Ms. Bielong Honored by School Board

At the April 15 school board meeting, BW Principal Rich Mertens honored English teacher Ms. Laurie Bielong.  In recognizing Ms. Bielong, he read the following:

Laurie Bielong joined the Belleville West English department in the fall of 1993.  In the twenty years since then, she has taught thousands of students, inspired her fellow teachers, and devoted countless hours to her classroom and to extracurricular activities.

Laurie has advised the student newspaper, the Hy News, since the start of her career at West.  In the past seven years, her staff members have won six IHSA sectional titles in journalism, and she has coached two state champions in journalism.  Each year, Hy News students are standouts at the Southern Illinois School Press Association’s spring competition, and the Hy News has been recognized as a finalist in the national Pacemaker competition.  Laurie is the district representative to the IHSA’s journalism committee, she is the director of the Southern Illinois School Press Association, she has twice been named Advisor of the Year by the SISPA organization, and this year she was named Illinois Journalism Educator of the Year.

Laurie has been a driving force in the theatre department as well.  She has served as a director for both the annual fall play and the contest play for many years.  As contest play director, she has led Belleville West students to six sectional titles and thirteen trips to the state tournament.  She has coached scores of students to All-Sectional and All-State recognition, and—in 2011 and 2013—the contest play brought home the third place trophy in IHSA state competition.

Laurie conceived the Belleville West Shakespeare Festival, which celebrates its eighth year in 2013.  Whether she is directing student performances or designing new activities, whether she is organizing volunteers or dressing in Renaissance costume, Laurie is busy with almost every facet of the festival.  This event—a combination of education and entertainment that gets bigger and better each year—exists because of Laurie’s vision and drive.

And while all of these things are impressive, Laurie is first an English teacher.  During her years at West, she has taught students at every grade level, but she may be best remembered as the teacher of the English 3-4 honors class.  Laurie’s sophomores will forever remember her class for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for their first job interviews, for some of their favorite novels, and—of course—for the snow dance.  Laurie is a rigorous and challenging teacher; as a result, her students are better readers, better writers, better speakers, and better thinkers.

Despite the fact that this is Laurie’s last year in the English department, she never stops trying new ideas.  One of the many things that Laurie has championed in recent years is the Belleville West reading program.  Even before the English department launched the Million Page Challenge three years ago, Laurie fostered a love of reading among her students.  She is an avid reader herself, and she talks passionately about books with her students.  Laurie is always able to recommend good books to her students, and her classroom library—which probably includes more than a thousand books—always contains the latest titles that students want to read.

Though her schedule is busy, Laurie didn’t hesitate when she was asked to mentor a new teacher in the department this year.  In fact, she has served as a cooperating teacher and a mentor for many student teachers and new teachers over the years.

With her passion for teaching, her love of a good book, her willingness to try new things, her endless contributions to the department, and her infectious laughter, Laurie inspires all those around her.  She will be missed tremendously when she retires at the end of this year.  Thank you, Laurie Bielong, for your commitment to your students, to Belleville West, and to District 201.

BW Teacher Named Illinois Journalism Educator of the Year

Ms. Laurie Bielong has been named Illinois Journalism Educator of the Year by the IJEA (Illinois Journalism Education Association).  Ms. Bielong teaches English and journalism at Belleville West; she has advised the student newspaper, the Hy News, for the past 20 years.  She was nominated for the award by this year’s Hy News editors, Sydney Jones and Johnathan Marchbanks.

Ms. Bielong will be honored at the IHSA State Journalism Contest at the end of the month.

Congratulations to Ms. Bielong on this incredible distinction!