BRUSSELS CUSD 42

ATTN: EARLY BIRD PE STUDENTS Plans have changed! There will be early bird on Friday, December 16 in the gym. Please see Mrs. Long if you have questions. Thanks!

Learning opportunity through Lewis & Clark Community College. Please see the attached flyer.

After a 3 year COVID break, National Honor Society was excited to bring "Santa's workshop" back to Brussels. Our Brussels Elementary and St. Mary's students enjoyed shopping for their family members with the help of our NHS students. It is a great start to this holiday season. HO!HO!HO!

Dear Parents/Guardians, As you are probably aware, when we returned from our Thanksgiving break last Monday, we discovered that the HVAC system which worked perfectly before the break was no longer providing heat for the elementary school. Here’s an update on the repair work so far. Updike Heat and A.C. is the company that installed our updated systems in the grade school, high school and gym. Workers from that company have been here every day this week trying to diagnose and fix the problem. It took some time to diagnose the problem to determine if we had a leak or an electrical problem. Finally, it was determined that the compressor in one of the buildings three HVAC units has failed. While the diagnostic work was going on, an attempt was made to heat the building using just the two functioning HVAC units. After multiple attempts, this was unsuccessful. As the work was under way, we made arrangements for our elementary school classes to use available high school classrooms or the library if their room became uncomfortable. Yesterday afternoon, Chad Brodbeck experimented with reactivating the old electric heat system in the cafeteria and was successful. Work is underway today to do the same thing with the electric heaters in each elementary classroom. By lunchtime today, we had three classrooms heated with the old electric heaters. Our hope is that this can provide enough heat until the parts needed are available and repairs are made. It is most likely that those repairs will take place during our Winter/Christmas break. Sincerely, Mark R. Martin

Parents & Students, Finals are right around the corner. Please see the attached picture for the schedule and more information. If you have questions, please reach out to me. Thanks! Mrs. Long

12/2/2022 Dear Parents/Guardians, As you are probably aware, when we returned from our Thanksgiving break last Monday, we discovered that the HVAC system which worked perfectly before the break was no longer providing heat for the elementary school. Here’s an update on the repair work so far. Updike Heat and A.C. is the company that installed our updated systems in the grade school, high school and gym. Workers from that company have been here every day this week trying to diagnose and fix the problem. It took some time to diagnose the problem to determine if we had a leak or an electrical problem. Finally, it was determined that the compressor in one of the buildings three HVAC units has failed. While the diagnostic work was going on, an attempt was made to heat the building using just the two functioning HVAC units. After multiple attempts, this was unsuccessful. As the work was underway, we made arrangements for our elementary school classes to use available high school classrooms or the library if their room became uncomfortable. Yesterday afternoon, Chad Brodbeck experimented with reactivating the old electric heat system in the cafeteria and was successful. Work is underway today to do the same thing with the electric heaters in each elementary classroom. By lunchtime today, we had three classrooms heated with the old electric heaters. Our hope is that this can provide enough heat until the parts needed are available and repairs are made. It is most likely that those repairs will take place during our Winter/Christmas break. Sincerely, Mark R. Martin

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be aware that the cold and flu season is in full swing! Keep your child HOME if they are sick. They do not benefit from being at school while they don't feel well and sicknesses spread very quickly in the school setting. The "suck it up" attitude is only extending sickness as it keeps spreading throughout the schools. Let's work together to try to keep our kids and ourselves healthy!

Kids Night Out will be held on Friday December 9th at BGS from 5-9. It will be a fun-filled night of activities and food for students K-6! Please have forms and money turned in by December 2nd to reserve a spot(s)!!

We will begin offering tutoring for grades 5-12 tomorrow after school in the high school building. Tutoring will be offered 3 days a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 - 4:30 (students should report to the high school directly after dismissal). If you would like for your student to attend or have questions, please reach out to your student's principal (mrmartin@brussels42.net or plong@brussels42.net) to let us know your student will be attending or to ask any questions you may have. Students must have their own transportation to attend as the district will not run a bus to take students home. Thanks so much!

The BHS students did a wonderful job decorating their tree at Rock Spring Park in Alton last week. Tonight is the first night the park is open for the season, and it is a walk through only night. After that, only cars can drive through to see the lights. Santa will also be there tonight as well. There is a monetary prize for first, second, and third place for the trees with the most votes. The only way we can get votes is for people to go through the park and vote on our tree. The light display is amazing and runs through December so come out and vote for tree #17!

If you are in need of some spirit wear this year, BHS Pep Club will be sending home order forms tomorrow before the holiday. We must have all orders in by Friday, December 2nd in order to get the shirts made before Winter break. It would make a great gift or stocking stuffer for the Holidays! All proceeds go to Pep Club.

Kids Night Out will be held on Friday December 9th at BGS from 5-9. It will be a fun-filled night of activities and food for students K-6! Please have forms and money turned in by December 2nd to reserve a spot(s)!!

BHS Seniors had their final speaker to help round out their interview skills and techniques. Today's speaker was Megan Hillen, who touched on behavior assessment interview techniques, leadership interviews, and round table interview skills. Thank you so much to Mrs. Hillen and all of our community members who have helped inform our students about "real world" situations and prepare them for life outside of BHS. GREAT DAY TO BE A RAIDER!

When it's too cold outside, we bike virtually indoors. The Physics students are designing an experiment to test what variables will increase their power output on a bike. The girls got to use my bike shoes to experience what it's like being clipped into the pedals. They can choose what type of terrain they want to bike on through an app called Zwift.

Another great member of our community has stepped up and challenged our seniors in thier interview skills. Today's presentation was not so much focused on the what to wear, the types of questions, etc., but about the HOW. How do I tell about myself, how do I establish a good relationship with my interviewer, how do I exude confidence and nail the job. We are so thankful for Mrs. Rachel Benz and her very informative and exciting class session. Our students were very engaged and learned skills that they can take with them outside the walls of Brussels High School. Thank you, Mrs. Benz and great job BHS!

Our Brussels National Honor Society members have been very busy helping out in our community over the last month or so. Our most recent volunteer effort was working with the local Girl Scouts to put on a delicious dinner for our local veterans. Together they prepped some scrumptious pies, chicken, potatoes, and all the fixings. It was an honor to help provide a wonderful dinner to these heroes of our community. Great job BHS NHS!

Our community is really stepping up and helping our seniors prepare for life outside of high school. Today, we had a visit from Dr. Molly Caselton on preparing for an interview. She discussed the dos and don'ts of the interview process. The students were very attentive and enjoyed her presentation. Thank you so much for helping out our students, Dr. Caselton. Another great day at BHS!

Astronomy is learning about stellar evolution in class. They learned how to use a reflecting telescope and got to observe our star with the telescope today. Eventually, you won't need a telescope to look at it because it will become a red giant that will end up engulfing our planet. No worries, we have about 5 billion years to come up with a plan.

The English classes at BHS were tasked with writing a letter, essay, or poem about veterans. The top pieces were selected and presented at the Veteran’s Day Program on November 10th at Brussels CUSD #42. Congratulations to Mary Baalman, Morgan Klaas, Haylee Kress, and Corree Snyders for being selected to recite your pieces to all those in attendance. You all did a phenomenal job honoring our veterans and representing Brussels.

Brussels High School Civics Club did a wonderful job honoring our local veterans. Veterans were showered with homemade gifts from all schools and donuts and coffee to start the day off right. After refreshments, the veterans were honored with a ceremony from all our local schools. Ceremony included songs from our Brussels Grade School students and St. Mary's students, speeches from BHS, BJHS, and St. Mary's students, and a keynote address from Mrs. Pam Long. Thank you to all our veterans and their families. We are the home of the free BECAUSE of the brave.