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Little Theatre Opens the Season with an American Classic
The Belleville West Little Theatre will present its annual fall play on Thursday through Saturday, October 10 through 12. This year’s production is The Crucible, an American classic by Arthur Miller.
This drama about the Salem witch trials is both a gripping historical play and a timely piece relevant to our contemporary world. The story focuses on young farmer John Proctor (senior Jaylon Muchison), his wife Elizabeth (senior JoJo Holm), and the young servant Abigail Williams (sophomore Elise Moore), who maliciously causes Elizabeth’s arrest for witchcraft.
When John Proctor goes to the court to expose Abigail’s lies, the deceit and bigotry explode. Instead of saving his wife, John Proctor finds himself also accused of witchcraft and—with a host of other innocent citizens—condemned to hang. This production of The Crucible uses contemporary staging, costumes, technology, and media to examine the ways in which this classic text still comments on our modern society.
The production is directed by Mr. John Lodle and Mr. Jamie Klien. The student directors are seniors Abigail Blakey, Delaney Holliday, JoJo Holm, Alex Johnson, Jaylon Muchison, and Jayden Touchette. Student technical directors are seniors Anna Baldus, Shelbie Descamps, Alex Huelskamp, Evan Murray, Emma O’Donnell, Luke Schauster, Carmen Wilder, and sophomore Lexi Herbeck.
Performances are at 7:00 each evening in the Belleville West Performing Arts Center, located at 4063 Frank Scott Parkway West. Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for adults.
Student Readers Kick Off the Tenth Million Page Challenge
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 SENIOR CLASS has read the most total pages, but the JUNIOR CLASS and the SOHOMORE CLASS are very close behind!
The SENIOR CLASS finished the first triad with 172,333 pages of pleasure reading. That’s an average of 346 pages per senior. These senior classes read the most pages per student:
Mr. Brunner—first hour: 1037 pages per student
Mr. Lodle—fifth hour: 598 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—first hour: 472 pages per student
Mrs. Short—second hour: 455 pages per student
Mrs. Lewis—fourth hour: 422 pages per student
Mrs. Short—first hour: 415 pages per student
The JUNIOR CLASS finished the first triad with 164,143 pages of pleasure reading. That’s an average of 354 pages per junior (the most pages per student of any class). These junior classes read the most pages per student:
Mr. Garland—fifth hour: 920 pages per student
Mr. Brunner—second hour: 835 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—sixth hour: 607 pages per student
Mr. Brunner—first hour: 549 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—third hour: 467 pages per student
Ms. Chalmers—first hour: 436 pages per student
Mr. Schobert—fifth hour: 425 pages per student
The SOPHOMORE CLASS finished the first triad with 164,044 pages of pleasure reading. That’s an average of 286 pages per sophomore. These sophomore classes read the most pages per student:
Ms. Schloesser—first hour: 1680 pages per student
Ms. Schloesser—seventh hour: 858 pages per student
Ms. Schloesser—third hour: 460 pages per student
Ms. Chalmers—sixth hour: 436 pages per student
Mr. Johnson—fourth hour: 410 pages per student
The FRESHMAN CLASS finished the first triad with 157,512 pages of pleasure reading. That’s an average of 297 pages per freshman. These freshman classes read the most pages per student:
Mrs. Hunter—first hour: 648 pages per student
Ms. Mims—first hour: 676 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—first hour: 676 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—third hour: 590 pages per student
Ms. Thurnau—second hour: 465 pages per student
Ms. Ursani—seventh hour: 457 pages per student
Ms. Ursani—sixth hour: 442 pages per student
Mrs. Short—fourth hour: 404 pages per student
The teachers in the ENGLISH DEPARTMENT started the year with 16,082 pages of pleasure reading, an average of 804 pages per English teacher.
Can the seniors maintain their lead? (No senior class has ever won the Million Page Challenge.) Can the juniors and sophomores catch them in the next triad? Visit the library, find some good books, and keep reading!
Mrs. Short Honored by Belleville High School Board of Education
At the September school board meeting, BW Principal Rich Mertens honored English teacher Mrs. Ashley Short. In recognizing Mrs. Short, he made the following comments:
Even though Ashley Short is a young teacher (this is her eighth year in the English Department at Belleville West), she has—since her very first year—displayed all the traits of an experienced educator. Her classroom is well-organized; she establishes a positive rapport with her students; she constantly incorporates new ideas and activities in her classes to keep students engaged and learning. Last year, a student-led discussion of the novel Speak demonstrated just how much freshmen had learned—about interpretation of literature, about speaking in front of the class, about collaborating with one another—during their year with Ashley.
Ashley is typically one of the first teachers in the department to arrive in the morning and one of the last teachers to leave in the afternoon. Though she jokes that she needs the morning “quiet time” with her coffee, Ashley uses that time to prepare materials, plan lessons, meet with students, and check in with other teachers; when her first class enters the room at 8:30, Ashley has already been working for more than an hour.
For several years, Ashley worked as an assistant coach for the football cheerleaders, but her greatest extracurricular commitment is as the adviser of the Belleville West yearbook. When Ashley’s department chair asked her if she would be willing to advise the yearbook, Ashley might have had a little fear in her eyes, but she didn’t hesitate a bit to accept the challenge. Since then, Ashley has established strong consistency for the yearbook program, recruited and built a growing staff, produced high-quality books each year, added a spring supplement to the annual publication, and led her students to multiple prizes for writing, photography, and design.
Over the past two years, Ashley became concerned by the fact that a growing number of students weren’t included in the senior section of the yearbook because they were unable to provide professional photos. This year, she decided to tackle that problem. Pairing with a local photographer, Ashley created a program that allows any senior to have a senior portrait taken for a very minimal fee. In this way, she’s working to ensure that every student in our school is included in the record of his/her years at Belleville West. (And in this first year, more than 100 seniors participated in the new photo program!)
Thank you for everything you do for the students at Belleville West, Ashley—those who work with you every day in classes, those who learn from you as yearbook advisor, and those who have an outstanding yearbook because of your leadership.
Student Newspaper Debuts Online Format
Last Friday, the Belleville West student newspaper—the Hy News—published its first edition of the year and its first-ever digital edition. Follow the links below for new stories every week.
English Department Presents New Reading Challenge
For the 2019-2020 school year, the teachers in the BW English Department encourage students to read beyond their comfort zones. To help students try new genres, the English teachers have developed a list of book categories, with each teacher contributing one category (and several recommended books in that category). How many of these book categories can you read in the 2019-2020 school year?
Student Groups can Compete in BW Battle of the Bands
The Belleville West English Department will host the school’s first Battle of the Bands on October 17. Student musical groups of all styles—pop, acoustic, a cappella, jazz, rock, country, rap—are encouraged to submit audition recordings. Approximately 10-12 bands will be selected to perform. The winning band, chosen by the audience, will receive a cash prize.
For more details, and to submit an audition recording, scan the QR code on the poster below.
Harambee Invites Students to the First Meeting of the Year
Harambee, a group of Belleville West students interested in African-American history and culture, will hold its first meeting of the year this Friday, September 6, at 8:00 a.m. Returning members and new students are encouraged to attend. The organization is sponsored by English teacher Ms. Carnetta Chalmers.
Belleville West Theatre Announces 2019-2020 Season
The Belleville West Little Theatre recently announced its slate of shows for the 2019-2020 season.
The year opens with the fall play on October 10, 11, and 12. This year’s production is The Crucible, the Tony-winning American classic by Arthur Miller. This story of the Salem witch trials will receive an updated treatment that examines the relevance of Miller’s text to contemporary America. The cast and crew will hold matinee performances for middle school students on October 9 and 10.
Next is the freshman-sophomore show, a performance that showcases West’s younger actors. This year’s production features two comedies by Ian McWethy, An Absolutely True Story (As Told by a Bunch of Lying Liars) and Appropriate Audience Behavior. This year’s freshman-sophomore show will be held on Thursday, November 14.
The theatre department opens 2020 with the children’s show, scheduled for January 23 and 24. This year’s show is Seussical the Musical, which features such favorite Dr. Seuss characters as the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, and Sour Kangaroo. Area grade school students will enjoy matinee performances of the show on January 21 and 22.
The season continues with the annual contest drama, to be presented on March 19. This year’s play is Picasso at the Lapin Agile, an insightful comedy by Steve Martin that imagines a meeting between Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian bar at the turn of the twentieth century. The cast and crew will compete in the sectional drama contest on March 20 and 21.
The year concludes with the spring musical, On the Town. This beloved American musical (which last appeared on Broadway in 1998, featuring Belleville West alum Lea DeLaria) includes such memorable songs as “New York, New York,” “Come Up to My Place,” “Lonely Town,” and “Lucky to be Me.” The musical will play the West stage on April 23, 24, and 25.
Students, parents, and theatre fans can follow all the drama on the BW stage by liking the group’s Facebook page. Just click here to view the Belleville West Little Theatre page.