Chester Community School District 139

CHS: 2025 DISTINGUISHED YELLOW JACKET CEREMONY Monday, April 14th, 2025 we celebrated the impact of a new group of Distinguished Yellow Jackets. Teachers had the opportunity to share their reflections of how these outstanding individuals changed the nature of Chester High School, be that other students, the classroom, or the teacher themselves. We are thankful for the contributions these students made to our community and look forward to seeing how they step forward with these skills to contribute to the greater community and world.

CHS: IHSA Journalism Sectionals Sports Writing Huge congrats to Alex Williamson! He placed 3rd in Sports Writing at IHSA Journalism Sectionals and is headed to State on April 25th!

CHS: SIUC SALUKI TAKE OVER TOUR The SIUC Saluki Take Over Tour came to CHS today, and Vice Chancellor for Student Enrollment, Wendell Williams gave an inviting presentation discussing various reasons why SIUC is a great option for our students. Then, our students who have committed to SIUC “Put a Cap On It” in preparation for starting the upcoming year! We would like to thank everyone involved for giving our students the opportunity to learn more about this educational option in our backyard.

CHS loves to celebrate and recognize staff members who work diligently and commit themselves to making the CHS community a thriving environment! Congratulations on achieving tenure! Enjoy this video illustrating our creative way of showing appreciation! https://youtu.be/U_nX48ORk2o

CHS: DISTINGUISHED YELLOW JACKET CEREMONY LIVE STREAM (FREE) Join us in celebrating these outstanding students and watch tonight's Distinguished Yellow Jacket Ceremony on Hudl starting 6:25pm at the following link: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/il/chester/organization/14289/chester-high-school

CHS: WEEK OF 04/14/2025 EVENTS See attached graphics.

CHS : DISTINGUISHED YELLOW JACKET CEREMONY (Correction) Monday, April 14th, 2025 6:30 pm in Colbert Gymnasium Enter through the Professor Sharp Cafeteria Come celebrate the outstanding impact of our students! Adding 27 students to the elite class of award recipients. (photos from last year's ceremony)

CGS & CHS: EARTH DAY 2025 Earth Day Celebration Friday, April 25, 2025 RAPTORS are coming to CHS

CHS: SIUC SALUKI TAKE OVER Tuesday 4/15/25 2:00-3:00 pm SIU's Administrative Team will be in Colbert gym for a meet and greet. The Saluki Tour is hitting many high schools in the area, so let's give them a warm welcome. Thank you!

CHS PROM 2025 An Evening Under the Stars Congratulations to this years Prom King and Queen, Max Blechle and Mirra Krieg as well as Prince and Princess, Trayton Peters and Callie Davis!

One of the most anticipated days for CGS students is approaching quickly! Details regarding Celebrate Fitness Day will be sent home today!

CGS & CHS: TEACHER ACHIEVEMENT Thursday, April 10, the Board of Educations awarded tenure to the following Chester Grade School teachers: Susan Furuholmen, and Meg Schnoeker as well as the following Chester High School teachers: Bryce Bainter, Marsha Bartley, Jackie Clendenin, Cheri Boyd-Diercks, Rana Hodge, and Brittany Mueller. Achieving tenure is a major accomplishment, signifying a long-term commitment and success in your field. It's a well-deserved recognition of your hard work and dedication. We thank you for your service to our students, parents, schools, and community.

CHS: ACCIDENT REENACTMENT YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq3eX5mR0ik

CHS: CHESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY POETRY COMPETITION Chester Public Library Annual Poetry Competition Winners High school winners are: 1st Place: Nico DeGuzman 2nd Place: Revolution Chaput 3rd Place: Jason Sibley Adult Category 1st Place: Miss Hodge A reception will be held at the Chester Public Library on Saturday, April 12

CHS: ACCIDENT REENACTMENT Wednesday, April 9th’s presentation by Illinois State Police in Colbert gym followed by the accident reenactment at the corner of Swanwick and Lee Streets attended by Chester Police Department, Fire Department, and Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, was an important opportunity for students to see the consequences of choices. Thanks to all of the participating agencies with special thanks to Tim Crow for organizing the event and coordinating all of the agencies.

CHS: STU CO COMMUNITY MOVIE NIGHT Chester High School Student Council will be hosting a movie night at W.O. Smith Field. The Student Council will be showing Moana 2 and have other activities including face painting and large coloring sheets. This event will be held on Saturday, April 26th, activities will start at 5:30pm and the movie will start at 6:00pm. Water, soda and popcorn will be available. All attendees should bring their own comfortable seating; blankets will be placed in front of lawn chairs for visibility. Use the QR code below to register before 4/19/2025. Also a big thank you to Chester Dairy Queen for helping to sponsor this event.

CHS: ACCIDENT REENACTMENT NOTICE FROM CITY OF CHESTER: The Chester Fire and Police departments will be conducting a mock accident at Chester High School on April 9th from 1:45 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Swanwick Street will be closed from Knapp Ave. to State Street during this event. Please use an alternate route. This is an educational demonstration and drill, not an actual emergency.

CHS: PARKING RELOCATION WEDNESDAY APRIL 9th NOTICE Students in spots 1-52 will need to park on Swanwick Street in front of W.O Smith Field Football bowl and along the fence line of the visitors side Wednesday, April 9th only.

Earth Day Celebration April 25, 2025 A day of beautifying our schools and our community! T-Shirts Available, pricing and order form attached.

CHS Theatre Production of “Addams Family” is huge hit! (2 of 2) Cast, Crew, and Orchestra wow crowds at each presentation and bring the house down consistently BY JIM BEERS A key overall master of all types of creative services was Tim Paulus. Paulus is a master of wood-working, metal-work, painting, carpentry, plumbing, and electrical issues was very helpful throughout the months and weeks leading up the opening night. CHS Agriculture Teacher Gregory Weigand and his CHS Construction Class assisted with set-building, etc. Carolyn Schwent was a monetary donor and Mary Ann Heberlie was slated to manage concessions. She has also been a long-time fund-raiser and overall supporter of CHS musicals. Mrs. Lisa Lazar, Sue Colonel’s sister from Chicago, created all of the costumes and made adjustments to costumes throughout the event. Three CHS faculty and staff were responsible for handling ticket sales including Mrs. Evelyn Hankins, Mrs. Allison Heuer, and Mrs. Crystal Tindall. The Production Programs were created by CHS teacher Rana Hodge. CHS junior music student, Davis August designed and created the artwork for the program booklets. Lighting and Sound Supervisor was CHS Graduate, Miss Rylie McDonough. Finally, Set and Backstage Managers included Mrs. Paula Ray, Mrs. Shirley Stegmann, and Miss Alex Westbrook. The musical ran for four days, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday March 20-23. Show times were 7:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2:00 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. Crowds were good at each showing for approximately a total attendance of 1,000 for the four-day event. The show was great from the start on Thursday, but got event better each performance as butterflies dissipated and confidence increased. The show was primarily a comedy, but had spurts of romance, drama, heartbreak and disappointment. Overall, the laughs flowed from the opening scene right up until the final notes and lines of the show. Jason Sibley and Grace Kirkpatrick were phenomenal as the parents (Gomez Addams and Morticia Addams) of Wednesday Addams (played by Ary Shipley) and Pugsley Addams (played by Nico De Guzman). Will Welge was a crowd favorite as Uncle Fester. Anna Helvey Ahring shined as Grandma and got more than her share of laughs throughout the evening. Bently Valleroy and Megan Zimmer were brilliant as the parents (Mal Beineke and Alice Beineke) of Lucas Beineke, played by Jaden Lopez. The “normal” threesome were quite comical as they attempted to meet the prospective abnormal in-laws and family members in the Addams Family home for dinner and a night of get-acquainted activities. In his first ever appearance on stage, senior Brenden Malley, who played the role of the very abnormal butler, Lurch, had a fun time “grunting” his lines throughout the show. The entire show, including a 15-minute intermission, took about an hour and 30-minutes. The scenes moved quickly and kept the attention of the audience quite well! The orchestra was challenged this year as the music was plentiful (29 songs) and difficult at times. Even with a very experienced group of musicians, Director Steve Colonel had to keep them on their toes to accomplish the task of accompanying all of the 29 tunes. The music was fantastic, however, and the lead vocalists did a wonderful job of bringing the show to life! Backing up the main 10 cast members were a wonderful group of 12 Ancestors (otherwise known as the chorus). From the opening entrance to the final curtain call, the Ancestors were busy and did an amazing job of supporting the cast. Several had lines, but all sang and danced to broaden the production. Director, Steve Colonel said, “I want to thank everyone who came out to see “The Addams Family Musical” at Chester High School’s Juergens Gym March 20-23. As exhausting as directing a musical can be, it gave me great joy to see the excitement on the kids’ faces as they took the stage for each performance.” “Our audiences were wonderful for each performance all four shows! I hope everyone enjoyed the production as much as we enjoyed performing it! Remember, ‘When you’re an Addams, you do what Addams always do!” PHOTO 1 The Cast, Crew, Orchestra, and Staff pose for a photo immediately after the closing of the Chester High School Musical, "The Addams Family". Melody Colonel Photo PHOTO 2 The Beineke Family including (left to right) includes Alice (Megan Zimmer), Mal (Bently Valleroy), and Lucas (Jaden Lopez). The "Normal" family had just entered the home of the Addams Family in the CHS production of "The Addams Family". Jim Beers Photo PHOTO 3 The Addams Family comes to life on Juergens Gym Stage Thursday through Sunday March 20-23 at Chester High School. Pictured (left to right) are Addams Family members Lurch (Brenden Malley), Uncle Fester (Will Welge), Wednesday (Ary Shipley), Gomez (Jason Sibley, Morticia (Grace Kirkpatrick), Pugsley (Nico De Guzman), and Grandma (Anna Helvey Ahring) Melody Colonel Photo.