blueridgefac:

Hello students and staff!

I must apologize for having slacked on our weekly newsletters! It has been a very return from vacation and I believe we're all on the same page in saying we've barely had time to even sit down!! Upon our return to school we had three birthdays to celebrate! Sunny Garcia of Appalachia turned eighteen on the third and Tatum and Rath Donnelly turned nineteen on the fifteenth! Wish them a belated happy birthday if you have not had the chance yet! Speaking of the Donnelly siblings, as most of you know Tatum was hospitalized for serious injuries. She is safe and has been released from the hospital last Sunday. Also, Rath Donnelly has returned to Blue Ridge to study culinary arts with us. We are excited to have them both back and healthy! Our best wishes go out to their loved ones.

Opposed to popular belief, vacation did not do so well for some of our quodpot teams. The first Friday game on the 9th between Quirank and Shenandoah was an unmitigated disaster. In a very uncharacteristic showing of play, captain Charlie Baker, seemingly distracted was knocked from her broom in the first half and was seriously injured. She had to spend the night in the hospital wing getting her bones mended. There was not a single score in the first half of the game and by a fluke Quirank's left tackle made the only goal in the game with only twenty seconds left on the clock. It was a disappointing return to the season. Charlie Baker has now fully recovered from her injuries and we're all very excited to see her get back on her broom. Saturday the 10th, the quidditch team played one another again, Team One took away the day's victory after a an extremely energetic start! The University quidditch team took on the Colorado Institute for Witchcraft and Wizardry. BRU showed Colorado the true meaning of the game by delivering a thorough whooping despite the obvious distractions that our players have faced these past few weeks. Congratulations BRU Quidditch!

This past weekend Appalachia and Shawnee faced off Friday. Despite the shaky start from Appalachia, the team lead by Sunny Garcia is still undefeated and in the lead. Last year's champions seem to be striving for another year with the title. On Saturday the BRU quodpot team took on the Colorado Institute for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Following in the steps of the quidditch team, the University team took home the win. Good job teams!! Please join us next week when Roanoke plays Quirank and on Saturday when the Quidditch team takes on the Badlands College of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Open house last weekend was a huge success and we raised a lot of money for the school! We met the annual goal and went beyond that! With the money we raised we will be able to hold our annual camping trip in July and August, send our teams to championships, and continue affording scholarships to well deserving students! There was even some extra funds! There will be a meeting coming up this Thursday to discuss what the student body would like to do with the extra money that we raised.

Along with all the good news does come some bad news. There has been an unusual raise in violence around campus, namely fighting. I would like to remind everyone that this is a highly frowned upon choice to make. This is our home, we have been so busy protecting ourselves from outside forces that I think some of us have forgotten to keep it safe on the inside. Please refrain from physical fights and if there is a problem you can always come to my office or the offices of Jenny Hough or any of the professors here on campus. As always, keep yourselves and your friends safe. Always travel in numbers and always make sure you're in well lit areas around the campus when the sun goes down. Also, spring is coming on fast students, don't forget to wear sunscreen and drink lots of water!! I hope to see you all out in the beautiful sunshine!

Thank you very much!

-Headmaster Ichirou Sato