Students recognized at Mountain Brook Board of Education meeting

Numerous students, teams and faculty members from Mountain Brook Schools were recognized for their achievements during the Mountain Brook Board of Education meeting held April 11.

MBJH SCHOLARS’ BOWL

The Mountain Brook Junior High School Scholars’ Bowl team was recognized for their strong performance at the Alabama Scholastic Competition Association Middle School State Tournament.

Team members Bryson Dobbins, James Puckett and Jack Roesle took third place honors at the tournament, which was held at Hoover High School in February.

Twenty-four teams competed, and eight teams advanced to the play-off rounds.

In the first five rounds of general play, the young Spartan scholars went undefeated, beating East Lawrence, Sacred Heart, Rainbow, Berry and the Arab middle school scholars’ bowl teams.

In the final three play-off rounds, The Spartan squad defeated Monrovia Middle and Baldwin Arts and Academic Magnet School but lost to second-place Discovery Middle on the final toss-up.

The MBJH team received a trophy and a cash prize.

Roesle, a seventh grader, earned third place on the All-Tournament Team. He averaged 88 points per round, excluding playoff rounds.

The team had a stellar year, also taking second-place honors at the Middle School Alabama Scholars Bowl in Montgomery.

Scholars’ bowl is a game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge, including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, popular culture, sports, and more.

The team is coached by MBJH Latin teacher, Michael Posey.

A Gadsden native, Posey earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College in Romance Languages and an M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Middlebury College.

During his career, Posey has received four grants from the National Endowment of the Humanities.

He was also selected recently to take part in the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

MBJH DEBATE TEAM

The MBJH Debate team was recognized alongside the team’s coach, Liz Wood-Weas.

The team had numerous students place at the top of competition both locally and at the state level throughout the 2021-22 season.

In addition, Wood-Weas was named the State Debate Coach of the Year. She serves as the director of speech and debate for Mountain Brook Schools.

Throughout her career, her students have qualified for the elite Tournament of Champion debate competition at the University of Kentucky and also represent the state of Alabama each year as qualifiers at the national tournament, according to the MBS website.

Wood-Weas and her team also travel extensively to compete in top tournaments, including competitions at Harvard University and Stanford University.

This teacher received another personal honor in April 2021, according to a news release from MBS.

She was elected as a Key Coach by the Barkley Forum of the Gold Key Society of Emory University for her contributions as a teacher, coach and judge.

THE DORIANS

The Dorians dance team was recognized for their top five finish at the 2022 UDA (Universal Dance Association) National Dance Team Championship held in Orlando, Florida in February.

At the event in Orlando, the team finished with their best-ever fifth-place finish at the nationals in the Large Varsity Kick Division.

The Dorians were also recognized for their strong performances in two other regional competitions in January.

At the UDA Magic City Dance Challenge held at Thompson High School in Alabaster, the Dorians finished in first place in the Varsity Kick and in third place in Varsity Game Day.

At the Dance Team Union's Regional Dance Championship held at Spain Park High School in Hoover, the team finished in first place in Varsity Kick and first place in Varsity Spirit Showdown. They also won a specialty award for outstanding artistry in the kick and were named grand champions for presenting the outstanding routine of the day.

In addition to doing well in competitions, The Dorians also saw four of their team members dance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City in November.

Mountain Brook seniors Catherine Guilsher, Emily Moore, Addison Wint and Sarah Simon were selected to participate by Spirit of America, the organization that provides cheerleaders and dancers to Macy’s for the parade. Spirit of America selects around 800 high school dancers each year from across the country to take part.

“We saw the program and all the activities and decided it was something we really wanted to do,” Wint said in a Mountain Brook Schools news release.

Wint, Guilsher, Moore and Simon served as co-captains of the Dorians in the 2021-22 school year.

Jane Thornton serves as the team’s head coach, and Heather Fitch is in her 17th year as faculty sponsor.

The Dorians also helped Minor High School’s dance team financially with expenses connected to their upcoming national dance team championship appearance in Orlando in February.

The two teams met and became close at a dance camp in Georgia last June and reconnected at a event in Pell City in October.

Mountain Brook parents heard while in Pell City that Minor’s team had plans to go to nationals in February and decided to raise money for the team in support.

Fitch then presented Wykeria Clark, Minor’s dance team coach, with a $1,700 check to ease costs for Minor’s championship trip.

JANE GREY BATTLE

Mountain Brook High School senior Jane Grey Battle was recognized for being named a 2022 Coca-Cola Scholar. She is the only student from the state of Alabama and 1 of 150 nationwide to receive this recognition that comes with a $20,000 scholarship.

The MBHS staff is “excited and proud” of Battle for being selected as a Coca-Cola Scholar, said Principal Philip Holley in an MBS news release.

“She exemplifies everything that this honor represents – leadership, service, and academics,” Holley said. “Jane Grey is an outstanding student who has had a tremendous impact on Mountain Brook High School during her time here and she represents everything that we believe in.”

One of over 68,000 applicants, Battle was selected as part of a three-stage selection process.

MBHS WRESTLING

The Mountain Brook High School varsity wrestling team accumulated 58 points at the state tournament in February. Gray Ortis, Woody Fipps, William Courtenay and Stuart Andrews all placed and had a spot on the podium. 10 Spartans represented the program at the state tournament. The team posted a 25-2 record during the season