Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Preview the new BRPS Website here

BRPS is excited to unveil a new look to our district website. Our goal is to keep parents, students, staff, community members, and prospective families up to date on all information related to Big Rapids Public Schools. Click the link below for a preview of our new site.

BRMS Student Council will Host Blood Drive!

The Big Rapids Middle School Student Council is hosting a Blood Drive

Friday, February 24th
11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Cardinal Hall

Every person who donates saves three lives.
You must be 16 years or older to donate.

To register:

RedCrossBlood.org

The Student Council is accepting donations of individually wrapped lifesavers and store bought cookies. You can drop those off in the office anytime before February 24th!

Monday, February 13, 2017

BRMS starts First Lego League!

The Big Rapids Middle School has started a 5th and 6th Grade Robotics Club! The First Lego League has met for the first time last Friday, February 10th. Kits were unpacked and pieces were counted in preparation for building during the next meeting. These two robotics teams were started through the efforts of Shannon Kelley. She found sponsors to cover the initial startup costs for each 5th and 6th grade team and filled out all the applications necessary to enter.. Rob Doering and Darin Hooker are the mentors who will work with the student led teams.









Monday, February 6, 2017

Big Rapids Middle School Presents: The Jungle Book

The Big Rapids Middle School will be jumpin' with a jazzy beat in Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS. Specially adapted from the classic Disney animated film, Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS features a host of colorful characters and your favorite songs from the movie.

Where: BRHS Auditorium
When: February 17th at 7 pm
February 18th at 2 pm.

Tickets: $2.00 - Students
$4.00 - Adults

Banished by the ferocious tiger, Shere Khan, a human boy named Mowgli and his panther friend, Bagheera, are on the run in the deepest parts of the jungle. On their journey, the two meet a sinister snake named Kaa, a herd of elephants and a giant bear named Baloo, who teaches them the swingin' musical rhythms of the jungle. After surviving a dangerous encounter with a band of monkeys led by King Louie, Mowgli and Bagheera are forced to run for their lives. When Shere Khan returns, our heroes must rally their fellow animals into battle and restore peace throughout the jungle.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Holocaust Survivor, Martin Lowenberg speaks to BRHS History students!

On February 1st, BRHS U.S. History students were able to learn more about history than just what their textbooks tell them. Martin Lowenberg, a Holocaust survivor, came to the high school to share his personal experience. Mr. Lowenberg was born in Germany in 1928, just five years before Hitler rose to power. He experienced prejudice in his childhood community, and was eventually forced to live in both ghettos and a handful of concentration camps before being liberated at the age of 17. Martin moved to the United States—or as he called it, “this wonderful country”—about a year later, and eventually settled in the Detroit area. He still lives there today, and has been a Holocaust educator for almost 30 years, traveling throughout Michigan to school, universities, community events, and speaking almost weekly at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills. As this was such a unique and rare learning experience for our students, we are very appreciative of Martin taking the time to come tell his story!









Wednesday, February 1, 2017

BRMS Participates in National Geography Bee

On Thursday evening, February 2nd the Big Rapids Middle School held the National Geography Bee. On Thursday night, the top 3 finishers from each grade competed against each other in a final event. The winner of this event was Nathan Lebel. The runner - up was Clay Oosterhouse, and coming in third was Alek Lipar . Nathan will go on to represent BRMS in a state qualifying test. If he places high enough, he'll attend the State Championship event Western Michigan University.








Top Finisher from each grade: 

5th Grade: 
Vinny Hayes Gabe Walczewski Tyler Saxton 

6th Grade: 
Alex Lipar Nathan Lebel Brook Fuller 

7th Grade: 
Varun Piram Jacob McLeod Clay Oosterhouse 

8th Grade
Mary Hobart Gavin Sanford Carter Councilor





Tuesday, January 31, 2017

BRHS ELA Team wins CSAA District Championship!

After competing in three writing events, the English Language Arts team from BRHS emerged as the CSAA champion for the 2016-2017 school year. Teams from eight schools met at BRHS to compete in events related to writing descriptive essays, editorials, and poetry.

“We had well-balanced scores in all three categories,” Coach Karol Hartley said. In October, students Susanna Kailing, Brook Mathewson, Joanne Lechille and Ellie Steffens garnered first place overall in the descriptive essay category for their piece entitled “The Long Awaited Storm.” It was written in response to a five word prompt: “A Bum on a Bench.”

In November, BRHS placed first and second in the editorial competition regarding patriotism. In first place for the editorial writing was an essay entitled “From Civil Disobedience to Patriotic Disobedience,” written by Kiara Cushway, Arya Rao, and Jacob Bleeker. The second-place essay, “Hope and Change,” was written by Tayo Fadayomi, Ryan Cosper, and Jacob Bleeker. Both essays were written in response to an article discussing recent reactions to the National Anthem.

In December, Junior Arya Rao’s poem entitled “To the Girl” took second place overall, and with Mollie Weber’s strong poem “They Made Music Anyway,” Big Rapids was able to hold first place. It is the third time in four years the BRHS team has won the CSAA ELA competition.

Coaches recently met to determine which writers from all 8 schools will receive all-conference medals and which will receive honorable mention.

Competing on the 2016-2017 team were returning members Jacob Bleeker, Tia Benson, Kiara Cushway, Renee Ding, Arya Rao, and Emily Weirts. First-year members included Ciara Brown, Ryan Cosper, Ibitayo Fadayomi, Julie Farrier, Zach Good, Susanna Kailing, Joanne Lechille, Brook Mathewson, Katie Myers, Amanda Selles, Ellie Steffens, Joey Vajda, Zylie Vitello, Mollie Weber, and Ethan Westerkamp.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

BRHS/BRMS Students perform at Devos Hall in Grand Rapids!

Congratulations to Jacob Bleeker, Allyson Johnson, Joseph Vajda and Mollie Weber on a great performance at the MSBOA All-State Band performance on January 21st in DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids.


This performance was in conjunction with the Michigan Music Conference. They were selected from over 2,500 applicants from across the state for 4 performing ensembles. This is Allyson and Joseph's second appearance and Mollie's third.  




In addition, Jacob and Mollie performed a duet with the 8th Grade Band as part of their Michigan Music Conference performance on Friday, January 20th.  Both did exceptionally well and demonstrated technical mastery.  Congratulations to the bands on another fine performance at the Michigan Music Conference!



Monday, January 16, 2017

BRMS 8th Grade Band will Perform at MMC Concert!

BRMS 8th Grade Band will Perform at MMC Concert!

For the first time in BRPS history, Big Rapids Middle School is represented at the Michigan Music Conference when the 8th Grade band performs at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids on Friday, January 20th, 2017 at 8:00 a.m.  As you know, being invited to perform at the state's largest music conference is an incredible honor to our band and our district, and our 8th grade band is one of only two from middle schools to have been selected.  It is customary for performing groups to have featured soloists.  The soloists selected for this experience are none other than two of our seniors: Jacob Bleeker (clarinet) and Mollie Weber (euphonium). 

Important... Tonight's Preview concert has been postponed and will be held on Wednesday, January 18th at 7 p.m. in the High School Auditorium. 




Wednesday, January 4, 2017

National Honor Society hosts Red Cross Blood Drive!

National Honor Society is sponsoring a Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, January 10th from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm. If you are 16 or older, you may sign up for a time to donate in the office. You will need a consent form signed by your parent/guardian if you under 18.




Make sure to eat a good breakfast and drink plenty of water on the day of the drive. You will also need to bring a picture ID with your birth date in order to donate blood. See Mrs. Cousineau for more details. 

Community members who wish to donate are welcome, but need to sign in at the office.