English Department Plans Reading Celebration

The Belleville West English Department and the Belleville West Library will sponsor the school’s fourth annual celebration of reading next Friday, May 9.  Events will include a door decorating contest, a book swap, drawings for books and other reading prizes, recognition of top readers, and a Skype visit with a popular young adult author.

Belleville West Wins Follett Challenge Grant

The results of the Follett Challenge were announced on April 14, and Belleville West has a lot to celebrate.  In this national contest, which included entries from more than 100 schools, Belleville West was named the winner of the high school category.  West will now compete against the three other semi-finalists (the elementary school winner, the middle school winner, and the K-12 school winner) for the grand prize.  The Belleville West video also won the top People’s Choice Award.  Viewers voted for the BW video approximately 20,000 times—placing it more than 7,000 votes ahead of the next school.  As winner of the high school category and the people’s choice, Belleville West will receive $35,000 in books and e-books for the BW Library.  The Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on May 16, will receive another $30,000 in books and e-books. 

Thanks to all of the Belleville West students, parents, and friends who voted for our video during the month of March!  You can watch the announcement of winners—and see the Belleville West video about our “Community of Readers” program—at this link:  http://www.follettchallenge.com/.

Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors Pass Million Page Mark

This year, the BW English Department challenged the class of 2014, the class of 2015, the class of 2016, and the class of 2017 to each read one million pages of pleasure reading.  At the end of the fifth triad, the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes have all PASSED one million pages of pleasure reading!  (And the seniors are getting very close.) 

At the end of the fifth triad, the freshman class has read the most total pages, with 1,252,163 pages of pleasure reading!  The freshmen read 300,819 pages in the fifth triad.  (That’s the highest number for any class all year.)  They read an average of 501 pages per freshman during the fifth triad.

These freshman classes read the most pages per student during the fifth triad:

Mrs. Thurnau, sixth hour:  1042 pages per student

Mrs. Hunter, fifth hour:  985 pages per student

Mrs. Thurnau, first hour:  962 pages per student

Ms. Ursani, first hour:  959 pages per student

Ms. Ursani, second hour:  909 pages per student

Mr. Schobert, seventh hour:  868 pages per student

Mrs. Thurnau, third hour:  736 pages per student

Mrs. Hunter, fourth hour:  727 pages per student

At the end of the fifth triad, the sophomore class has moved into second place, with 1,074,645 pages of pleasure reading!  The sophomores read 258,358 pages in the fifth triad.  (That’s their best triad of the year.)  They read an average of 444 pages per sophomore during the fifth triad.

These sophomore classes read the most pages per student during the fifth triad:

Mrs. Spriggs, fifth hour:  1343 pages per student

Mrs. Spriggs, second hour:  840 pages per student

Mr. Reidelberger, fourth hour:  697 pages per student

Mrs. Spriggs, sixth hour:  682 pages per student

Mr. Reidelberger, third hour:  661 pages per student

Mr. Jenkins, second hour:  655 pages per student

Mr. Johnson, fifth hour:  633 pages per student

Mr. Johnson, fourth hour:  622 pages per student

Mrs. Lewis, fourth hour:  595 pages per student

At the end of the fifth triad, the junior class is in third place, with 1,048,892 pages of pleasure reading.  The juniors read 218,695 pages in the fifth triad.  That’s an average of 473 pages per junior in the fifth triad.

These junior classes read the most pages per student during the fifth triad:

Mr. Brunner, fifth hour:  1605 pages per student

Mr. Brunner, second hour:  857 pages per student

Mr. Brunner, first hour:  757 pages per student

Mr. Brunner, sixth hour:  717 pages per student

Mr. Garland, third hour:  680 pages per student

Mrs. Story, fourth hour:  646 pages per student

Mr. Spriggs, third hour:  561 pages per student

Ms. Hoelscher, seventh hour:  521 pages per student

At the end of the fifth triad, the senior class is just short of one million pages, with 977,621  pages of pleasure reading.  The seniors read 216,886 pages in the fifth triad.  That’s an average of 503 pages per senior in the fifth triad.

These senior classes read the most pages per student during the fifth triad:

Mr. Garland, second hour:  2897 pages per student*

Mrs. Thurnau, seventh hour:  586 pages per student

Mr. Lodle, sixth hour:  538 pages per student

Mrs. Short, second hour:  535 pages per student

Mr. Brunner, third hour:  527 pages per student

Ms. Hoelscher, third hour:  520 pages per student

Mr. Lodle, fifth hour:  470 pages per student

Mrs. Lewis, seventh hour:  407 pages per student

*  This is the highest average per student for all four grades.  Outstanding!

During the fifth triad, the BW English teachers read 18,107 pages—an average of 905 pages per English teacher.

Keep reading, Belleville West!  We can hit our best numbers ever this year!