Brooke E. Emery was a Brookville Area alumni who graduated in the class of 2020. Following her graduation from Brookville High School, she went on to Shippensburg University with a track and field scholarship, pursuing a degree in Exercise Science. She, unfortunately, away at the age of 19 in 2021. During her time at Brookville High School, Emery created a unique glaze that gives off a bubble effect when fired.

At Brookville High School, a lot of the older advanced sculpture students get to test out different proportions of mixtures in their creations. This is typically not offered to the younger, inexperienced students. Emery found the idea for her glaze while scrolling through Pinterest. After numerous failed attempts at finding the perfect proportions, Emery was finally able to create her glaze.

The glaze consists of dish soap added to the typical glaze mixture. This gives off a bubble effect when fired. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, students have not tried this style as much due to the fact that germs could be easily spread by blowing bubbles onto the pottery. Additionally, Emery did not make a huge supply of this glaze. The staff decided to preserve it for special occasions, like the Brooke Emery Memorial Scholarship.

The Brooke Emery Memorial Scholarship is sponsored by the Emery family in memory of Brooke. In 2022, the scholarship recipients were Emily Martz, Julia Bailey, Abby Keth, and Emily Spencer. This year, in addition to the scholarship, the Brookville Art Department will be adding an additional prize, which is a sculpture finished in Emery’s glaze.

Emery’s art teacher, Stephen Jaworski, was able to recount several of his favorite sculpture creations by Emery. One of her biggest sculptures was “Forky” from Toy Story 4 that used to be hung in the choir room at Brookville High School. Another sculpture was a foot-tall, realistic ceramic shark bursting out of the water. Brooke Emery was also able to capture several Brookville teachers in her artwork. Brooke Emery made a split-face design of Spanish teacher Erin McCronich, which was displayed in the Spanish classroom. Along with that, “she made the foam Mr. Jaworski face that is currently hanging above my desk,” Mr. Jaworski added.