BEATRICE, Neb. - Four years of building memories and leading one of the premier activities programs in southeast Nebraska - Beatrice Activities Director Gus Brown made an impact on the community, but the time has come for him to step away.

As he looks back at his time leading Beatrice, he says his goal throughout his time as been growth.

“It’s just about continuing to grow,” Brown said. “Beatrice is a great place that has a strong tradition. We’ve just been trying to keep that tradition going and moving in the right direction to give players and coaches the best opportunity we can.”

During his time with the school, Beatrice has found success in athletics, but going back to his main goal going into the job, Brown is proud of the growth shown by girls wrestling - not only was Morgan Maschmann a state champion this season, but the program has tripled in size since its inception and now holds a well known tournament.

“We’ve become one of the best tournaments in the state, we started with 4-5 teams, now we’re up to 26 as we keep doing the event,” Brown said.

During Brown’s four years, he’s gotten a lot done. Beatrice is now on a uniform rotation with Nike, the Trailblazer Conference has grown, and a project for new turf on the football field is set to begin at the end of the month… But one project has remained the top priory for Brown: building relationships.

“That’s the most important thing to me, always has been,” Brown said. “Just giving the kids opportunities and building relationships… It’s always nice, you hear from kids about ‘Hey, I didn’t see you at this event’ and I have to say ‘Well, I had two or three that day, can’t make them all’ so those relationships with the kids and community have been awesome.”

In Brown’s final year, Beatrice had a fourth state championship in softball. Brown called it something he, and the Lady Orange, will remember forever.

“I’m a sentimental guy, I tear up a lot, when they won I was in tears,” Brown said. “Just watching those kids grow and they’ve had good teams the last few years, but they gelled at the right time and the coaching staff did a tremendous job giving them opportunities to win.”

Cale Kaiser, a current Spanish teacher and assistant wrestling coach at Beatrice, will serve as the schools next AD at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.