The qualities that matter most have more to do with character:

perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control

Paul Tough, How Children Succeed

Hello there, students and parents!!

I am an Eastern Upper Peninsula native who loves, loves, loves! this area and its people. As a kid, I went to Turner-Howsen Elementary school in Rudyard and then to Brimley Middle School and High School. After graduating from Western Michigan University (GO BRONCOS!), I worked in Southeast Michigan as a university relations manager. I enjoy travel; some of my favorite places include San Diego CA, Portland ME, Antigua Guatemala and Galway Ireland. I've lived several different places within Michigan and visited many outside of the state, but I always hoped that my career would lead me back Up North...and it did!

As a coach, I REALLY enjoy spending time with the Brimley Lady Bays, working with our JV Volleyball and 6th grade basketball teams. Being active and a good teammate are two things that add a lot of value to our lives, and I hope that every young person can find a physical activity that they love. Things like hiking around outside, swimming in Lake Superior, and helping family work with their animals are just a few active ways that I feed my soul.

I am blessed to get to spend two short years with our middle schoolers at Brimley. That time of life is all about growth: academically, socially, and physically! I've learned that middle school students today deal with many of the same issues we dealt with, such as hormones and trying to find personal identity. But there are also some new challenges for them: a "selfie-centered" society, where we make life all about ourselves and less about others, and new academic pressures that never seem to let off.  

If I could change one thing for my students, it would be that they spend time every day away from their electronics and in front of people of different generations: little babies all the way up to great-grandparents. I would ask them to share their ideas and concerns of the world, but also to listen to the viewpoints and life stories of others. I would give them time for silence and reflection, to listen to only the breeze and stare at the starry night sky or billowing clouds of a sunny day. I'd ask them to dig in the dirt with their hands, to help a farmer clean a barn, to scrape snow and ice from the sidewalk.

One or two classes a day is not enough time to do it all. My hope is that as we pursue our academic studies throughout the year, we do so in a way that is respectful to ourselves and to others. The character qualities upon which we will focus are perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control. Students will be asked to persevere through problem-solving, not only in the classroom but also in their social settings. A level of curiosity, of wonder, of desire to acquire knowledge, will serve our students for a lifetime. Being conscientious, or understanding how our actions impact not only ourselves but others, is said to be one of the most essential qualities in the workforce. Having the "glass is half full" or optimistic attitude in life wards off depression; it is sometimes our hope for better circumstances that carries us through tough times in life. And all the while, we must be in control of ourselves: of our thoughts, of our actions and reactions, and of our life choices by embracing our responsibility to have self-control.