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Belleville West Theatre Technicians Honored at School Board Meeting
At the April school board meeting, Belleville West Principal Rich Mertens recognized the cast and crew of the 2017 contest play. Mr. Mertens made the following remarks about the school’s All-State Tech Crew members:
Sophomore Bailee Schobert is the daughter of Thomas and Lynn Schobert. She is an active member of the Belleville West student body, participating in Marching Band, Jazz Band, Hy News, and Little Theatre.
Junior Megan Zaiz is the daughter of David and Michelle Zaiz. At Belleville West, she is active in Marching Band, Robotics Club, Math Team, and Little Theatre.
Bailee and Megan recently served as student technical directors for the 2017 Belleville West contest play, The Shadow Box. The show won the IHSA Sectional Championship in Drama at Olympia High School on March 18, advanced to the IHSA State Drama Tournament at the University of Illinois in Springfield on March 24 and 25, and earned seventh place in the state.
Bailee and Megan worked as the lead lighting technicians for performances. For Bailee, that meant supervising a team of three other technicians in transporting, setting, and focusing lights at each new performance space. For Megan, that involved learning to use a different light board at each new facility. Together, Bailee and Megan ran the production’s two light boards for each show, expertly using lighting effects to create three distinct acting areas.
Bailee and Megan were recognized for excellence at the sectional contest, where they were named to the All-Sectional Technical Crew. They were again recognized for excellence at the state tournament, where they were named to the prestigious All-State Technical Crew. Only a dozen students in the entire state earned this distinction.
Congratulations, Bailee and Megan.
Belleville West Students Share Their Favorite Books
Throughout this year, Belleville West students are sharing their favorite books with the school. This week, freshmen from Mrs. Hunters’s classes share their favorite books.
2017 Abraham Lincoln Book Announced
The Red Queen, the 2015 young adult novel by Victoria Aveyard, is the 2017 Abraham Lincoln Book. The book was chosen by students throughout the state of Illinois who read at least four books from this year’s Abraham Lincoln nominees.
Voting in State Reading Program Ends on Friday
Students participating in this year’s Read for a Lifetime program have until Friday, April 7, to vote for their favorite book. The Read for a Lifetime program, sponsored each year by the state of Illinois, asks students to read four or more books from a selected list of titles. Students who have completed at least four books from the list may vote at the circulation desk in the BW Library.
2016-2017 READ FOR A LIFETIME BOOKS
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson
Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton
Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip M. Hoose
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I Will Always Write Back by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
The Martian by Andy Weir
Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez and Jenna Glatzer
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Riders by Veronica Rossi
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Zeroboxer by Fond Lee
Students Select March Madness Winner
When voting ended last Friday, Belleville West students had selected a winner in the annual March Madness reading event. This year’s winner is The Maze Runner by James Dashner. The Maze Runner was also the student-selected winner of the 2016 March Madness event.
Names were drawn from all students who participated in the event, and the following students will receive free books: freshman Michael Brown, sophomore Annamaria Caito, sophomore Kristen Massie, junior Gavin McCoy, and junior Brendan Sulley. Thanks to everyone who voted!
Belleville West Students Share Their Favorite Books
Throughout this year, Belleville West students are sharing their favorite books with the school. This week, students from Ms. Chalmers’s classes share their favorite books.
BW Book Club Meets this Wednesday
The Belleville West Book Club will hold its final meeting of the school year this Wednesday, April 5. The group will meet at 4 p.m. at The Abbey to discuss Vampires in the Lemon Grove, a collection of short stories by Karen Russell. Any student who has completed the book is welcome to join the discussion.
VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE by Karen Russell
A dejected teenager discovers that the universe is communicating with him through talismanic objects left behind in a seagull’s nest. A community of girls held captive in a silk factory slowly transmute into human silkworms, spinning delicate threads from their own bellies, and escape by seizing the means of production for their own revolutionary ends. A massage therapist discovers she has the power to heal by manipulating the tattoos on a war veteran’s lower torso. When a group of boys stumble upon a mutilated scarecrow bearing an uncanny resemblance to the missing classmate they used to torment, an ordinary tale of high school bullying becomes a sinister fantasy of guilt and atonement. In a family’s disastrous quest for land in the American West, the monster is the human hunger for acquisition, and the victim is all we hold dear. And in the collection’s marvelous title story—an unforgettable parable of addiction and appetite, mortal terror and mortal love—two vampires in a sun-drenched lemon grove try helplessly to slake their thirst for blood.
Belleville West Classes Pass One Million Pages of Pleasure Reading
Once again this year, Belleville West students are reading! The BW English Department challenged the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes to each read ONE MILLION PAGES of pleasure reading during this school year. And at the end of the fifth triad, EACH CLASS HAS PASSED THE MILLION PAGE MARK. Each class also had its best reading total of the year in the fifth triad.
At the end of the fifth triad, the FRESHMAN CLASS is still in front, with 1,248,036 pages of pleasure reading. The freshmen read 283,355 pages in the fifth triad, a total of 507 pages per freshman and their best triad of the year. These freshman classes read the most pages per student in the fifth triad:
Mrs. Hunter—sixth hour: 1744 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—third hour: 1146 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—sixth hour: 1086 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—fifth hour: 781 pages per student
Mrs. Short—second hour: 750 pages per student
Mrs. Hunter—first hour: 649 pages per student
Ms. Ursani—first hour: 642 pages per student
Ms. Ursani—fifth hour: 522 pages per student
At the end of the fifth triad, the SOPHOMORE CLASS maintains the second spot, with 1,128,581 pages of pleasure reading. The sophomores read 236,783 pages in the fifth triad, a total of 452 pages per sophomore and their best triad of the year. These sophomore classes read the most pages per student in the fifth triad:
Ms. Schloesser—first hour: 3023 pages per student
Ms. Schloesser—third hour: 1211 pages per student
Mr. Reidelberger—third hour: 951 pages per student
Mr. Johnson—second hour: 687 pages per student
Ms. Schloesser—sixth hour: 685 pages per student
Mrs. Lewis—seventh hour: 655 pages per student
Ms. Ursani—sixth hour: 517 pages per student
The SENIOR CLASS finishes the fifth triad in third place, with 1,089,392 pages of pleasure reading. The seniors read 269,400 pages in the fifth triad, a total of 537 pages per senior and their best triad of the year. These senior classes read the most pages per student in the fifth triad:
Mr. Lodle—fifth hour: 4133 pages per student
Mr. Lodle—sixth hour: 2222 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—seventh hour: 1345 pages per student
Mrs. Short—first hour: 688 pages per student
Mr. Reidelberger—second hour: 571 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—first hour: 539 pages per student
The JUNIOR CLASS remains in fourth place at the end of the fifth triad, with 1,011,681 pages of pleasure reading. The juniors read 226,026 pages in the fifth triad, a total of 461 pages per junior and their best triad of the year. These junior classes read the most pages per student in the fifth triad:
Mr. Spriggs—sixth hour: 2629 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—sixth hour: 878 pages per student
Mr. Spriggs—first hour: 824 pages per student
Mr. Spriggs—fifth hour: 752 pages per student
Mr. Brunner—second hour: 750 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—third hour: 659 pages per student
Ms. Guebert—second hour: 504 pages per student
The teachers in the ENGLISH DEPARTMENT read 19,214 pages of pleasure reading in the fourth triad. That’s an average of 961 pages per English teacher.
At this rate, Belleville West students could finish the 2016-2017 school year with more pages of pleasure reading than ever before.
Read for a Lifetime Voting Ends Next Week
Students participating in this year’s Read for a Lifetime program have until next Friday, April 7, to vote for their favorite book. The Read for a Lifetime program, sponsored each year by the state of Illinois, asks students to read four or more books from a selected list of titles. Students who have completed at least four books from the list may vote at the circulation desk in the BW Library.
2016-2017 READ FOR A LIFETIME BOOKS
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson
Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton
Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip M. Hoose
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
I Will Always Write Back by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
The Martian by Andy Weir
Most Dangerous by Steve Sheinkin
Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez and Jenna Glatzer
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Riders by Veronica Rossi
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Symphony for the City of the Dead by M.T. Anderson
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Zeroboxer by Fond Lee
