From our schools: The Rebel Pride

Published 9:32 am Tuesday, November 21, 2017

By Boyle County Students

A Soccer Legend

By Luke Gibson

Twenty kids, 10 soccer balls, one set of uniforms, and no budget is how the Lady Rebels soccer team got its start in the fall of 1998. Since then they have developed into an elite soccer team in the state of Kentucky.

Boyle County soccer coach Brian Deem is the second all-time winningest coach in Kentucky girls soccer history, and he happens to be the only coach the program has ever known.
Photo by Nichole Mingey

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Starting from scratch, current Head Coach Brian Deem has worked extremely hard to build a successful girls soccer program. He began his Boyle County soccer coaching career as an assistant coach with the boys. After two years with their program, he was approached by the administration to consider starting his own for the girls.

In 1998, Deem started the very first Lady Rebel soccer team, and in 2005 he won his first regional title. From that humble beginning, the momentum soon began and the program grew to produce more and more wins and multiple postseason titles.

With five elite-eight appearances, seven region titles, and 14 district titles, the Lady Rebels have proven that they can compete with the best in the state. “The top teams in Lexington, they want to play us. The top teams in Louisville, they want to play us,” said Deem.

In the 2017 season, Deem got his 300th career win against Wayne County in the first round of the regional tournament. This win ranks him the second most winning coach in the history of Kentucky girls soccer. When asked what goals the soccer program had next, Deem said “Our next goal is to win a state title, but to do that we need to win the region.” It just so happens that the 12th region winner has won the state title two years in a row.

Back in 1998, the Lady Rebels soccer team met a first-year program’s expectations by being “the only team in the 20-year history with a losing record,” Deem reminded. However, they exceeded expectations by starting a program that would leave a legacy of winning at Boyle County High School for years and years to come.

Teacher Honored Nationally
By Chase Chadwell
There’s a first time for everything.

Ryan New enjoyed his visit to San Francisco where he accepted his 2017 Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year award at the 97th Annual NCSS Conference.
Photo contributed

Boyle County High School Social Studies teacher Ryan New was honored with the Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award on November 17th at the 97th National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Annual Conference in San Francisco. Quite an honor for this nine- year teaching veteran.

New’s career started at Washington County High School where he spent his first five years teaching social studies. Next, he and his wife, science teacher Andrea New, joined the Boyle County family at the same time four years ago. New even spent one year outside the classroom working for the Kentucky State Department of Education.
While currently teaching U.S. History and American Government at Boyle, his approach in the classroom may seem somewhat unconventional. “I use a process called inquiry-based learning where every day we ask questions and look at sources and then we reach conclusions based on what we find. I very much believe in the ability of each student to come to their own conclusion.”
This past spring, New was approached by district administration to take on a leadership role outside the classroom to dive further into this approach. New is now the director of an inquiry-based learning pilot program where eleven other teachers in the district are participating.
“A lot of the things I do in my classroom about these questions, tasks, and sources, we are trying to get other students to be able to do these things as well. That way it helps increase critical thinking, autonomy within students, and allows students to be able to do things on their own.”
Students enjoy his teaching style and his way of communicating. Student Austin Burchfield shared, “He’s taught me to ask more questions and be more critical on not just educational but all things. The Veterans day assembly was self ran.”
His hard work and desire to engage all students on a deeper level has lead to Boyle having its first nationally recognized teacher. Being nominated for this national award was quite an honor for New. “It's interesting, I feel like I don’t deserve it in a lot of ways. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other teachers out there who deserve it much more than I do, but the fact that I was recognized by someone and went through the process, it was really nice to be recognized. It was humbling.”

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