Education Matters: Silent auction raises hundreds for Belleville West art club

Belleville West’s artists and jazz band brought in more than $1,200 for the school’s art club with an event Saturday night at the school’s cafeteria.

The Art Auction and Fine Arts Festival had more than 300 attend, in addition to the artists and musicians. Art on sale at the silent auction brought in more than $1,140, with some pieces selling for $40. The art included pottery, paintings, drawings and photography from pieces that could fit on a tabletop to two massive pieces more than 5 feet tall and wide.

The Belleville West Jazz band played, lead by Doc Birkner.

The Art Club will take a train trip to Chicago next semester to visit the Art Institute of Chicago, and the fundraiser will help pay for train tickets, accommodations and other expenses. The Art Club will also see Millennium Park, Navy Pier and eat deep dish pizza.

Father McGivney names a president

Father McGivney Catholic High School is moving to a president-principal model of operation, according to a news release last week from the school.

“In this model, the president is the chief executive officer of the school and responsible overall for the school’s operation and for providing spiritual leadership to achieve its mission. The principal oversees the day-to-day ‘internal’ operations of the school, and a newly established position, vice-president for development and finance, oversees the day-to-day ‘external’ operations of the school including enrollment management, finance and business aspects,” said Doug Villhard, chairman of the McGivney board of directors.

He said both the principal and vice-president for development and finance report to the president.

The first president is the Rev. Jeffrey Goeckner, Villhard said. Goeckner is pastor of St. Boniface Parish and Dean of the Alton Deanery. The role is part-time, and Father Goeckner will continue in his other roles.

The announcement said more than 60 percent of Catholic high schools use this model.

Mike Scholz will remain as principal and David Michael, who had been the director of development and finance since the school’s inception, has been promoted to the new role of vice-president for development and finance.

Fredbird visits school

Fredbird visited Shiloh Elementary students in the early childhood program through fourth grade on Dec. 3. The assembly was part of the school’s Doin’ It Right program, which teaches students to avoid drugs, stay in school and participate in sports. More than 300 children were at the assembly.

Students take a break for coding

First-through eighth-graders at St. John Neumann Catholic School in Maryville were part of “The Hour of Code” during Computer Science Education Week. Computer science basics help nurture creativity and problem-solving skills, the school said in a news release. Captain Kelly Lehman, a cyberspace operations officer of the Cyberspace Protection Team at Scott Air Force Base, gave the students an interactive presentation.

Annual art contest names winners

The eight schools of the Southwest Conference again participated in the fifth annual art competition at the Edwardsville Arts Center.

Artists from Alton High School, Belleville East High School, Belleville West High School, Collinsville High School, East St. Louis High School, Edwardsville High School, Granite City High School and O’Fallon High School offered paintings, drawings, photography, ceramic and more for the contest.

Edwardsville artist Caroline Anderson judged Maia Cerny, of Belleville East, the winner with “Caution: Wet Paint.” Second place was “A Bigger Splash” painted by Belleville East’s Haley Inyart. Pauline Cabrera from Belleville West won third place with her mixed media piece, “The Window.” Maryssa Norton from Granite City High School also received an honorable mention with her drawing, “Azure.”

The student artwork is on display through Jan. 1 at the Edwardsville Arts Center at 6165 Center Grove Road.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Education Matters: Silent auction raises hundreds for Belleville West art club."