Mr. Brunner Honored by Belleville High School Board of Education

At the March school board meeting, BW Principal Rich Mertens honored English teacher Mr. Andy Brunner. In recognizing Mr. Brunner, he made the following comments:

Andy Brunner joined the English department at Belleville East in 2001, and he moved to Belleville West in 2003.  During his 16 years in District 201, Andy has shared his passion for reading and learning with thousands of students.

Andy has taught a variety of English courses at Belleville West, but he would probably say that literature classes are his specialty.  Whether he’s introducing juniors to The Things They Carried, leading honors students on a journey with Huckleberry Finn, or helping seniors understand the satire of Gulliver’s Travels, Andy makes literature engaging through his own tremendous enthusiasm.

But this is not to say that Andy isn’t also a masterful teacher of writing.  He devotes untold hours to reading early drafts of student writing.  He provides detailed feedback to his students, helping them to improve with each step.

Andy has whole-heartedly embraced Belleville West’s independent reading program.  Over the past five years, his classroom library has grown to cover nearly the entire back wall of his room.  He inspires students to try new books and new genres with his book recommendations, and it’s not unusual to find students dropping by Andy’s room before or after school just to talk about books.

Andy has supervised a number of student teachers and observers at West, devoting extra time to shape the next generation of teachers.  He participated in writing the district’s curriculum for English 5-6.  He has worked to prepare students for each new type of testing that they’ve encountered in recent years—the ACT, the PARCC test, and the SAT.

In addition to his work in the classroom, Andy has coached the boys’ tennis team at West for 16 seasons.  (Prior to that, he was the head tennis coach at McKendree University for a year.)  Andy has coached his teams to seven sectional championships, and he has coached 28 state-qualifying players.  Overall, he holds an impressive 155-65 winning record.

Andy Brunner cares deeply about the students he teaches, and he cares deeply about the subject he teaches.  Thank you, Andy, for your enthusiasm, your commitment, your sense of humor, and your love of a good book.