Spring Sports Highlights

Boys Track Takes Three Conference Crowns

The Brookfield Academy boys track team recorded three first-place finishes at the Midwest Classic meet on Tuesday, May 17, at BA's Fields of Freedom.

• Senior Fred Willis - 100 meter dash (10.54)
• Junior Ethan Jaynes - 200 meter dash (22.65)
• 800 Meter Relay Team -Willis, Jaynes, senior Alex Vipond and freshman Ryan Send (1:32.99)

Girls Track Wins Two Relay Conference Championships

• 800 Meter Relay Team - Sophomore Mary Liz Kim, Senior Catherine Courchaine, Junior Bailey Vipond, and Freshman Mackenzie Bonk (1:50.28)
• The same four sprinters won the 400 Meter Relay (52.65)

Girls Soccer Team Conference Champs

BA is now 16-3-2 and 10-0 in conference play. The Blue Knights are ranked fifth in the state in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll.

• Ally Anderson named Defensive Player of the Year
• Eimile Pesch named Offensive Player of the Year
• Liz Collins unanimous First Team
• Ana Bayerlein First Team
• Kristen Collins First Team

Baseball Takes Second in MCC Standings

The Blue Knights concluded conference play with an 11-3 record, finishing second in the Midwest Classic Conference. BA will host a first-round WIAA playoff game on Friday, May 27 at 4:30 p.m. against Waterloo.

• Junior Jake Kolasinksi named Player of the Year

Boys Tennis Takes Second in Conference

• Junior Justin Saeian placed first at no. 4 singles and earned first-team all-conference

Golfers Continue Good Play

As the weather improves, so does the Brookfield Academy Golf Team. BA place fourth in the MCC Championship at Hartford Country Club on May 18, shooting its lowest 18-hole total of the season, a 347.   The team also placed second in the regionals and will now travel to sectional play.

• Freshman Daniel Romero was first-team all conference and Player of the Year for the MCC.
• Freshman Liam McCarty Conference Champ

I Am Free!

"Liberty" is more than the name of a campus building for Elfie and Ned Gallun, long-time supporters of Brookfield Academy. It is a tangible concept that makes even the air smell sweetly different.

As a teenager in 1951, Elfie Gallun made an incredible and courageous journey from communist East Germany to the free West. To this day, she and her husband, Ned, do not take personal or political liberty for granted.

Ned and Elfie have embraced Brookfield Academy for its philosophical focus on the precious, priceless, and perishable nature of freedom. Their son, Martin, graduated from BA in 1988, and Ned served on the Board of Directors from 1986-1988. Over the years, the Galluns have continued to generously support the school. To recognize their exceptional commitment to the ideals of Brookfield Academy, an informative display honoring Elfie Gallun's escape to freedom has been installed in the Liberty Hall foyer.

This educational exhibit uses pictures and narrative to tell the story of Elfie's remarkable journey during World War II and the years following from Danzig, Poland to the United States of America, where she was awestruck by her first sight of the Statue of Liberty.

Read Elfie Gallun's full story in the upcoming issue of Knights Notes.

A Dream Come True

If you think watching the ball drop in Times Square is the best way to start the new year, you should have been at Brookfield Academy on Monday, Jan. 4 when everyone was having a ball celebrating the opening of the new Upper School, Patriots Hall.

Upper School students - genuinely excited to return from a two-week vacation - met in Freedom Hall for a final assembly.

Then they took a brisk, ceremonial walk to their new home in Patriots Hall, passing between throngs of Lower and Middle School students waving American flags and cheering them on.

Upon entering Patriots Hall, students experienced their first assembly in the new field house.

Bob Solsrud, Head of School, welcomed them by sharing some impressive facts about the amazing new Upper School facility:

* At 110,000 square feet, Patriots Hall is double the size of Freedom Hall
* More than 1,000 donors contributed to the capital campaign that funded the construction
* The campaign raised $12.5 million, plus another $2.5 million in estate gifts
* More than 250 volunteers gave of their time and effort to serve on committees and to solicit gifts

Most importantly, Dr. Solsrud told the students, Patriots Hall symbolizes the goodness and determination of the human spirit, accomplishing this worthwhile endeavor for others regardless of the sacrifices involved. What is clearly evident, more than a beautiful building, is the enthusiastic and committed philanthropic spirit that made this dream a reality.

What a glorious way to begin 2010.

Happy New Year!

You can find more photos from this historic event on Brookfield Academy's Flickr account.

Get a Hole-in-100 and Win!

Brookfield Academy, and the Davis-Law Memorial Golf Outing, are pleased to introduce the first ever Hole-in-100 Raffle! Win a one-week stay at the five diamond luxury Greenbrier Resort in Sulphur Springs, WV. One lucky winner will enjoy spectacular mountain views from a beautiful 2,600 square-foot Greenbrier Cottage with four bedrooms that sleep eight. The three 18-hole championship golf courses are more than enough reason to lure golf aficionados to White Sulphur Springs. Only 100 tickets will be sold so your odds of winning are 1 in 100 or better! Ticket price is $100 each and you can buy more than one ticket.

The drawing will be held at 7:00 pm on Monday, August 24 at the Davis-Law Memorial Outing, Chenequa Country Club, Hartland, WI. Need not be present to win. For more information and to purchase your Hole-in-100 Raffle tickets, visit the Davis-Law Golf website and click on Hole-in-100 Raffle. Good luck!

Blair Witch BA Style

Not long ago, some BA students went searching for library books. What started out as an innocent search for books turned into a night they will never forget. While the whereabouts of the kids remains a mystery, the following video was recently discovered at the exact location of the new Patriots Hall library....





When Patriots Hall construction is finished and building transitions take place, there will be four libraries on campus that will need to be filled with plenty of age-appropriate books, resource materials, furniture and storage systems. This was the need presented during the "Raise the Paddle" portion of the Live Auction at last weekend's Dinner Auction. A group of Upper School students made this short video to help convince donors to raise their paddles high It certainly did scare the donors into action as they contributed over $85,000 to the libraries! And, happily, a search party found the students in the Beyer Construction trailer, going over building blueprints with Patriots Hall Project Manager Leonard.

Project Manager Leonard

Auction Action

With the Patriots Hall building project generating genuine excitement, the BA community again demonstrated its generosity by making the 2009 Dinner Auction an unbelievably successful night. The 250 attendees enjoyed a terrific evening of fun and camaraderie while never losing sight of the fact that the evening was designed to generate support for the campus-wide needs that Patriots Hall will create. Held for the first time at the Pfister Hotel, this year's theme, "Under Construction," truly captured the buzz that is surrounding Brookfield Academy.
Some of the highlights of the evening included an appearance by one of the world famous Milwaukee Brewer racing sausages, the unveiling of two videos: the student-produced Patriots Hall Library project video and Peter Eggert’s always excellent “Thanks, Mom and Dad!” video, not to mention an astounding $87,000 in "Raise the Paddle" for BA libraries.

The night culminated with a dance where guests truly showed that they are better bidders than they are dancers. There is no truth to the rumor that BA is going to replace the auction with a "Dancing with the Stars-type" event. Some of the revelers took "cutting a rug" a bit too literally. Fortunately there were no broken bones and all made it home safe.

When people ask how Brookfield Academy can continue to put together such an extraordinary auction, the answer is quite simple. The role played by our volunteers in organizing and executing this event is unequivocally the most important reason for its success. Led by co-chairs Amy Strong and Judi Balistreri, the volunteers are responsible for every facet of the event and they leave no stone unturned. Blogger joins with the rest of the BA community in thanking the co-chairs and the volunteer staff for their selfless effort. Not surprising, Blogger has heard that the volunteers are already busy planning the 2010 Dinner Auction, but strongly suggests they take a well-earned few days of vacation.

Blogger also thanks the many student volunteers who provide essential assistance to the auction.

Blogger and the students thank all who attended Under Construction for their enthusiastic support of Brookfield Academy. As Dr. Solsrud said in his opening remarks, "It doesn't get much better than this...."