Brandywine Middle/High School -

MSHS students had a chance today to let their voices be heard!

There was a forum for students this afternoon with the Superintendent search firm where students were asked what qualities they want to see in Brandywine Community Schools' next leader. Their insights will help narrow down the position profile! Community members may also join in on the conversation at 5 p.m. tonight, before the Special Board Meeting at the Brandywine Middle/Senior High School Media Center.

The middle school and high school choirs performed for our elementary students today to give them a sneak peek into what it might look like to join the program!

Alro Steel recently made a generous donation to our Career and Technical Education program towards the new CTE Center. Thank you so much for helping us build a better facility to train the future workforce! We will be breaking ground on the new facility June 1 at 4 p.m.

We are incredibly honored to share that our fall production of Beetlejuice Jr. received a few Lake Michigan College Wave Award nominations! LMC sends an adjudicator to evaluate participating high school musical productions. They determine the nominations and host an awards ceremony similar in spirit to the Tony Awards.

Beetlejuice Jr. Nominations:
• Outstanding Lead in a Musical: Hailey Amster
• Featured "Special" Award: Sandworm- Peyton Quinton, Sydney McBrier, Makayla Keefer
• Outstanding Lighting Design: Garrett Stoneburner
• Outstanding Direction in a Musical: Daysha Amster

This is a true reflection of the entire cast, crew, and production team, congrats to everyone involved and to the nominees! More information about the Wave Awards and the participating schools can be found here: https://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/academics/performing-visual-arts/performing-arts/wave-awards

Members of the high school band and choir performed at the Walmart Grand Re-Opening today! Mrs. Livengood also accepted a donation from Walmart to Brandywine. Thank you Walmart, and congratulations on your grand opening!

Ms. Coleman's first grade class and the high school softball and baseball teams became buddies yet again this year! The high schoolers spent time reading to the first graders and playing catch with them each week.

The Brandywine Class of 2026 was awarded over $583,000 in scholarships! Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Girls Track Team on being named Regional Champions for the first time in school history! Way to go!

Today is the last day of school for the Class of 2026! Our seniors are out of here!

Congratulations to Karleigh Byrd and Ryder Richard on being named Athletes of the Year at the Senior Honors Program last night!

Congratulations to Gracie McNamara on receiving the Alpha Beta Award at last night's Senior Honors Program!

The Alpha Beta Award is given to the student who represents the characteristics of scholarship, service, leadership, and character that are held in highest esteem by the school community. They are the heart of Brandywine.

Take a look at this outstanding Surrealism style acrylic painting!
This piece was created by Brandywine High School Junior, Hannah Kubisiak! So cool!

Student Council went handmade last week for the MSHS teacher appreciation gifts! The council created handmade, personalized bags, and used a heat press to make fun coasters for each teacher's desk.

Mr. Knapp's class updated the showcase by the Principal's office at Brandywine Middle/Senior High School! They dreamed up a new design, created the letters for their design, and painted. It looks great!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

Our high school B-LEAD group held a student art contest during March is Reading Month to create book marks for Mental Health May. The winning bookmarks, created by Eloise Wallick and Michael Ropp, are now available to pick up at the MSHS media center, the Cass District Library Howard Branch, and the Niles District Library! Drop by and grab a book and a student-made bookmark!

Last week, the middle school Humanities class had a fun end to their unit on architecture!

Student teams were challenged to build the tallest “skyscraper” out of carefully stacked boxes and the strongest house of cards. Two teams tied with towers scaling 7 feet tall and one team now holds the all time record of a house of cards that could hold 11 Chromebooks on top.

Strive 4 A Safer Drive (S4SD) has been very busy presenting to Merritt and Brandywine Elementary schools about Vulnerable Road Users.

They also presented to the Niles Township Board at their meeting on Monday with the results of their 30-day traffic data collection. They've asked for their assistance in helping the Berrien County Road Commission fund a new crosswalk and two solar powered pedestrian signs for the entrance of Brandywine Elementary.

Brandywine band students have been busy doing some amazing things!

Taryn Swank, Melody Livengood, Hailey Amster, and Benjamin Miracle participated in Western Michigan University's Spring Conference Honors Band on Thursday, April 23. This is a very prestigious ensemble with fierce competition for admission. A special congratulations goes to Benjamin Miracle for earning the coveted position of Principal Oboist (first chair) in this ensemble.

This past Monday, the Student Council hosted an open workshop for all students interested in leadership. Participants rotated through stations to collaborate on school-wide solutions and brainstorm fresh initiatives.

This event kicked off campaigning for student council elections.

Last week, Brandywine's middle/high school's theater class performed "short" versions of "A Wrinkle in Time" and "Frankenstein." The students did a phenomenal job bringing the stories to life and showing the acting skills they've honed in class. Bravo!