Our Illinois State Scholars for this year's senior class have been announced! This year, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School had 49 students recognized as Illinois State Scholars. This prestigious honor places these students in the top ten percent of high school seniors across the state. The selection of Illinois State Scholars is based on a combination of SAT scores and sixth-semester class rank. This recognition serves as a testament to the hard work and commitment of these students!

In celebration of their outstanding achievement, we hosted a special recognition ceremony at the home basketball game on January 10th to honor these Illinois State Scholars. Their success is a reflection of the strong partnership between our dedicated educators, supportive families, and the hard work of each student!

The Boiler Creations student employees were back creating more holiday cards for Valentine's Day! They were selling handmade Valentine's Day cards that could be purchased for your loved ones. Please keep Boiler Creations in mind the next time you want to buy holiday cards!

Students and teachers of different elective courses held an Electives Fair to help inform students about specific electives they found enjoyable and beneficial to their educational experience. This was a great opportunity for students to talk to fellow schoolmates about elective courses that could help them in their decision-making process for their schedules next school year!

Our Counseling Department also gave presentations about course selection for students. These presentations focused on teaching our students how to use SchooLinks to select courses, how to use the Course Description Guide, and how to follow a flow chart for course of study. This will prepare our students for great success in their classes in the future!

BBCHS celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 20th. His commitment and dedication to the equality of all people was at the forefront of our celebration. His legacy has continued to inspire us to create a world of equality, kindness, and peace. We strive to make a positive difference in our communities every day.

Mrs. Katzmann's Astronomy class traveled to the Adler Planetarium before winter break for a field trip! Her students were able to learn a lot and spend a great day together.

Congratulations to our boys football team for finishing with an overall Team GPA of a 3.2 out of a 4.0 scale! They have displayed the true work of student-athletes. Great job, boys!

BBCHS has just recently expanded our Outdoor Education curriculum in our Physical Education department with an option for students to enroll in Outdoor Education 2! Students are able to partake in activities such as paddle boarding and snorkeling with the Outdoor Education 2 course.

Six of our BBCHS students who attend Kankakee Area Career Center were named the Students of the Quarter! Take a look at the list below:

Patrick McGinnis - Auto Technology

Deshawn Trass - C.N.A.

Shaniya Mangram - Cosmetology

Sofia Ramirez - Law Enforcement

Laziah Lott - Medical Terminology

Jacob Heinstra - Welding Technology

We are incredibly proud of the hard work, dedication, and achievements of our Students of the Quarter!

On Wednesday of this week, we hosted a Continuous Improvement Symposium, where administrators from all over the state (about 10 different districts) came to network and learn about the amazing aspects that make BBCHS a great place to work and learn. Our administrators gave presentations discussing AP Honor Roll, Equity Work, ACT/Academic Approach, and many more aspects that BBCHS applies in day-to-day operations.

We also had the pleasure of hearing from Freeport's Susan Fumo, Rockford Jefferson's Don Rundall, and District 230's Anita Huffman all discussing practices that can help schools across Illinois. It was a great day to connect with fellow Illinois administrators to help us grow as a school, and it gave us an opportunity to provide some insight into our best practices for other schools to use in the future.

As Black History is beginning tomorrow, our Black Student Union is very excited to bring some amazing events to BBCHS to celebrate and educate! They are bringing back their Door Decorating Contest for classroom doors this year with a chance to win a prize for being awarded 1st-3rd place! BSU will be hosting more activities to celebrate black history throughout the month - stay tuned!

Each sport coach gets to select a few athletes who are invited to the What Drives Winning Boiler Block enrichments. The purpose of What Drives Winning is to strengthen the mindset of our athletes to deal with adversity, work with teammates, be coachable, and countless other lessons.

Coach Kohl and Coach Akerman just recently discussed competitiveness. The students in this particular session had hard conversations about finding the strength to cheer for their teammate and wanting them to do well even if that teammate is playing ahead of them. The main takeaway is ultimately wanting the best for your team and the program as a whole and staying positive throughout the process. The athletes were asked to write about a time where they helped a teammate improve.

Before they left the session, the athletes were then asked another question, "What does success look like to finish your season?" Their answers did not mention wins or championships, but aspects about their sport that they can control - being a good teammate, coming together as a collective group, giving 100% at every practice, etc. These athletes are beginning to understand the bigger picture of success and athletics through the What Drives Winning program.

Congratulations to the following BBCHS art students who were selected by our community to receive merit awards for their artwork in the Holiday Art Show!

Ceramic/3D Art

Mikylah Birk - Medulla "Ghetto Medusa"

Sophia DeCarlo - Fluff

Claire King - Spike

Digital Art

Tristan McCabe - Blooming Fake and Real

Everett Schierholz - Josie

Kylee Stone - Dreamin' on a Sunny Day

Studio Art

Avery Belluso - Timeless Elegance

Sophia DeCarlo - Colors Within

Alice Grizzle - Above and Beneath

A special thank you to the BBCHS Academic Foundation for funding the reception and art awards!

Our JV Boys Wrestling team traveled to the Wolford Classic Invite on January 3rd and placed 4th among 12 teams!

Our Varsity team placed 3rd out of 20 teams at the Sullivan Slam on Saturday, January 11th. Cullen Parks was the Champion of his weight class!

The JV traveled to yet another meet at Morris to compete in a varsity-level meet and went 2-2. Great job boys!

Congratulations to our Varsity Dance team on earning 3rd place at the Lake Villa competition! Keep up the great work. We are proud of you!

Our Unified Basketball teams' seasons are underway as they are traveling to compete against other schools! They seek to improve every day and learn a lot from their coaches and teammates.

Our Chess Team has competed against Lincoln-Way East, Stagg, and Carl Sandburg this month. They are a young team who is seeking to improve every meet.

The team will compete in the State playoff series looking to qualify for the State Tournament in their sectional qualifier. The IHSA State Chess Tournament is the largest in the world. Our players have their eyes set on earning the experience to compete at State. We are excited to see the future that is in store for you! Keep working hard!

Our BBCHS Girls Basketball team has entered into the second half of conference match-ups. Their next game is on February 4th at home against Carl Sandburg High School. We wish them the best of luck as they finish out their season strong!

Our Boys Swim and Dive team traveled to Champaign on the second weekend of January to compete in the Champaign Charger Invitational. The team earned 7th overall out of 14 schools!

Zach Morrey, Asher Crawford, Eli Swafford, and Max LaMore placed 5th in the 200 medley relay.

Eli Swafford placed 4th in the 200IM and 2nd in his 100 backstroke.

All of these boys were able to receive medals for their outstanding performances! Many of the boys on the team saw individual improvement and dropped lots of time in their events as well.

Congratulations to our Boys Swim and Dive team and to Coach Megan Sansone!

Our boys basketball team has had a great season so far, as they are sitting at a 14-7 overall record. This month, the boys had big victories over Richards, Andrew (twice), Lincoln-Way West, and Stagg.

They have a home game tonight (1/31) against Lincoln-Way Central. The BBCHS Steppas will also be performing at halftime for the first time! Come and cheer them on!

A HUGE congratulations are in store for the BB Varsity Dance Team for finishing in 2nd place in their Conference competition at Lincoln-Way West! Our team competed against incredible talent within the conference, such as:

• Lincoln-Way East
• Lincoln-Way Central
• Lincoln-Way West
• Homewood-Flossmoor
• Andrew
• Carl Sandburg
• Lockport
• Stagg

We are so proud of you!

Our Bettering Boilers hosted a fundraiser at our boys basketball game on Friday night, January 17th! Fans were able to either purchase $1 construction paper or $2 cardstock paper to create a paper airplane or a paper ball to throw at halftime. If their ball or airplane landed in 1 of the 3 baskets on the court, they won a gift basket! All proceeds went towards stocking the food pantry.

Congratulations to our BB Boys Bowling team on great performances at their IHSA Regional at Minooka, which qualified them for a Sectional appearance! They competed in the Alton (Marquette) Sectional on January 25th.

FTC Robotics hosted their 3rd meet at BBCHS on January 18th! This is the first time that our robotics team has hosted more than once in a season. The team competed extremely well by moving up to 2nd place for their entire league of 27 teams and secured the high score for the season in their league also!

The team is continuing to prepare for their League Championship, which will be on February 1st, by perfecting their presentation for judges, preparing for the interviews, and practicing gameplay. The League Championship can earn the team awards that can secure them a spot for State! Good luck, team!

Congratulations to our Boys Swim and Dive team on outstanding performances at the Oak Lawn Invite on Saturday, January 18th! The team placed 2nd overall and came home with a plaque!

Their 200 Medley Relay placed 1st overall, which included Eli Swafford, Charlie Quigley, Zach Morrey, and Max LaMore.

Eli Swafford placed 2nd in the 200IM.

Zach Morrey placed 2nd in the 50 freestyle.
Their 200 freestyle relay placed 1st, which included Zach Morrey, Max LaMore, Charlie Quigley, and Eli Swafford.

Jett Baker placed 2nd in the 100 backstroke.

Asher Crawford placed 2nd in the 100 breaststroke.

Amazing job, boys! We are so proud of you all!

Our Boys Wrestling team traveled to Reed Custer on January 18th. They had three wrestlers who did particularly well. Sophomore Zach Hoffner earned 1st place, sophomore Kayden Roach earned 2nd place, and junior Brayden O'Connor earned 6th place all out of 26 teams! Great job!

They hosted their Senior Night on January 22nd vs. Herscher, who they defeated 45-26. Seniors Mark Argyelan and Cam Borneman both got pins. Mark moved up weight classes from 215 to 285 to allow his teammate, Cam, to wrestle a match in his usual class. We are very proud of your performances and your display of being a great teammate! Good job!

The BBCHS Girls Bowling team has had a busy January! On January 11th, both Varsity and JV competed in the Plainfield South Cougar Invite. Varsity player, Brianna Dyer-Riegle placed 16 out of 20 for top 6-game series. Last Friday, the girls competed in the SWSC Conference. Brianna had another fantastic 6-game series and placed 6th! Tonight, the team will be honoring their senior players at their home match against Chicago Christian! Good luck, girls!

On January 23rd, two of our feeder schools, Bradley Central and Bourbonnais Upper-Grade Center (BUGC) visited BBCHS to sing and have discussions with our high school choir! They were able to collaborate and share their passion with each other while learning all about musical choir at BBCHS.

BBCHS has been named a 2024 Special Olympics Unified Champion School. This honor reflects our commitment to inclusion and our success in meeting 10 national standards of excellence. The primary activities within these standards include Special Olympics Unified Sports, Inclusive Youth Leadership, and Whole-School Engagement. By receiving this award, we have been recognized by the Special Olympics that we foster an inclusive and accepting environment. Only 21 schools have received this award in Illinois. This places BBCHS in the top 5% around the state of Illinois. We celebrated together at an all-school assembly on the 24th! What a great honor!

The Boys Swim team traveled to compete at Evergreen Park and placed 3rd overall!

Eli Swafford, Asher Crawford, Charlie Quigley, and Max LaMore placed 2nd in the 200 medley relay.

Charlie Quigley, Max LaMore, Jett Baker, and Eli Swafford placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle relay.

Although these boys had to step into new roles for this meet, they showed the meaning of being a cohesive team, working together, and overcoming adversity. We are proud of you!

Congratulations to our Varsity Dance Team on making history and earning 1st place at their sectional competition making them the Sectional Champions!! They compete today in Bloomington at the IHSA State Finals! Wish them the best of luck!

The Boiler Brigade eSports team had their first competition of the season at Evergreen Park. They had the best performance they have ever had in an invitational!

Freshman Gunner Tholen got 12th place in Smash Solos out of 26 people.

In Madden, they placed 5th and 6th out of 11 players.

They finished 3rd in Rocket League out of 7 teams.

Way to start strong! Great job!

On January 28th, Girls Basketball hosted a Best Buddies Night at their home game against Stagg! Our Best Buddies did activities with the Varsity team at halftime of the JV game, and they got the opportunity to be announced at the Varsity game and run out of the tunnel! Our girls basketball team also secured their first conference win of the season! What a great night to spread the importance of inclusion!

A group of music students and staff traveled to Peoria, IL for the Illinois Music Educators Conference to expand their knowledge and gain more experiences surrounding music!

The ILMEA All-State experience provides students and staff with many benefits including:

• Musical experiences: students can perform in band, chorus, orchestra, and jazz ensembles.
• Professional development: educators can access these different opportunities that support their students and programs.
• Advocacy: educators can advocate for music education at the local, state, and federal levels.
• Resources: Educators can access resources like the Illinois Music Educator Journal to support musical education.
• Networking: Educators can connect with other music educators from around the state.
• Support: Educators can build and access support throughout their careers.

In October 2024, BBCHS music students had the opportunity to partake in a highly competitive audition process among approximately 6,000 other music students throughout the state of Illinois. Students who scored the highest were selected to participate at the Illinois Music Educators Association State Festival. The festival features All-State and Honors bands, choirs, orchestras, instrumental and vocal jazz ensembles, in addition to showcasing student composers and providing meaningful symposiums for future music educators. Student composers applying for All-State had to submit a portfolio of independently created compositions. Students applying for the Future Music Educator seminar had to complete an interview for selection. We are excited to celebrate our students who will be representing BBCHS in the following categories: choir, vocal jazz, composition, and the Future Music Educator Seminar. To be selected for the ILMEA All-State Festival is an esteemed honor.

Our BBCHS Dance Team gave a send-off performance for anyone who could attend after school on Wednesday! The dancers also gave letters to some teachers of their choosing to show how much they have positively impacted them. It was great to see our dancers perform before state and that they got to show teacher appreciation as well. Good job, BBDT and good luck at State today!

Congratulations to our Wrestling team on becoming All-City Champions for the 19th time in a row! They defeated Bishop McNamara, Kankakee, and Manteno by a combined score of 192-55. What a great accomplishment! Good job!

The Natural Helpers Talent Show is taking place today during our school day!

The Natural Helpers program provides training to students who have been identified as "listeners" by their peers and school staff. Natural Helpers are trained with helping and listening skills so that they may connect vulnerable peers to trusted adults and other appropriate resources. They are hosting this talent show to allow their peers to showcase their amazing talents!

Everyone wish our FTC Robotics team the best of luck tomorrow at their League Tournament! This is a chance for them to qualify for the State Finals. They are currently ranked 2nd out of the 27 teams in their League, and only 7 go on to State.

Since their last meet, the team created and perfected a 5-minute Judge's Presentation, prepared for a Judge's Q&A Sessions, created a 16-page portfolio detailing their season, finalized an informational slideshow, and wrote a lot of code! This team is a contender within 5 award categories this season, and they hope the judges agree! Good luck, Robotics!!

Pass Runner SS9 - Want to see the true definition of HUSTLE? Keep your eyes peeled for Travae during 6th hour. He is always bustling through the hallways to make sure all passes get delivered in a timely manner.

Copy & Pass Runner - Max is always on time! He was recently promoted to Work II and spends his first hour running passes for SS 10/12 before running copies all over the building. He has become a true professional.

Olivet Nazarene University - Joe works hard to clean up after the breakfast rush in the dining room. He demonstrates perseverance by working from start to finish each day at ONU.

Olivet Nazarene Unversity - Gabby has a contagious, positive work attitude. She sanitizes, sweeps, and keeps the group in great spirits her whole shift.

We would like to wish Caleb Barclay and AJ Mancilla a big congratulations for winning the NCAA Division 3 National Football Championship with North Central Football. They defeated the University of Mount Union with a final score of 41-25. What a great accomplishment - we are proud of you!

Congratulations to our BBCHS alumnus, Allie Haggard on being placed on the Softball America Illinois Watch List! This is a great honor as softball analysts begin to look forward into the upcoming softball season and identify the skilled athletes who are going to be competing. Good luck this season, Allie!

We would like to congratulate our very own graduate, Jarrod Ware on signing a professional deal with the Quad City Steamwheelers, which is a professional indoor arena football team out of Moline, IL. We know you will do great things, Jarrod! Best of luck!

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

Kennedy Weigt - Director of Communications and Community Engagement

kweigt@bbchs.org