three years, we have completed four activities and participated in educational sessions throughout the year. These activities have benefited the campus because we have received two benches made out of recycled milk jugs. They are located in front of Christy Hall and Dorm 5."

The first activity the students have participated in each school year is a campus cleanup. This year, the students held their campus cleanup prior to Brehm's Fall Parent and Family Weekend, which was held November 5-6.

"It is an opportunity for our teachers, dorm parents, staff and students to pitch in and pick up trash and recyclables around campus to make the campus look its best for our parents," Pam said. "This year, some teachers had a great idea to reward students who participated in the cleanup with stickers, so we had students covered in stickers by the time they were done."

Other recycling events the students participate in include: recycling skits, trashformations and another event that has yet to be determined.

"These events will provide us with another bench or money to purchase recycled items and hopefully raise awareness around campus to reduce, reuse and recycle," Pam said. "From September 2009 until August 2010, we have recycled 12,820 pounds of materials!"

For more information, contact Dalus Kulich, Coordinator of Communications of Brehm, at (618) 457-0371 or dkulich@brehm.org.

Pep rally held

Brehm Preparatory School students, faculty and staff attended the first pep rally of the school year for both the Varsity Basketball Team and the Prep Basketball Team.

The teams were introduced, coaches spoke about their outlook for the upcoming season and the players ran drills.

Photos provided by students in Brehm's PACT (Photograph and Computer Technology) Department.

Brehm Robotics hosts demonstration at Boeing

In October, The Megahurts traveled to Boeing's executive offices in St. Louis to host a Robotics demonstration.

In 2010, Boeing joined the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Program at Brehm Preparatory School as a financial and technical sponsor.

“We view the excitement created by FIRST as an opportunity to positively influence the perception of math and science by young people,” said Rick Stephens, Boeing senior vice president of human resources and administration. “For more than 10 years, our employees have inspired participants through their experience applying teamwork and technical skills to creatively solving complex problems. Expanding our involvement with FIRST will help us encourage more students to experiment with technology and make new discoveries as the future workforce of our industry.”

The demonstration allowed current Brehm Robotics Team members to show what they accomplished during the 2009 - 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition Breakaway (which is the game for the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition, where two alliances of three teams each compete on a 27' x 54' field with bumps, attempting to earn points by collecting soccer balls in their goals. Additional bonus points are earned for each robot not touching the field at the end of the match).

Students from Brehm, along with mentors David Gitz, Jonathan Cohen, Joe Strusz, Joe Viscomi and engineering students from Southern Illinois University's ATMAE (Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering) Club, designed, built and shipped a custom-built robot that competed in a modified version of soccer.

The students traveled to two regional events and competed against nearly 100 teams in total during the competition season. Last season was the fourth competition for the school. Every year, the students learn new skills and take positions of leadership to help the team finish their task.

If you would like to learn more about our team, visit us on the web at http://megahurts2219.com or contact Joe Viscomi at Brehm Preparatory School at (618) 457-0371.

FBLA raising money to support March of Dimes

The Brehm Preparatory School's Future Business Leaders of America Chapter is raising money to help support the March of Dimes.

The March of Dimes is one of the best known charities in the country.

Each year, more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely, nearly half for unknown reasons and premature birth is the number one killer of newborns. One in eight babies born in the U.S. is premature. Many of these infants have life-long disabilities such as cerebral palsy, retinopathy, asthma and learning disabilities.

The Brehm FBLA Chapter will be asking for donations through the month of November. We will be planning other fundraisers to help raise money for the March of Dimes. Thanks to all for their support!

Daniel Daudu visits Brehm

Daniel Daudu, a former Brehm Preparatory School student and basketball player, visited Brehm during Parent and Family Weekend in November.

Daudu is a freshman at the University of Indianapolis in Indiana, majoring in Economics, and plays for university's basketball team as a guard. Originally hailing from Ikeja, Nigeria, Daudu has played on both the Nigeria Junior and Senior National teams and was named Most Valuable Player of the NBA's Basketball Without Borders in South Africa.

Daudu is pictured with Faye Ikner, Brehm's Admissions Executive Assistant.

Large turnout at Parent and Family Weekend dinner and entertainment

The Fall Parent and Family Weekend dinner and entertainment on Saturday, November 6 was a success.

The event was held from 6-9pm in the gym of the Student Activities Center. The theme was "Around the World."

For dinner, guests enjoyed:

• Shrimp fried rice
• Vegetarian egg rolls
• Fortune cookies
• Hamburgers
• Soy burgers
• Chicken fajitas
• Italian bread and dipping oil
• Amaretto cake
• Meatless pasta
• Peanut stew
• Sweet potato wedges
• Chocolate chip cookies

Attendees also enjoyed the following games/entertainment:

• Sumo wrestling
• Soccer challenge
• Quarterback challenge
• Bounce house
• Rock Band on Wii
• Mini golf
• Rock climbing

Sumo wrestling a big hit at Parent and Family Weekend

The Brehm Preparatory School's Student Council was the spotlight of the Fall Parent and Family Weekend dinner on Saturday, November 6, with their Sumo Wrestling contest.

Brehm rented Sumo Wrestling suits for the evening, and the Student Council members served as promoters of the event - finding attendees to wrestle, serving as referees during the matches, encouraging wrestlers and the crowd, etc.

The wrestling event was a fund-raiser for the Student Council. Barbara Drew, advisor for the Student Council and MC of the evening's event, said more than $600 was raised for the organization.

"We had a blast doing it," she said. "Student Council members worked very hard to ensure that the students, staff, faculty, parents and family members had a wonderful time during the Sumo Wrestling event. And, it paid off.

"Also, without the support of the parents and family, staff and faculty, we couldn't have had such a successful fund-raiser."

Part of the money raised will be used for Student Council activities, and the other part will go toward the Lydia Walthes All-Star Award.

"This will be the third year we will give the Lydia Walthes Award," Barbara said. "It is a $500 cash award given to a Student Council member who exhibits many of the same qualities we cherished in Lydia - passion, fun, knowledgeable, hard-working, personable, friendly, and so on."

The Lydia Walthes Award is usually given out during Prom, which will be held Friday, April 29, 2011.

BPA holds dinner in new Chili's restaurant

The Brehm Parents Association held their off-campus dinner at Chili's in Carbondale on Friday, November 5.

Chili's in Carbondale was not scheduled to open until Monday, November 8, but the restaurant staff and management were gracious enough to open for the BPA only on Friday evening from 6:30-8:30pm.

89 people RSVP'd for the dinner at Chili's, however, close to 100 people attended.

Inaugural BPA 5K Walk/Run a success

More than 70 people signed up for the Brehm Parents Association 5K Walk/Run that was held on Sunday, November 7. The race wrapped up an eventful Parent and Family Weekend at Brehm.

T-shirts were sold for $8 to commemorate the inaugural BPA 5K Walk/Run. The shirts were available prior to the 9am start of the race.

The race began at the Brehm School Student Activities Center, then went east on Grand Avenue, north on Giant City Road, west on Walnut Street, south through Today's Technology's parking lot to the Super Block Recreation Fields, west toward Lewis Lane through the Super Block, south on Lewis Lane, east on Grand Avenue, and around the Brehm campus and Walking Trail to end up back at the Student Activities Center.

Below is a list of the Top 10 runners:

1. James Wooldridge - 18:42
2. John Reed - 21:33
3. Chris Schroeder - 25:24
4. Austin Wielansky - 27:36
5. Jensen Venskus - 30:10
6. Jeff Vincent - 31:26
7. Allison Wooldridge - 32:22
8. Paul C. Peter - 33:00
9. Dr. Richard Collins - 34:00
10. David Schroeder - 34:00

Great turnout for College Fair

Brehm School held a College Fair during Parent and Family Weekend from 5-7pm on Friday, November 5, and from 9am-noon on Saturday, November 6, in the gymnasium of the Student Activities Center.

The following colleges participated in the event:

• Lee University, who provides extra assistance for students with learning disabilities, including extra time on tests, tutors and other forms of assistance.
• Beacon College, who offers A.A. and B.A. degrees exclusively for students with documented learning disabilities. Recognizing that individuals learn at different rates and in different ways, Beacon College provides quality educational and social experiences that value diversity, ensure student engagement, cultivate critical thinking skills and intellectual curiosity, and develop employment potential.
• Augsburg College's CLASS (Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services), which illustrates its commitment to student success at Augsburg College by providing those academic services needed to accommodate individuals with learning, attentional, psychiatric, or other cognitive disabilities. The foundation of CLASS, however, is deeply rooted in the promotion of student independence and the personal realization of one's full potential.
• Mitchell College's Learning Resource Center, which is a full-service, comprehensive academic support program for students with learning disabilities/ADHD. It offers three levels of support services: Comprehensive Support (Level I); Enhanced Support (Level II); and Entitled Support (Level III). Level I and Level II supports are a fee for service basis and are available to students with documented learning disabilities/ADHD.
• OPTIONS Program at Brehm, which is a comprehensive transitional boarding program for post-secondary students with complex learning disabilities, attention disorders and/or executive functioning deficits. OPTIONS is a holistic program offering instruction and assistance for students who need to further develop the independent living, social, employment and academic skills necessary to live more independently.
• St. Louis Life, which offers a variety of structured activities that include employment, social activities, continuing education, daily exercise, recreation and health-conscious meal planning. Our goal is to help the residents lead fulfilling, independent lives of work, friendship and accomplishment.
• PACE at National-Louis University is a two-year, post-secondary certificate program for students with multiple learning disabilities and non-verbal learning disabilities. PACE works with the whole student in the areas of vocational training, academics, life skills and social. National-Louis also offers a dual enrollment program for the "collegeable" student.
• Vincennes University's STEP program is an intensive academic support program providing comprehensive services for learning disabled students in the university mainstream. STEP is designed to help students be more successful in their college courses. Student strengths, rather than deficits, are the emphasis. Compensatory techniques, rather than remediation, are the thrust.

For more information about the College Fair, contact Dalus Kulich, Coordinator of Communications, at dkulich@brehm.org.

Happy Halloween from Brehm

Brehm students, faculty and staff celebrated Halloween early on Friday, October 29, by dressing up in costume.

Happy Halloween from everyone at Brehm Preparatory School!