Brooks County Middle School
Parents and Students Welcomed Back at Informational Meeting
Parents of Brooks County Middle School students attended the school's Parent Information Night recently. The meeting welcomed
parents to the 2010-2011 school-year. Principal Al Williams introduced
his Parent Involvement Coordinator, Carol Thompson who introduced the teachers to the paretns. At the meeting
Title 1 and Pre-K Director, Tonja Healey shared with the parents
information regarding Title I Funding,
School Wide Plan,and BCMS' AYP Status. Parents also learned how the school system is
structured and who they can contact for their needs. The system's
Parent Involvment/Community Relations Specialist, Lydia Hubert, also
shared many ways parents can get involved in their child's education,
the BCMS Parent Involvement Policy,
and Parent's Right to Know. (Both found on this website) Parents were
invited to visit the school's brand new Parent Resource Room. Healey also shared a power point
presentation on how to identify if your child is gifted and how a child
is referred for the Gifted Program. Parents were then able to visit with their child's team.
BCMS Building Leadership Skills
Students
in Michelle Sorrell’s Engineering Technology class took part in an experiment on
leadership skills. The goal of the exercise was to write
instructions for 
making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The
students were directed to give explicit details in making a peanut butter and
jelly sandwich. Students who
successfully wrote instructions were able to enjoy their own sandwich. Students
who failed to mention important details such as opening the bread bag, or
peanut butter jar were not as successful.
The lesson students’ gained was seeing how communicating with team
members can bring success in your project. Pictured are some of the class
members reaping the rewards of communicating well with others.
BCMS Teacher of the Year Named
AMANDA
SOPKO is
this year’s Teacher of the Year at Brooks County Middle School. She is a
seventh grade Math teacher. 
When asked how she felt about being nominated
for this honor she said, “It was a great honor to be selected by my
peers. However, I could not do my job without the support of the
wonderful faculty and staff at BCMS, especially my team. Everyone works
together keeping the best interest of the students in mind.” Sopko
attended Kent State University in Ohio where she received her Bachelor of
Science in Middle Childhood Education with concentrations in Mathematics,
Language Arts, and Reading. She received her Masters Degree in Education in
Curriculum and Instruction. She was led into teaching because of
her 8th grade math teacher. This teacher made math interesting
and fun. Sopko felt then that there should be more teachers like
her. Ironically during Sopko’s third year of teaching she taught the son
of her former teacher. At the end of the school-year, her former teacher
paid her one of the best compliments she has ever received, that she was a
great teacher herself. Teaching middle school grades is one of the best
decisions she feels she has ever made. “I love my job,” stated Sopko.