Belleville East

Activities

Arts

Art Club

Sponsors: Breanne Pelker; Candice Santos; and Emily Washburn
The Art Club works on projects that enhance the beauty of the campus – from signage to murals and more. You will find the Art Club volunteering and face painting at art fairs in addition to hosting the Q Gallery Art Exhibition and Competition. Members of the Art Club are encouraged to help the art teachers make Belleville East a more eye-appealing place. You may talk to any of the art teachers in Q building for more information.

Choirs

Sponsors: Dr. Drew Cowell and Jessica Williamson

Drama Club

Sponsor: Zach Rogers

Lancer Book Club

Sponsors: Annette Whitaker, Annie Jenkins
The Book Club provides students with an opportunity to read and discuss books simply for enjoyment.

Marching Band/Color Guard

Sponsor: Marching Band- Mark Tessereau and Tim Hassall
Color Guard- Bryan White

#ProjectLITBEast Book Club

Sponsor: Laura Byrne; Amber Thurnau; Jennifer Sorg

#ProjectLITBEast Book Club – Project Lit is a national, grassroots LITeracy movement, a network of dedicated teachers and students who are committed to increasing access to culturally relevant books and promoting a love of reading in our schools and communities. #ProjectLIT BEast student members select our reading for each semester with our book discussion happening during a lunch hour. Student members receive a free copy of the book to read and then pass on to others.

Social, Activism, & Volunteering

Action Civics

Sponsors: Andrea Seipp

Action Civics is a non-partisan group started by students in 2017 to provide opportunities to become more civically active on campus and in our communities. This group manages the Belleville East Food Pantry and gets involved in numerous activities on campus when needed, emphasizing student voice. Students discuss and address problems and invite stakeholders to speak to the group and brainstorm ideas for taking informed action at Belleville East.

BASIC Youth Board

Sponsors: Alison Coates; Katherine Mertens

BASIC (Belleville Achieves Strength In Character) Youth Board consists of students from Belleville East, Belleville West, and Althoff that model the BASIC adult board functions; doing community service and leadership service activities in the Belleville community.  Students on the board exhibit strong leadership skills and promote good character inside and outside of school. Members have to apply and go through an interview process in order to be selected for the Board.

The BASIC Youth Board at East meets once a month before school, and then approximately once a month collectively with Althoff and West at the CAVE or at a location for community service.

Belleville East Gay-Straight Alliance

Sponsors: Micaela Maco; Tina Knapp

Craft Club

Craft Club is a group open to any student interested in exploring various creative outlets. Past projects include painting, needlework, paper crafting, and other DIY projects. Members of the club provide input to project ideas for the group. The group is designed to help foster self-expression and collaboration while engaging in hands-on activities while building friendships and a sense of community. Meeting times are posted in the student announcements and Google classroom page.

Sponsor: Kristina Moran
Contact: krmoran@bths201.org

Ecology Club

Sponsors: Garrett Guest

The Belleville East Ecology Club has been one of the largest and most active campus organizations from the time this institution opened its doors. Our stated purpose has been:

”A primary goal of the ecology club is to create a greater appreciation of the earth’s diverse biological wealth and promote an exchange of ideas and efforts aimed at insuring continued biological diversity. We, the sponsors, believe that our goals may be achieved only through active participation.”

Opportunities for active student participation may be realized through frequent hiking or camping trips to natural areas, community service projects, political lobbying efforts, and campus habitat restoration work. Much of the landscaping and natural settings found around the East campus today were made possible by efforts of past ecology club students. In addition to the environmental benefits from these efforts, surveys have shown that assistant principals, teachers, and the student body overwhelmingly support the continued natural restoration projects and feel more comfortable in a “green” learning environment. Research has suggested a positive effect on student behavior as well.

Meetings are held on every other Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. in G205.

First Priority

Sponsors: Becky McGarrity

First Priority is for students who want to join other Christians at our school. We meet on Tuesday mornings at 7:50am for Bible study and fellowship and have a social outing at least one time a month.  Our goal is to unite the Christian community to reach our high school campuses for Christ.

Hispanic Student Union

The mission of the Hispanic Student Union (HSU) is to increase Hispanic representation, support, and visibility at Belleville East. The HSU promotes understanding, appreciation, and education of Hispanic cultures and traditions. Our club strives to challenge negative stereotypes and foster a more inclusive environment. In the HSU, members can expect to connect with Hispanic students within our campus and larger community through social events, volunteerism, and cultural awareness activities.

Sponsor: Micaela Maco
Contact: mmaco@bths201.org

Key Club

Sponsor: Christine Oplinger; Jessica Scharf; Tina Thornberry
Key Club International is the largest and oldest student-led service organization in the world. This club provides service to home, school, and community throughout the year.

Mashariki Multicultural Club

Sponsor: Mitch Ford
Mashariki Multicultural Club or MMC began in September 2006. The mission of MMC is to encourage the student body at Belleville East to celebrate cultural diversity in positive ways; such as hip hop, step, mime, praise dance, drumming, poetry and song. Because they serve as representatives of the school, members in Mashariki must maintain good grades, exhibit strong character, and have the chance to showcase their talents at various performances.

Octagon Club

Sponsors: Michelle Seneczyn, Judy Baldus
The Octagon Club is a community organizational group which allows students to become volunteers in their school and community. The students volunteer for various groups to help make a positive difference in our community.

Recycling Team

Sponsors: Jean Becherer

Sports & Competitions

Acting and Speech Team

Sponsors: Zach Rogers

Bass Fishing Club

Sponsors: Eric Benhoff

The purpose of the Bass Fishing Club at Belleville East High School is to promote bass fishing and fishing in general within the high school and throughout the community of
Belleville. The club will have meetings, fundraising and outing events throughout the
school year. If possible, we will entry a tournament or two and compete in the IHSA
Sectional with a chance to compete at the IHSA State Finals. The club will teach the
members more about fishing both recreationally and competitively with an emphasizes
on bass fishing. Overall, this club is meant for students to enjoy the sport of bass
fishing and represent the high school and community of Belleville throughout the state
of Illinois.

Boys Basketball

Boys Golf

Boys Tennis

Boys Soccer

Boys Volleyball

Boys Track

BTHS Ice Hockey Club

Sponsor:

This organization is a club for East and West students.

I would like to introduce you to BTHS ( Belleville Township High School) Ice Hockey Club. This organization is formed by a combination of Belleville West and Belleville East Students/Players. The two schools merged this program 3 years ago in order to be on a more competitive level with other teams in the area. We are a club run by mainly volunteer parents and hockey enthusiasts. We do some fundraisers to help keep our families fees at a reasonable level, and have had great success with our program.

Our program consists of of a JV – Junior Varsity Team (players birth year must be between 2003-2000 – 7th grade minimum and 11th grade maximum), this level will work on player development and game play. All players in our district and meeting these requirements, are welcome to join our team.

*In the event of an overabundance of players, we hold the right to have 7th grade players interested in the program, to join in our practices, but not on the bench for games played.
We also have a Varsity level team. These players are required to be of high school age (Freshman through Senior grade level). Varsity players are expected to perform at a more competitive level and will be expected to participate in an evaluation process overseen by qualified coaches.

For more information, please contact: 

Visit Our Website

Cheerleading-Basketball

Cheerleading-Football

Chess Team

Sponsor: Brad Schmidt
The Chess Team gives students the opportunity to improve their chess game through formal and informal competition.

Cross Country

Dance Team

Debate Team

Sponsor: Joseph Blasdel

Dungeons and Dragons Club

Sponsors: Shawn Hennon

This club is for anyone who has ever played or is interested in playing the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.  We are currently playing 5e and 2e.

Esports

Sponsors: Caleb Hawkins; Emma VanHoutan
Contact: cahawkins@bths201.org & evanhoutan@bths201.org

High school esports is a rapidly growing movement that combines competitive video gaming with teamwork, strategy, and school spirit. Students compete in popular titles like Mario Kart, Valorant, Marvel Rivals and Rocket League, developing skills in communication, leadership, and critical thinking. Esports programs often mirror traditional athletics, offering structured practices, coaching, and even scholarship opportunities. As the scene expands, it’s creating new pathways for student engagement and future careers in tech, media, and gaming.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is an interdenominational group of coaches, athletes, and/or those interested in athletics who gather for Christian fellowship around the common bonds of sports and Jesus Christ.
Sponsor: Natalie Peters

Girls and Boys Swim Team

The East Swim Team has 1-2 meets for Boys and Girls a year. Current times must be submitted to Coach WIldermuth prior to the deadlines to qualify. Please email Coach for more information.

Sponsor: Danielle Wildermuth
Contact: dwildermuth@bths201.org

Girls Basketball

Girls Flag Football

Flag football is the fastest growing sport in the United States for girls! Come be a part of history. FALL SPORT

Sponsor: Doug Zerjal
Contact: dzerjal@bths201.org

Visit Our Website

Girls Golf

Girls Soccer

Girls Tennis

Girls Track

Girls Volleyball

Math Team

Sponsors: Tom Hickey, Shawn Coughlin, Matt Osborn and Joe Byrne
Math Team is a group of upper level honors math students that compete against area teams. This is an excellent opportunity for outstanding minds to take their skills to the next level.

Scholastic (Scholar) Bowl

Sponsors: Dave Appel

Scholar Bowl is an IHSA quiz game that tests players on a wide variety of academic subjects like English, math, science, social studies and miscellaneous areas like current events, entertainment, the arts, and sports.  Teams of five players are read questions and try to score points for their team by buzzing first and responding with the correct answer. Belleville East team members compete with other high school teams across the area.  Tryouts for Scholar Bowl Varsity and Junior Varsity teams are held in October and practices begin in November.  The season lasts from December through March.

Science Olympiad

Sponsors: Kelly Scaiefe

Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division. Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering , and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation.

Wrestling

Politics

Model United Nations

Sponsor: Marc Novaria
The Model UN is an organization that seeks to improve student awareness of the operations of the UN as it seeks to solve a multitude of world problems. As a part of the Model UN, students will participate in discussions, speeches, and debates with others.

Youth and Government

Sponsor: Lauren Sexauer

Young Democrats

Sponsor: Shelley Watts

Young Republicans

Sponsor: Matt Osborn

Post High School

Distributive Education (DECA)

Sponsor: Mark Crask
The Marketing Cooperative is for any senior that might be interested in marketing as a career choice. These career-oriented young people learn marketing skills and are actively creating marketing projects directly related to the careers of their choice and are able to put those skills into practice at their place of employment. This course not only provides 3 credit hours, but also includes membership in the Distributive Education Club of America (DECA), a nationwide marketing organization. DECA is a student-centered organization whose program of leadership and personal development is designed specifically for students enrolled in marketing education classes and have an interest in the field of marketing.

JROTC Club

Sponsor: Anne Belline
An organization of Belleville East and Belleville West students who believe in something bigger than themselves and who want to make a difference in our community.

Office Occupations (Co-Op)

Sponsor: Mark Crask
The Office Occupations Co-op program is a program that gives students the opportunity their senior year to gain work experience and receive 3 school credits at the same time. It gives seniors a shortened school schedule so they can balance their school work with a work schedule. In addition, they receive college credit with SWIC, become proficient in the newest Microsoft Office products, and gain valuable work ready skills. It’s a perfect opportunity to “Try on your Career” for the future.

Languages

French Club & French Honor Society

Sponsor: Shauna Ecker
French club is a club for all current and former students of French.

German Club & German Honor Society

Sponsor: Andrew Gaa
German club is a club for all current and former students of German.

Spanish Club & Spanish Honor Society

Sponsors: Katherine Ortega; Jenny Hotze-Wilton; Jenille Reese
Spanish Honor Society Sponsor: Jenny Hotze-Wilton
Spanish club is a club for all current and former students of Spanish.

Honors Societies

French Honor Society

Sponsor: Shauna Ecker

German Honor Society

Sponsor: Andrew Gaa

History Club

Sponsor: Lauren Sexauer

History Club meets twice a month to discuss historical events, host debates, play historical games, and generally celebrate history. As a club, we are committed to uplifting diverse history and we host several events around the school each year. All students and grade levels are invited to join history club!

Mu Alpha Theta

Sponsors: Brent James & Annie Jenkins

Mu Alpha Theta is a nationally recognized Math Honor Society run out of offfices at the University of Oklahoma.

Its purpose is to promote scholarship, foster enthusiasm and render service in the field of mathematics.

Belleville East students are eligible for application once they have completed at least six semesters of mathematics through Algebra 5-6. To be inducted into the society, members must meet a specific high math GPA with no Cs or Ds, teacher recommendations, and have completed at least one semester of math at Belleville East.

Once inducted, members earn service points by attending meetings, assisting students with tutoring, and providing activities for Junior High Math Contest.

If a member earns enough service points by the time they graduate, they will wear a graduation cord, the color of the honor society, at graduation. This is a very high honor and should be congratulated on their achievement.

National Art Honor Society

Sponsor: Candice Santos

The National Art Honor Society program recognizes outstanding visual arts students. The program supports members in achieving the highest standards in art scholarship, character, and service while providing opportunities for leadership, peer recognition, college and career preparation, community engagement, and more—helping to promote the value of art education within schools and communities. The NAHS program is designed by the National Art Education Association to support and recognize students who have shown outstanding abilities in art. The NAHS program supports student members in their goal of attaining the highest standards in visual arts, and bring visual arts education to the attention of the school and community.

National Business Honor Society

Sponsor: Julie Siebers
The Marketing Cooperative is for any senior that might be interested in marketing as a career choice. These career-oriented young people learn marketing skills and are actively creating marketing projects directly related to the careers of their choice and are able to put those skills into practice at their place of employment. This course not only provides 3 credit hours, but also includes membership in the Distributive Education Club of America (DECA), a nationwide marketing organization. DECA is a student-centered organization whose program of leadership and personal development is designed specifically for students enrolled in marketing education classes and have an interest in the field of marketing.

National English Honor Society

Sponsors: Lisa Hayes, Madison Sexauer and Ashlee Rynkowski

National Honor Society

Sponsor: Matt Osborn
HS is an academic and service organization. Once accepted as a member of NHS, students must maintain the high standards of character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Active members attend monthly meetings and complete 30 service hours during their senior year in order to earn the right to wear the NHS cords at graduation.

Renaissance

Sponsor: Krysten Harres
Renaissance is the student society that promotes academic success and character education at Belleville East. Society members must be Renaissance academic success cardholders.

Science National Honor Society

Sponsor: Shawn Hennon

Spanish Honor Society

Sponsor: Jenny Hotze-Wilton

Thespian Society

Sponsor: Zach Rogers

The International Thespian Society is an honor society for theatre arts students; Belleville East students can work towards earning the distinction of being a thespian by working on any of the five shows our theater program produces each school year.

Tri-M (National Music Honor Society)

Sponsor: Jessica Williamson

#ProjectLITBEast Book Club

Sponsor: Laura Byrne, Emily Elden and Jennifer Sorg

#ProjectLITBEast Book Club – Project Lit is a national, grassroots LITeracy movement, a network of dedicated teachers and students who are committed to increasing access to culturally relevant books and promoting a love of reading in our schools and communities. #ProjectLIT BEast student members select our reading for each semester with our book discussion happening during a lunch hour. Student members receive a free copy of the book to read and then pass on to others.

Student Life

Literary Magazine: As the Page Turns

Sponsor: Jessica Templin
Contact: jtemplin@bths201.org

As the Page Turns is a student publication that highlights creative writing, art, and photos. We meet once a week starting in October with our goal to publish by the beginning of May.

Prom

This group works with the sponsor to plan and organize Prom for the Senior Class. Juniors help by choosing the theme, food, decorations, and activities, as well as helping with fundraisers leading up to Prom.

Sponsor: Mitch Ford
Contact: mford@bths201.org

Student Ambassadors

Sponsor: Michael Anderson, Anne Belline
Our mission: To make sure each transfer student feels better included and acclimated to our campus through a “door to door” experience in navigating their class schedule on their first day of classes.

Student Council

Sponsors: Katie Hoerner
Student Council members learn the process of student government while organizing enjoyable and worthwhile activities such as Spirit Week etc.

The Lancer (Newspaper)

Sponsor: Doug Zerjal

Yearbook

Sponsor: Alicia Felton; Jessica Templin

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