An NFL QB, an alt-country band and more: Who’s next on Belleville West’s Wall of Fame?

Belleville West High School’s Wall of Fame will soon see 10 new, yet familiar, faces.

For a while, the same plaques – each adorned with the name, image and description of the person it honors – lined the high school’s foyer. When Malcolm Hill became Belleville West’s principal last school year, he set out to revive the long-standing tradition of adding Wall of Fame inductees.

“This high school has produced great people; the community has always supported this high school, and we wanted people to be recognized for the great work they’ve done for this learning community, Hill said.

So, Hill formed a committee, with Jason Karstens, an assistant principal at Belleville West, as its chair. The committee turned to the community to nominate those who have made a difference in the high school community, Karstens said. Inductees do not have to be a West alum to end up on the wall, but they must have graduated high school at least 10 years ago.

The committee plans to induct a new Wall of Fame class every five years.

Karstens said what makes this year’s honorees unique is the group’s diversity. There’s musicians, artists, athletes, medical professionals and more.

“The best part of this class is it just embodies every student who has gone through Belleville West or is going through Belleville West,” Karstens said.

An induction ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2026 at the St. Clair County Country Club.

Listed alphabetically, here’s a little bit about each 2025 inductee:

Norman P. Armstrong

Armstrong is best known as a track and field and cross country coach for Belleville Township High and later Belleville West, but he also was a PE teacher and basketball coach at points of his decades-long tenure. Armstrong, who graduated from Belleville Township, was instrumental in starting the high school’s women’s track and field and cross country programs. He’s the namesake of the Belleville West Norm Armstrong Invitational.

Kyle Blaha

Blaha is an award-winning musician, Artistic Director of Composition for the New York Youth Symphony and is an ear training faculty member at The Julliard School, where he received his doctorate of musical arts and master’s degree in music. His work has been featured in New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute performances and premiered by the Julliard Orchestra. When he attended Belleville West, he was in band and orchestra.

Rachel Bray

Bray, who also graduated from Belleville West, is an artist and social justice advocate who is passionate about inter-faith and cross-cultural community engagement. She is the director of communications and engagement at the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis and the publicity coordinator for Arts & Faith St. Louis. In high school, Bray was involved in a number of activities, including orchestra, art club and debate team.

Dr. Dustin J. Carpenter

The former Mr. Maroon and Belleville West student-athlete went on to be a surgeon in New York. According to Weill Cornell Medicine’s website, Carpenter specializes in a number of surgeries, including living donor liver and kidney transplants, and is also an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has an extensive educational and research background, and his work can be found in multiple research journals. When back in the metro east, Carpenter speaks to student-athletes on the importance of education, Karstens said.

Jamal Hameedi

Road and Track Magazine dubs Hameedi, a Belleville West graduate, “the guy responsible for every great Ford performance car.” The engineer worked at Ford Motor Company for multiple decades and commanded the development of many sports cars, including the Mustang Shelby GT350, the magazine says. He is now the director of special vehicle operations for Jaguar Land Rover.

Michael Koeneman

Karstens described Koeneman as a “long-time supporter of Belleville West” and community at large. Koeneman, a businessman by trade, was Potentate of the Ainad Shriners of Southern Illinois, a long-time Swansea Park Board member and more. His niece Juels Hunter, a literacy coach Belleville West, said in her nomination form that “for only having one kidney, he was the feistiest guy on the football field” when he was a Belleville Township student. To learn more about Koeneman’s life, view his obituary on Kurrus Funeral Home and Cremation Services’ website.

Rusty Lisch

Hill said Lisch can be described with one word – “legend.” Lisch played basketball and football at Belleville West before becoming the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. He then went on to the National Football League; he played four years for the St. Louis Cardinals and one with the Chicago Bears. At one point Lisch was a project engineer at Belleville Memorial Hospital and worked with students with disabilities within the Belleville 201 school district, Karstens said.

Allen W. Scharf

“Al paved the way for all of these inductees to have opportunities in school and beyond as a (District 201) board member and community leader,” Karstens said of the long-time educator and West alumnus, Scharf is currently a Stookey Township trustee, and in a 2021 campaign post detailed his time as a teacher and an administrator for a number of local school districts. He’s also held a number of community leadership positions, including at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Belleville.

John Wehmeier

Wehmeier has held multiple titles in the metro east: coach, math teacher, officiant, athletic director, the list goes on. He was the head wrestling coach at Belleville West from 1973 to 1993, and over the years coached multiple state qualifiers and two state champions, as well as led his team to 10 Southwestern Conference Championships and one Sectional Championship, according to the state’s Wresting Coaches and Officials Association. He’s also been recognized for officiating track and field and cross country.

Uncle Tupelo

The genre-bending band’s story started at Belleville West, where members Jeff Tweedy, Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn met. Uncle Tupelo was big in the local music scene in the early 90s’, and was known to play at local metro-east venues. The alt-country band’s split produced the Grammy-winning Wilco, which was started by Tweedy, and Farrar’s band Son Volt.