| Dr. Joel Uecker Head of School |
|
From Dr. Uecker's Desk
Greetings BCS community members!
As of the writing of this note, I have spent just a few days in the office preparing for my summer start as the new Head of School. Despite my very short time in Wisconsin and my need to learn so much about the school, the BCS community has still impacted my family and me very deeply. I would like to take this opportunity to express gratitude for two very significant aspects of BCS. In doing so, may we all be reminded of how God has provided for BCS over the years and for the rich gift that BCS is to our families.
First, I am compelled to honor the existing and prior leadership of Brookfield Christian School. A school is only as strong as its leadership and BCS has been blessed over the years by men and women of integrity who have faithfully pursued our mission to “prepare students to learn, to lead, and to serve faithfully in God’s world”. When visiting last fall, I met Milt Kuyers and Bob Wiers. Along with many others, both men were instrumental in being used by God to start and grow BCS. The vision for the school, birthed by our BCRC brothers and sisters, remains strong today because of the solid foundation laid and pursued by those who have gone before us.
I also want to thank the Board of Directors at BCS for their tireless effort to guard the school’s mission, assure sustainability into the future, and for their thoughtful and prayerful selection of me as BCS’s next Head of School. And finally, I must thank Kevin Vos. Great leaders end well and Mr. Vos spent many hours orienting and helping me. His desire is clearly for the best for the school and that is a great example for all of us.
Second, I am very grateful for the BCS community. Other than strong leadership and excellent teaching, a school is defined by the strength and quality of the community which shapes and forms the students who walk its halls. At BCS, “commitment to community” is a core value and we desire our graduates to be “community builders”. I have seen this value lived out firsthand in how the leadership, employees, and volunteer base at BCS have received my family and also in how the students are held at the center of the school community’s focus.
As BCS wraps up another school year and looks ahead to the next, we do so together in faith: “In faith we began, and in faith we go forward”. Next year’s theme verse is Isaiah 41:10:
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
We will embark upon a learning journey together to understand what it means that “He is with us”. One way to find confidence that God will be with us is to see how He has been with us in the past. God has demonstrated his faithfulness to BCS by providing Christ-centered leadership and community and we can trust that He will continue to do so into the future.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Dr. Joel Uecker Head of School
|
|
|
Congratulations, Class of 2024! |
| Twenty eight members of the Class of 2024 walked the stage at graduation on June 6, 2024, joining over 700 BCS (and MCS) alumni.
Mrs. Cara Hirschmann encouraged them to be brave, be brilliant, and be bold as they head off to high school and beyond. The class chose "Firm Foundation" by Cody Carnes as their class song.
They will be attending seven different area high schools, where they will continue to learn, to lead, and to serve faithfully in God's world. We can't wait to see where God leads each of these students as they go forward in faith. |
|
|
|
|
| Faith Brookfield East High School |
|
| Cole Brookfield East High School |
|
| Jackson Brookfield East High School |
|
| Caroline Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Claire Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Will Brookfield East High School |
|
| Sam Brookfield East High School |
|
| Megan Brookfield East High School |
|
| Madelyn Brookfield East High School |
|
| Dylan Brookfield East High School |
|
| Nathan Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Elle Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Addyson Lake Country Lutheran High School |
|
| Caden Lake Country Lutheran High School |
|
| Nolan Brookfield East High School |
|
| Samantha Lake Country Lutheran High School |
|
| Cecelia Mukwonago High School |
|
| Lukas Catholic Memorial High School |
|
| Taylor Brookfield East High School |
|
| Sophia Brookfield East High School |
|
| Wyatt Brookfield East High School |
|
| Adara Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Kellyn Brookfield Central High School |
|
| Aiden Brookfield East High School |
|
| Maya Brookfield East High School |
|
| Timothy Heritage Christian High School |
|
| Audrick Lake Country Lutheran High School |
|
| Tessa Lake Country Lutheran High School |
|
| Pictured L-R: 6th Grade: Lauren Heinkel, Luke Engbers; 7th Grade: Zoe Sawall, Luke Henderson; 8th Grade: Sami Hoff, Sam Engbers
|
|
2024 Timothy Awards
Congratulations to this year’s Timothy Award winners, recognized for demonstrating their Christian commitment, a responsible and positive attitude, and exhibiting a high degree of effort and participation while attending Brookfield Christian School. These students were nominated by their peers and selected by the middle school teaching team for exhibiting the qualities found in 1 Timothy 4:12.
"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." - 1 Timothy 4:12 |
|
|
BCS Auction 2024 What a memorable evening as we gathered together at the Harley Davidson Museum for the 2024 BCS Fellowship Dinner and Auction! This year we raised $207,256. The Fund-A-Need portion met and exceeded our goal at $86,950. We had a record number of attendees at the auction with 270!
- The most popular package was Reserved Premium Parking for the 2024-2025 School Year with 97 bids
- We sold 436 raffle tickets, raising $4,519
- 841 total silent auction bids were placed
- 129 people participated in Heads or Tails
We are looking forward to next year’s event on April 4, 2025 at the Brookfield Conference Center. Stay tuned for more details to come. Be sure to follow the Auction on Instagram and Facebook! |
|
|
Class of 2020 grads L-R: Audrey Vander Heide, Sarah Janke, Joselin Domino, Natalie Bremer, Madelin White |
James ('11), Heidi & Junia Jeninga |
|
2020’s
Brooks Bigler ('20) graduated from Pewaukee High School, and will be playing baseball and studying Statistics at Bryant & Stratton College this fall. Natalie Bremer ('20) graduated from Lake Country Lutheran. She plans to attend Loyola University in Chicago to study Psychology and Spanish.
Matthew Durgan ('20) graduated from Wauwatosa West High School. He will be studying Carpentry at Waukesha County Technical College. Joselin Domino ('20) graduated from Lake Country Lutheran and will be attending the University of Tampa to study Criminology and Criminal Justice. Josh Evans ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. He plans to take a gap year and pursue Real Estate.
John Goeckermann ('20) graduated from Brookfield Central. He will be attending Purdue University this fall. Carissa Hendon ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will be studying Elementary Education at Taylor University. Sara Janke ('20) graduated from Lake Country Lutheran, and will be studying Elementary Education and Spanish at Trinity Christian College.
Livi Oliver ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will be studying Spanish and Psychology at Marquette University. Luke Owens ('20) graduated from Brookfield Central, and will be studying at University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse in the fall. Brody Ratzlaff ('20) graduated from Brookfield Central. He will be attending Marquette University to study Marketing.
Ryan Rogosienski ('20) graduated from Abeka Academy and will be entering the workforce. |
|
|
Eli Sawall ('20) graduated from Brookfield East, and will be studying Chiropractic at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. Daniel Schuldt ('20) graduated from Wauwatosa West High School. He will be attending Emmaus Bible College. Paige Smolik (’20) graduated from Sussex Hamilton High School on June 7, 2024. She will be attending Winona State University in Winona, MN for Physical Therapy. Paige will play rugby for the WSU Women’s Rugby club, Black Katts.
Braden TeWinkel ('20) graduated from Brookfield East high School. He is headed to Grand Canyon University in the fall to study Business Finance. Audrey Vander Heide ('20) graduated from Grand Rapids Christian. She will be studying Psychology at Hope College. Hannah Vander Vliet graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will be studying Spanish and Nursing at Trinity Christian College.
Ty Veldhouse ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. He will attend Calvin University in the fall. Sophia Virojana ('20) graduated from Brookfield Central High School. She will be studying Art Therapy at Mount Mary. Sammy Vos ('20) graduated from Brookfield East. She will be studying Environmental Management & Protection at Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo.
Maggie Wanezek ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will be attending University of Wisconsin to study Psychology and continue her swimming career for the Badgers. Mali Ward ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will attend University of Wisconsin-Madison to study PreMed/Pediatrics this fall. Madelin White ('20) graduated from Brookfield East High School. She will be attending the University of Iowa in the fall.
2010’s
Heidi and James Jeninga ('11) welcomed their first child, Junia Nell, on November 15, 2023.
Evan Smolik (‘17) will be a senior at UWSP, continuing his degree in Musical Theatre. This past year he was awarded The Jim Hart Memorial Scholarship. This summer he will be traveling through the Midwest with The Traveling Lantern Children’s Theatre Co. as the Caterpillar Hunter in “The Quest for the Kakapo!” |
|
|
|
| Emery Bigler ('19) is currently attending UW-River Falls in the Honors College, studying Speech Communication Disorders. She has made Dean's List both semesters of her freshman year. Emery plays soccer for the Falcons.
Sarah Duff ('19) graduated with her Associates Degree in Marketing from WCTC. She will continue pursuing a Bachelors in Marketing at UW-Milwaukee this fall. 2000’s
Pierson and Jess (Vanderburgh) Pflieger ('01) welcomed Asa on March 19, 2024. He joins Hattie, Arden & Ellis. |
|
Retirements, Farewells & Anniversaries |
|
|
This year the following faculty members celebrated anniversaries - we are so thankful for their service to BCS:
- Ellen Kellogg: 5 years
- Kelli Durant: 10 years
- Tricia Snoeyink: 10 years
- Heidi TeWinkel: 10 Years
We said goodbye to several faculty and staff this year. We are grateful for the time and effort they have contributed to ensuring that BCS is a place where students can learn and grow in their faith and academics. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors:
- Kevin Vos, who served as our principal and administrator since 2013. He is returning to California to be closer to extended family and serve in a new school community.
- Lisa Wilcox has taught 3K at BCS for the past four years. She is looking forward to seeing what opportunities God provides.
- Alli Wassink, who has taught kindergarten for us for two years, is returning to Michigan so she can be closer to family.
- Lee Sytsma has taught middle school history and Bible for four years. He and his family are moving to Michigan to be closer to extended family.
- Suzanne Smith, who has been the middle school math and science teacher since 2015, is retiring from education.
- Jan Riofrio, who has taught Spanish at the 5th and middle school levels the past two years and in an interim role a couple of times previously, is retiring and moving to Florida to be closer to family.
- Jill Baker served at BCS for 20 years in her roles as an office administrator and marketing and enrollment coordinator. She is retiring from education as well.
- We also thank Laura Bakker (3K aide), Marsha Love (PreK+ aide), and Sandra Pak (K aide) for their work with our students.
To learn more about all of our awesome teachers and staff, visit our website. |
|
| We had such a great time celebrating our 60th Anniversary this past year! in the fall, we hosted our Alumni & Friends 3-on-3 Basketball Tourney.
In May, over 250 runners joined us for our 5K Fun Run & Food Truck event. We were blessed with amazing weather, and lots of fun, food and fellowship!
Later that evening we and we had a very special anniversary celebration. We worshipped together with a group of musicians featuring alumni, staff and friends of BCS, and enjoyed a panel discussion featuring four generations of the DeVries/Zydowicz/Huenink family.
We're grateful to everyone who joined us for our basketball tournament, fun run, open house and any events during the school year. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for our next 60 years! |
|
|
Where Do You Wear Your Spiritwear? Show us your BCS (or MCS?) spiritwear! Send your photos to admissions@brookfieldchristian.org and we'll post them on our social media accounts. At the end of the summer we'll draw a prize winner for a gift card and BCS swag! |
|
|
|
|
Save the Date First Day of School (Grades 1-8) - August 27, 2024 Meet & Greet (Grades 3K, 4K, K) - August 27, 2024 24rd Annual Golf Outing - September 14, 2024 Grandparents Day - October 4, 2024 Apple Pie Day - October 25, 2024
Find the full BCS Calendar of Events of our website. |
|
|
|
|
