The 2009-10 Annual Fund AppealBrookfield Academy's annual fund appeal was delivered a little differently this year. Instead of the traditional brochure, letter and pledge envelope being sent through the mail, we opted to try a more cost effective, twenty-first century approach. The annual fund appeal was sent to all current parents electronically. Three short videos on the BA web site illustrate the capital needs in all three divisions. Things like desks and tables, classroom renovations and improvements, books and playground equipment are all on the list. Annual fund gifts can be made quickly and securely online or more traditionally by printing a gift form and mailing a check. Please take a few minutes to look at the videos and learn more about what students will need next year when they move into their new buildings. Then, consider how you can help and make your gift to this year's Annual Fund!
Having demitted priesthood in favor of teaching, Mr. Drez was a man who possessed close to zero tolerance for the bitter cold of Wisconsin winters (which he had yet to actually experience at that time) and who suffered from an extremely severe case of dipterophobia that instantly transformed him into a totally non-functional human being by the mere presence of an ordinary house fly. No, the back door to the outside in the middle of the east wall close to the fly-infested woods was never left open “intentionally” by any of his students. Even so, on those (not so) rare occasions when an unsuspecting dipteran displayed the audacity to violate restricted airspace, it very quickly was perfunctorily obliterated by a lethal strike from a lightening swift swatter, wielded by the ever vigilant erstwhile cleric. Only after all unwelcome intruders had been eliminated could academic instructional activity be resumed in the Upper Form classroom of ABE. (In all fairness to Mr. Drez, at some point, I did come to understand the source of his peculiar dislike for nature’s two-winged pests - in the more tropical climate of New Orleans, flies were associated with disease and decay and were to be avoided and/or eliminated whenever possible.) 
Except for math (which he readily admitted he didn’t know) and French (which he did know and probably could have easily taught), Mr. Drez instructed all subjects in the Upper Form, including U.S. History, English, and of course, everyone’s favorite, Latin. Every day, we learned something new from Mr. Drez: how to diagram English sentences, how to conjugate Latin verbs and decline Latin nouns, as well as his thoughts on the reasons behind the “War of Northern Aggression,” as he called the American Civil War . 
My closest personal association with Mr. Drez occurred between my ages of 13 and 15 when I was a student in his classroom for two years before leaving in 1964 for high school elsewhere. (Brookfield Academy did not yet have an Upper School.) Mr. Drez continued teaching at ABE, then BA, for many years before retiring and returning to his beloved “Nawlins,” where he resided until his death several years ago. A memorial fund was established in his honor and memory and continues to provide scholarship support to worthy Brookfield Academy students.
Today, nearly five decades since my first encounter with Mr. Drez, I finally realize what an uncommon person he was. The longer I live, the more I appreciate what he did for me and for so many other Brookfield Academy students over the years. For my part, it may be too little too late, but “Here’s to you, Mr. Drez! You taught so many of us to appreciate, to aspire, and to accomplish. And for that, we will be eternally grateful.”
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