Brimfield students to visit Ecuador in 2026

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post

BRIMFIELD – How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen a giant turtle?
For some Brimfield High School students, that question might be answered in about 20 months.
Brimfield Spanish teacher Madison Henson is to lead an 11-day field trip in June 2026 to Ecuador. The journey to the Spanish-speaking country is to include Quito, the Ecuadorian capital, with a side trip to the nearby Andean Cloud Forest.

The highlight, however, might be a flight to the Galapagos Islands, in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles west of the South American mainland. The islands are famous for their large numbers of endemic species, including iguanas and tortoises, that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors enrolled in Spanish classes are to be among those invited, Henson told the Brimfield School Board before it voted unanimously Oct. 16 to authorize the trip.
“I haven’t really said a whole lot to the kids yet, but I’ve hinted at it here and there,” Henson said. “They seemed pretty excited about it.”

The trip, which is to be conducted through an educational-tour firm, is scheduled to depart from Chicago. The projected per-student cost is about $5,300. Students and their families are responsible for payment.

“It’s always been on my bucket list,” Henson said regarding Ecuador. “I’ve always been a biology nerd.”
Brimfield Superintendent Chad Jones updated the board regarding various construction projects at the grade and high schools. New-window and door installation at the grade school is progressing, he said. Work began over the summer and probably will continue through the academic year.

Construction of a new, expanded parking lot at the athletic complex located just east of the high school appears to be on pace to be completed by Thanksgiving. The project includes eight light poles, which Laser Electric Inc. of Peoria is to install. The board approved a $90,000 contract with Laser.
“I know it’s big numbers you’re seeing with these quotes and these bids, but I do feel like we’re moving in the right direction for a long-term future over there,” Jones told board members. “Having it lit is really essential to what we need to be doing over there.”

The board also authorized transferring $2 million from the district’s working-cash fund to its capital-projects fund to help pay for all the construction expenses. That total represents about half the working-cash bond issue the board authorized earlier this year.

Jones received board authority to apply for a $50,000 state school-maintenance grant. The money would help rectify plumbing and lighting issues at the grade school, he said.

Also approved was a $51,312.83 deal with Heart Technologies Inc. of East Peoria to provide and install eight security cameras at the high school and 12 at the grade school.

Regarding personnel, the board OK’d hiring Jared Johnson as district band and choir teacher, Luke Groeper as a high school boys basketball assistant coach and four volunteer high school baseball coaches: Tucker Blum, Jaxson Lewis, Austin Neff and Derek Ratterman.

Johnson currently is a student teacher at Dunlap High School, according to Jones. Johnson is replacing Erich Weiger, who left in July for a non-academics position. His vacancy was a bit problematic because of the timing and the specialty nature of the job, Jones suggested earlier.