Community Pulse: Coal City School’s theater and wrestling programs thrive

As I think about the school year thus far a single word comes to mind and it’s one, I borrow from the spring musical, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Led by an outstanding cohort of educators, our students are excelling in the classroom and within their chosen extracurricular activities. Our high school and middle school scholastic bowl teams have been tossing out the correct answers all season, three of our middle school students have marvelous memories of being part of the conference spelling bee and 15 members of the high school speech team advanced to the state tournament—four in individual events and 11 as part of the state series performance in the round event. The Board of Education recently recognized the state speech qualifiers, as well as those involved in the Coal City Theatre Department’s production of “Alice by Heart,” that was selected to perform at the Illinois Theatre Association’s Theatre Festival.

Coal City’s production of “Alice by Heart,” was the national high school premiere, and they will have another debut performance in the fall as they were selected as the first and only school in Illinois, and one of just 29 nationwide to stage the high school edition of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” This is a great opportunity for our students and I, like so many others our director has heard from, are anxiously awaiting to see Harry Potter on our performing arts center stage.

On the topic of theatre I would like to commend those involved in our spring musical, “Mary Poppins.” Not only was it an outstanding performance, it was one that showcased teamwork, leadership and resilience as the first three performances were led by understudies who stepped up when illness struck a key member of the cast. Teamwork has been on display throughout the school year as our student athletes have worked together to find success on the court and on the mat. Our teams won multiple tournament, conference and regional titles during the winter season and there were several state final appearances.

It was an exciting season for the seventh grade volleyball team who advanced to the state championship game. The team finished the season with a 21-4 record and an IESA State Runner Up trophy. Eight middle school wrestlers advanced to the state tournament this year and four returned home with medals around their necks.

Our high school wrestling team remains on the path of success. As a team they won multiple tournaments and returned to the state championship match, this year taking second place. There were many individual successes on the mat as well with 11 qualifying for the individual state tournament. Five returned with medals including state champion Landin Benson.

Our school district is proud of all its students for the work they put in day-in and day-out on their academics and extracurricular activities. The success of our students would not be possible without the support of the community, their families and the staff of teachers, administrators and support staff who guide them.

Upon our return from spring break, we will have just 40 school days left and we look to finish strong.

In those final few weeks of the academic year our students will engage in state testing, participate in music concerts, end of the year award ceremonies, attend prom, wrap up their spring academic and sport seasons and the class of 2024 will be presented their high school diplomas. Events that will cap a “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” year.