I brag a lot about BCS. I will tell anyone who listens that we have the best students of any school in this great state. I will show them the standardized test scores and SAT and academic meet results. I will show them the rigor of our pedagogy and the accomplishments of our students. BCS is simply the best school around. I believe this with all my heart because I know these students. However, the students are only part of the story. I also know the people teaching these students, and the people working to constantly better the infrastructure of the school so that the teachers can teach. I also know the people who feed and organize and care for our students in health and illness. These are simply the best people around. They absolutely love the students and in return the students work and achieve.
Although humbleness is a virtue and one we all strive towards I also believe our Savior when He said, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” Speak plainly so that others cannot misinterpret what you are saying. So I will say this clearly, BCS is simply the best set of educators and students I have ever witnessed. Before I came to BCS as the president I owned a company that provided behavioral resources to schools across the country. I spent a great deal of time in schools from Miami to Los Angeles and from Chicago to the Valley. I have worked with and in hundreds of schools and district. I will plainly say it again, BCS is simply the best group of educators and students I have ever seen.
Tuesday I was at Super Senior, this is an event where the seniors come up two at a time and they tell their friend what they have meant to them over the course of their time at BCS. I sat and listened to student after student talking about how they were closer to God, better prepared for college life, and better people in general because of their relationship with their fellow student. Wow. I don’t think we could have had this sort of gathering at the west Texas school I graduated from!
As I listened to these incredible students giving heartfelt accolades to their fellow students, a text buzzed on my phone. I looked at my phone and it was Kelly Moore, the head of National Christian School Association (NCSA), our accrediting body. He asked me to call him. I waited until we took a break and called and it was then that he informed me that a Brentwood teacher was being named the “Educator of the Year”. This is a really big deal. This isn’t just the Texas schools or just the Austin area – this is the national association that represents schools teaching over 30,000 students in 26 states. This award spans thousands of teachers and one of our own is the “Educator of the Year”.
Mel Witcher has taught at Brentwood for 30 years. We gave him his 30 year pin just last week at the Spring Open House. He has taught everything from band and history and humanities and Bible and on and on. You can see him every day watching those students who are leaving the campus for lunch and counting them as they come back. He is at the school over the summer helping to account for all our textbooks and order new ones. He does many things for BCS but the thing that he does absolutely the best is represent Christ to our kids. Mr. Witcher is one of the most earnest and intelligent people I have ever known but it is his profound gentleness and genuine spirit that makes him not only approachable for our students but cherished by them.
Whether in the classroom, hallway, parking lot, or stage – Mr. Witcher is an inviting smile away from a warm conversation and a firsthand experience of Christ’s gentleness and grace. Mr. Witcher is the National Christian School Association “Educator of the Year”. He will receive the award in San Antonio next month at the national conference and many of our nation’s educators will get to see and hear firsthand what we at Brentwood have known all along, Mr. Witcher is simply the best. And Mr. Witcher is just one of many educators at Brentwood that daily pick up the mantle of educating to the glory of Christ. And because of these wonderful people, plainly spoke, Brentwood is simply the best.
It is a great day to be a Brentwood Bear!
Blessings,
Jay Burcham
President