R.I.P Mr. Brown

I will always remember you, you were by far my favorite teacher i have ever had being a student at over ten different schools. I always looked forawrd to your class and your wonderful personality. You will truely be missed.


Eastern teacher, daughter swept over falls
Two still missing more than day after accident in Hawaii
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By Joseph Gerth
jgerth@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

An Eastern High School chemistry teacher and his 8-year-old daughter were swept over a 184-foot falls by a flash flood while hiking in Haleakala National Park in Hawaii on Thursday.

Kevin Brown, 39, and Elizabeth Brown, 8, were still missing late last night, nearly 24 hours after a wall of water on the 'Ohe'o stream washed them into a pool and over the Makahiku Falls.

Dr. Holly W. Brown, the wife of Kevin Brown and mother of Elizabeth, was waiting to cross the stream with their 11-year-old son, Clayton, when the accident happened, said Sharon Ringsven, a spokeswoman for the Haleakala National Park. They were not injured.

Ringsven said the family had gotten off the trail and was walking along the stream when Kevin and Elizabeth Brown decided to cross the stream about 4:30 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (10:30 p.m. EDT). She said Elizabeth fell as they crossed.

Her father ''tried to help her up, and they heard a loud roar and looked up and they were hit by a wall of water. The mother and son watched as the two were swept into a pool and over the falls,'' she said.

Ringsven said no one has ever survived a fall over the Makahiku Falls.

Holly Brown, 39, is an obstetrician-gynecologist in Louisville. Elizabeth and Clayton are students at Louisville Collegiate School.

Rescue teams searched the area Thursday and yesterday by helicopter and on foot at the Pools of 'Ohe'o, also known by many as the Seven Pools. Ringsven said the current was too strong yesterday for divers to search the pools.

The National Weather Service had issued a flash-flood warning because of heavy rain in the area Thursday. Ringsven said the nearby community of Hana received 3 inches of rain Thursday.

The Pools of 'Ohe'o, on the island of Maui, are created by a series of waterfalls that empty directly into the ocean. The Browns were vacationing in Hawaii during spring break when the accident occurred, said James A. Sexton, principal at Eastern, who said he was notified by a family employee of the accident. Ringsven said they were accompanied on the trip by Kevin Brown's parents.

Attempts to reach Barbara Groves, head of Collegiate, were unsuccessful.

Sexton said the family had been to Hawaii in the past and returned for spring break. The Browns were scheduled to return to Louisville today, Ringsven said.

Kevin Brown has been a teacher at Eastern for about six years and before that taught at Assumption High School. He teaches chemistry, Sexton said, and was to receive an Aegon Award later this month for his innovative teaching techniques.

''Kevin was a good man,'' said Sexton, who spoke of Brown in the past tense despite holding out hope that he and Elizabeth would be found alive. Sexton said Brown sought and obtained numerous grants for chemistry and biology programs and always held the attention of students.

''He was kind of notorious at the school for setting off fire alarms,'' Sexton said. ''There was always lots of smoke. . . . His was not the kind of class that kids could doze off in.''

Students will return to school on Monday, and Sexton said the school will have grief counselors on hand to help them cope with the accident.

''He had about 160 students, and they will all be terribly sad,'' he said.