Better Late Than Never! Snow Will Not Stop Brick and Beyond
Story by Morgan Satter ’25
As things took flight into yet another successful Brick and Beyond event, we found ourselves looking at the teamwork of both Brick Memorial and Brick Township.
Brick Memorials’ very own Mr. Kevin McKnight, and Brick Township’s Mrs. Angela Smith, worked countless hours to ensure the success of the night’s event. From both sides of our town, there were greatly contributed acts, administrative assistants from Brick Memorial Tammy Covert and Kristi Loutraris, as well as administrative assistants from Brick Township were all involved in the minuscule details.
Brick and Beyond has been running successfully for years, after the first-ever rescheduling everyone is even more impressed with all the hard work of our staff, colleges, and the representatives who joined. There were over 200 Representatives including our clubs, athletics teams, colleges, career schools, trade schools, vocational schools, unions, community service organizations, and local employers. Throughout the night Brick Memorials gym saw a high number of 2,000 people.
Everyone has the “…opportunity to see what lies ahead in the post-high school world. Whether it be college, trade school, military, or workforce there was something for everyone to learn about and begin planning for the future of our Mustang students upon graduation,” stated Mr. Sarluca.
Brick and Beyond isn’t just about college, although that is the majority, we offer much more for the night’s event. Clubs, sports, job opportunities, Art tours, intense amounts of information, and much more….
“Brick and Beyond is a great opportunity for the students and parents to see what clubs/athletics and organizations we offer. Sometimes students don’t know what is out there, so having our staff members attend along with our student representatives provides an opportunity for that face-to-face setting,” stated Mr. Kevin McKnight on how our Brick and Beyond can help students who aren’t looking at college just yet.
One of the newest additions to Brick Memorial’s extensive list of extracurriculars, Green Team, advised by Miss Tarnowski, sold Pothos plants to raise money to support our school’s garden in the front. They hope to not only grow their club but the school’s gardens as well. Team captains, Junior Madelyn Barrera and Sophomore William Smykowski worked effortlessly to make this continuing project a success. If anyone is interested in buying their very own Pothos plants, make sure to reach out to Miss Tarnowski, or stop by room 160.
All of our Language Honors Societies, Italian, French, and Spanish were in attendance, teaching incoming students about what they’re all about. Both Brick Memorials and Brick Townships National Honors Societies were in the building, to speak to students on their services to our communities. Our brand new Golf Class was speaking to interested students about how their class works and what they do. And one of our favorite sports teams, Unified Sports, a combination of Brick Memorial and Brick Township, was there to educate on upcoming events. If you’d like to check out more about them check out their podcast episode on Straight From the Mustangs Mouth.
For our students who might be looking at more hands-on opportunities, there were the unions that offer fantastic programs along with many of our career schools and vocational schools that could lead to great training and employment right out of high school. Many of our local community service organizations and businesses were there to assist the students and parents with anything that they need either in a mental health capacity, overall health, and financial education. There was also a job fair part of it where students might be looking for opportunities either for present employment or summertime work.
For those of you who didn’t attend last night: don’t worry. All questions you have involving your future in college or even your time at Brick Memorial can be answered in guidance. All guidance counselors have their links where you can schedule your personal appointments, which can be found within your school email. If you can’t find the email, go down to guidance, in the morning, during passing time, or during your lunches.
When wrapping up this flight we looked at our accomplishments through the night. The teamwork of both sides of town truly made a heavy impact on tonight’s success.
“The fact that we can bring together both sides of town and so many surrounding community offerings to showcase all of the many opportunities that are out there for all of our Mustangs and families to experience is something special. We had almost 200 different exhibits on hand and over 2000 people in attendance. So much hard work goes into it, but when you see the finished product and the execution of everyone’s efforts….it truly makes it A Great Day to be a Mustang!” Perfect words from our new principal, Mr. Edward Sarluca!
