Read for a Lifetime Registration Now Open

Students at Belleville West High School may now sign up for the Read for a Lifetime program.  The annual reading program, sponsored by the state of Illinois, allows students to choose books from a list of approximately 25 selections.  Any student who reads four or more books from the list by April 4 will receive a certificate of recognition from the Illinois Secretary of State.  Students may register through Monday, October 28, with their English teachers or in the Belleville West Library.

Book Club Chooses Next Selection

Members of the BW Book Club have chosen Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic as their next reading selection.  Group members will discuss the book at their meeting on Wednesday, November 20.  Copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk of the BW Library beginning on Monday, October 7.  All students at Belleville West are welcome to participate in Book Club meetings.

DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC by Candice Millard

James Abram Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, a renowned congressman, and a reluctant presidential candidate who took on the nation’s corrupt political establishment. But four months after Garfield’s inauguration in 1881, he was shot in the back by a deranged office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Garfield survived the attack but became the object of bitter, behind-the-scenes struggles for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. Meticulously researched, epic in scope, and pulsating with an intimate human focus and high-velocity narrative drive, The Destiny of the Republic brings alive a forgotten chapter of U.S. history.

BW Book Club Meets this Wednesday

The Belleville West Book Club will hold its first discussion session on Wednesday, October 2, at 5 p.m.  The group will meet at The Abbey on West Main Street to discuss Mende Nazer’s Slave: My True Story.  Any student who has read the book is welcome to join the discussion.

BW Students Finish First Triad with 600,000 Pages

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.

At the end of the first triad, the FRESHMAN CLASS has read the most total pages, with 162,947 pages of pleasure reading.  That’s an average of 282 pages per freshman.  These freshman classes read the most pages over the triad: 

            Mrs. Thurnau—fifth hour:  18,932 pages

            Ms. Ursani—second hour:  16,809 pages

            Mrs. Thurnau—sixth hour:  11,845 pages

            Mrs. Thurnau—first hour:  10,949 pages

            Mr. Schobert—seventh hour:  9,619 pages

            Ms. Ursani—first hour:  8,804 pages

            Ms. Rakers—fourth hour:  8,737 pages

            Mrs. Hunter—fifth hour:  8,094 pages

The JUNIOR CLASS currently stands in second place, with 159,244 pages of pleasure reading.  That’s an average of 313 pages per junior—the best average of any of the four classes.  These junior classes read the most pages over the triad:

            Mr. Brunner—sixth hour:  17,983 pages

            Mr. Spriggs—fifth hour:  17,287 pages

            Mr. Brunner—second hour:  11,928 pages

            Ms. Sage—third hour:  11,716 pages

            Mr. Garland—third hour:  11,657 pages

            Mr. Brunner—fifth hour:  11,216 pages

            Mr. Spriggs—third hour:  10,508 pages

The SOPHOMORE CLASS is just behind the junior class, with 152,115 pages of pleasure reading.  That’s an average of 251 pages per sophomore.  These sophomore classes read the most pages over the triad:

            Mrs. Spriggs—fifth hour:  13,258 pages

            Mr. Reidelberger—third hour:  11,505 pages

            Mr. Johnson—second hour:  11,008 pages

            Mrs. Lewis—fifth hour:  10,815 pages

            Mr. Johnson—fourth hour:  10,320 pages

            Ms. Rakers—sixth hour:  9,950 pages    

            Ms. Chalmers—first hour:  9,346 pages

The SENIOR CLASS is currently at the back of the pack, with 135,698 pages of pleasure reading.  That’s an average of 283 pages per senior.  (Seniors, that does put your class in second place for the average number of pages read per student.)  These senior classes read the most pages over the triad:

            Mr. Brunner—third hour:  25,252 pages*

            Mr. Lodle—fifth hour:  14,080 pages

            Mrs. Lewis—seventh hour:  11,582 pages

            Mr. Lodle—sixth hour:  11,171 pages

            Ms. Rakers—second hour:  9,260 pages

            Ms. Hoelscher—first hour:  7,966 pages

            Ms. Hoeslcher—third hour:  7,028 pages

            * This one class accounts for almost 20% of the entire senior class total!

Visit the library, find some good books, and keep reading!