The discussions behind Brookfield Local School District’s pursuit of an academic hall of fame, a counterpart to the existing athletic hall of fame, has expanded beyond As and Bs.
Instead, officials are looking at honoring distinguished alumni, school Superintendent Velina Jo Taylor told the board in July.

Velina Jo Taylor

Velina Jo Taylor

“The thinking behind that is it opens up a lot more doors for us than just an academic hall of fame, because sometimes kids who went to school here didn’t do all that well while they were here but they just flowered, blossomed once they got out of here and just made a wonderful difference in the world,” Taylor said. “That’s, I think, what we really want to focus on here: how people who leave these halls make this world a better place in one way or another.”
The Distinguished Alumni Committee is working on by-laws and a proposed nomination form, Taylor told the board in August.
While the committee members, most of whom are present and former teachers, have a conservative estimate as to what they can get done this year, they believe they can present the first Distinguished Alumni Awards in the spring.
“We’re thinking in terms of asking the people that we give these awards to to make a commitment to come in and talk to our kids,” Taylor said.
The alumni would “talk to them about the things that they might think about doing in the world once they get out, and about how important it is that you learn the life lessons that are offered to you here,” she said.
The committee hopes that interaction with students might have a greater impact than from the teachers and administrators the students hear from every day, Taylor said.