Chester Community School District 139

CHS Homecoming Week concludes with crowning of King and Queen (1 of 2) King is Kolton Jany with Runner-Up Max Blechle; Queen is Elaina Lutman with Runner-Up Mirra Krieg BY JIM BEERS A very busy week of 2024 Homecoming activities at Chester High School came to a close with the Homecoming Parade, Football game and Dance. Along with many other events, the unveiling of the 2024 Homecoming King and Queen topped the list of activities. Wednesday September 18 the entire school was involved in decorating the school and town for homecoming. At school, hallways, floats, and classrooms were decorated to create Homecoming atmosphere. Float and hallway themes included freshmen, “Snuggly Duckling”; sophomores, “Rapunzel’s Toured”; juniors, “Lake with Lanterns”, and seniors, “The Town”. Winners of the decorating contest included, 4th Place: juniors; 3rd Place freshmen; 2nd Place, sophomores, and 1st Place, seniors. Throughout the City of Chester students spent to day going from business-to-business painting windows with various YellowJacket themes and football messages to encourage home town spirit and support for the Homecoming Game vs the Sparta Bulldogs. Wednesday was also, “At last I see the light day” at CHS. Students and staff were encouraged to wear lights of various sorts to complement their apparel for the day. Tree lights, glow sticks, flash lights and other types of lights were encouraged. Thursday September 19 the CHS Student Council decorated Juergens Gymnasium for the 2024 Homecoming Dance. The theme for 2024 went along with the “Tangled” theme of the Disney movie, “Tangled”. Thursday was also “Conceal yourself like a chameleon day”, when students and staff dressed in all types of camouflage to help them blend in with the environment. To end the day, the entire student body, staff, and teachers converged on W.O. Smith Field for the 2024 Homecoming Spirit Games in which each class competed against each other in a variety of contests, both athletic and creative. This tradition is always a Homecoming Week favorite. Spirit Games winners included: 1st Place, Seniors; 2nd Place, Freshmen; 3rd Place, Sophomores; and 4th Place, Juniors. Friday September 20 was Homecoming “Football Friday”. It was, titled, “Find Your Jacket Pride Day” and everyone was encouraged to wear orange and black to help build spirit to help the YellowJacket Football Team beat Sparta. The 2024 Homecoming Parade took place at 4:00 p.m. and was one of the biggest and best in recent history. The parade featured a total of 27 entries including both the Chester High School Marching YellowJacket Band under the direction of Steve Colonel and the Chester Grade School Junior Jacket Marching Band under the direction of Sue Colonel. Other entries included a VFW Color Guard, City of Chester Police and Fire units, CHS class floats, six CHS Class Reunion groups, Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, and Golf teams, the Little Stingers Players and Cheerleaders, and 2024 Homecoming Queen Candidates and Retiring Queen. The Homecoming Football game vs Sparta was a huge success with the YellowJackets defeating the Bulldogs, 48-2. The event included a nearly 2-hour lightning delay and a brief rain shower, but in the end, the game was completed with a great Homecoming victory. At halftime, the CHS Band accompanied the Homecoming Court across the W.O. Smith Football Field for the Queen Coronation. (photos by Jim Beers) PHOTO 1 COURT The CHS Homecoming Court poses for a photo following the crowning of the 2024 Homecoming Queen Saturday September 21 at the Homecoming Dance. Pictured (left to right) are: Junior Queen Candidate Maggie Caby and Junior King Candidate Ethen Colvis; Senior Queen Runner-Up Mirra Krieg and Senior King Runner-Up Max Blechle; Senior Queen Candidate Sadessa Sellers and Senior King Candidate Alex Williamson; Retiring Queen Escort Trentin Eggemeyer and Retiring 2023 CHS Homecoming Queen Bethany Baughman; 2024 CHS Homecoming Queen Elaina Lutman and 2024 CHS Homecoming King Kolton Jany; and Junior Queen Candidate Callie Davis and Junior King Candidate Tray Peters. Photo 2 King and Queen The 2024 Chester High School Homecoming King and Queen are Kolton Jany and Elaina Lutman. Photo 3 Runners-Up The 2024 CHS Homecoming King and Queen Runners-Up are Mirra Krieg and Max Blechle.

CHS FALL SPORTS SENIOR NIGHT: FRIDAY 10/18/24 FALL SPORTS SENIOR NIGHT FOOTBALL, CROSS-COUNTRY, GOLF, CHEER, DANCE & BAND W.O. SMITH FIELD 7:00 PM

CHS VOLLEYBALL PINK OUT: Attached is the the t-shirt order form for our 2024 Annual Pink Out Volleyball game. All directions are listed on the attached form. The Pink Out game is set for October 10th against the Okawville Lady Rockets. There will be a bake sale, silent auction and 50/50. I hope you all can attend! Basic T Shirt information $20 a shirt (XXL and up have extra charges) Money and form due by September 24th. Thank you!

CGS Faculty Member of the Month

CGS ATHLETICS: Today's regional game @ Red Bud has been rained out and rescheduled for tomorrow at the same time, 4:15.

CHS ATHLETICS: Varsity Girls Gold today in Carlyle is CANCELED

Chester Grade School presented bi-monthly "Hive Awards" Friday September 20 as part of the character education program . Teachers nominated 30 students for this recognition for demonstrating one of the following "HIVE" characteristics including Respect (9), Responsibility (12), Safety (0), or Empathy (9). Row 1: left to right: Destiny Jones, Empathy; Emmalyn Martin, Respect; Ivan Lopez, Respect; Antonio Aguilar, Responsibility; and Skylar Draves, Respect; Row 2: left to right: Zander Martin, Responsibility; Paxton Allhands, Empathy; Niaya Pender, Empathy; Quinn Davitz, Empathy; Rowan Liter, Respect; Izabella Pender, Respect; Bennett Carter, Responsibility; and Kaylee Hernandez-Huerta, Empathy. Row 3: left to right: Erianna Quintana, Empathy; Summer Thompson, Responsibility; Aspen Rush, Responsibility; Ren Holley, Responsibility; Lainey Blechle, Respect; Avery Smith, Respect; Angel Aguilar Guijon, Respect; Gavin Studt, Empathy; and Annabell Cross. Row 4: left to right: Aubree Kumke, Responsibility; Neymar Torres, Responsibility; Cash Hargis, Responsibility; Alexandra Todd, Responsibility; Kristin Presswood, Responsibility; Emma Voudrie, Respect; and Ashton Reid, Empathy. Not pictured: Adaline Burris, Empathy. Each honoree was recognized with a certificate and his or her name was announced at the school-wide assembly. The "HIVE" character education program is coordinated and managed by Kasey Crook, School Social Worker. Photo by Kasey Crook.

YellowJackets stay unbeaten with 48-2 win over Sparta (2 of 2) Chester is now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division BY JIM BEERS On the next play, Kolton Jany ran it into the end zone for Chester’s 7 th touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked his 4 th extra-point of the game and the Jackets led, 48-0 with 4:35 left in the first half. It was now nearing 10:00 P.M. By this time Coach Billy Belton had started making substitutions from his bench. Sparta ran a 10-play possession achieving three first downs. The Dawgs were close, but just couldn’t get the score. Facing 4-and-4 the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs with 1:47 left to play in the first half. To end the half, YellowJackets Kolton Jany and Tray Peters got first downs and as the clock ran out, Chester led, 48-0 going into the locker room at halftime. With Chester ahead by 30 points, there was a continuous clock the entire second half. The night was late and coaches, players, officials, and fans were anxious to get the game over and return to their friendly environments! Chester had the ball to start the second half. The Jackets got a pair of first downs but eventually turned the ball over on downs with 4:44 left in the 3rd quarter. Sparta followed with a pair of first downs on their possession but faced 2-and-9 as the clock sounded to end the 3rd quarter. CHS led, 48-0. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs to finish their first possession of the 4th quarter. Chester had to punt on their first possession and Sparta got a safety for two points on a botched CHS punt. Chester 48-Sparta 2 with 9:40 to play on the continuous clock. Sparta turned the ball over on downs to end their final possession and Chester let the final 1:30 run the clock out. CHS won, 48-2. In the win, Chester recorded 253 yards (75 passing and 178 rushing). Sparta recorded 138 yards (99 passing and 39 rushing). Chester had 12 first downs while Sparta had 10 first downs. The YellowJackets had 1 turnover on an interception. The Bulldogs had 3 turnovers including 2 fumbles and 1 interception. Chester’s Zain Al-Jassim completed 6-of-7 passes (86%) for 75 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Sparta passed for 99 yards and 1 interception. Chester rushed for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kolton Jany led in rushing with 9 runs for 121 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Tray Peters ran four times for 19 yards and 1 touchdown. In the receiving stat line Devante Palacio caught 2 passes for 28 yards, and 1 touchdown. Ethan Colvis caught 2 passes for 27 yards and 1 touchdowns. Lannin Caron caught 1 pass for 20 yards. The Jacket defense was tough throughout the long night. CHS recorded 21 tackles, 40 tackle assists, 3 sacks, and 5 tackles for a loss. In addition Chester had 2 fumble recoveries , 1 interception and 2 defensive touchdowns. Kolton Jany led with 3 solo tackles, 3 tackle assists, 2 sacks and 2 tackles for a loss. Denis Vasquez recorded 3 solo tackles, and 1 assist. Ethan Colvis had 2 solos, 4 assists, and 1 tackle for a loss. Cayden Brunkhorst recorded 1 solo tackle and 4 tackle assists. Alex Williamson had 1 solo and 5 tackle assists. Alex Blechle, Gene Bicket, and Brenden Malley each contributed 2 solo tackles apiece. This Friday September 27 the YellowJackets will travel to Wesclin to take on the Warriors. Kick-off is 7:00 p.m.

YellowJackets stay unbeaten with 48-2 win over Sparta (1 of 2) Chester is now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Cahokia Conference Illinois Division BY JIM BEERS The Chester High School YellowJackets hosted the Sparta Bulldogs in the 2024 CHS Homecoming game Friday September 20 at W.O. Smith Field. Chester prevailed by a score of 48-2 to maintain its undefeated record of 4-0. The Jackets further began their quest of the Cahokia Conference, Illinois Division title at 1-0 with the victory over the Bulldogs. The evening started off with sunny skies and very hot, humid temperatures. The stadium was almost full with the surrounding hillsides busy with Jacket fans who came to witness the YellowJackets and the Bulldogs compete for Homecoming supremacy. Sparta won the coin toss and elected to receive to start the game. On the first series, Chester’s Nate Maes blocked a Bulldog punt and the Jackets had the ball just a minute and 30 seconds into the game. The YellowJackets scored on their first two possessions. The first was on the second play from scrimmage when Tray Peters scored on a 5-yard run. Karim Landeros’ extra-point kick was blocked and Chester led, 6-0 at the 9:50 mark. The Jacket defense held the Dawgs to four downs and out and CHS had the ball on their own 33-yard line with 4:31 remaining in the opening frame. After a Devante Palacio 16-yard pass, a Kolton Jany 3-yard run, an Ethan Colvis 3-yard run, and an Ethan Colvis 13-yard pass reception, Colvis scored the Jacket’s second TD on a 14-yard pass from Zain-Al-Jassim. The Landeros kick was good and Chester led, 13-0 at the 4:35 mark. Sparta put together a nice possession after the CHS TD, but were unable to score. Chester took the ball with just .42 remaining in the first quarter. With 29.4 second to play, Chester’s Devante Palacio caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Zain Al-Jassim for the Jacket’s third score. Karim Landeros drilled the extra-point kick and Chester led, 20-0. With Palacio’s touchdown reception, he broke the Chester High School record for touchdown receptions. The former record of 15 TD receptions was set by Jim Howie. That record was tied by Cooper Eggemeyer. Palacio broke their totals by one touchdown and set the new CHS touchdown reception record at 16 all-time TD receptions. With 29.4 seconds on the clock in the first quarter, game officials put the game on hold and sent both teams to the locker rooms due to a series of lightning flashes in the area and predictions of storms. That hold lasted for nearly two hours. Once there were no sightings of lightning for 30-minutes the game was finally resumed at approximately 9:30 p.m. Sparta had the ball when play resumed but did not do well with the possession. Facing 4-and-13, the Dawgs decided to punt. Chester’s Denis Vasquez blocked the kick, recovered the ball, and proceeded to run for a YellowJacket touchdown. Chester’s Tray Peters threw a pass to Alex Blechle for a 2-point conversion. Chester extended its lead to 28-0, at the 10:00 mark. On the play, Sparta was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and a Bulldog was ejected from the game. On Sparta’s next possession the YellowJacket defense was tough as Devante Palacio and Jack Heffernan made a huge tackle, the Dawgs were thrown for a two-yard loss on the next play and facing 4-and-2, the Dawgs fumbled the ball with 8:42 remaining in the first half. Chester recovered the fumble. On Chester’s first play from scrimmage Lannin Caron ran for a first down. Kolton Jany took the ball to the 5 yard line on the second play. Jany followed up on the third play from scrimmage and scored on a 5-yard run. CHS led, 34-0 at the 8:00 mark. Chester’s defense held the Dawgs to 4-and-out on their next possession forcing a punt. The Jackets threw an interception on their second play from scrimmage and Sparta had the ball right back again with 6:26 to play in the half. Sparta had the ball for just two plays when the Bulldogs fumbled again. This time Chester’s Devante Palacio recovered the fumble and ran for another YellowJacket touchdown. Karim Landeros kicked the extra-point to extend Chester’s lead to 41-0 at the 6:03 mark. The Bulldogs had the ball for just two plays in their following possession and they fumbled the ball again, this time on a bad snap and Chester recovered once again! This time with 5:16 remaining in the first half. On Chester’s first play from scrimmage at the Sparta 24 yard line, senior Justin Hayman took the ball to the 5-yard line for a first down. (photos by Jim Beers)

Please be aware, there are different road locations in the city that are currently undergoing construction. This may continue for some time, so please plan accordingly and anticipate possible bus delays in the morning, midday, and after school. Thank you.

CHS ATHLETICS CANCELATIONS: CHS boys golf is cancelled for today and RESCHEDULED for tomorrow. CHS Cross Country at Nashville has been cancelled with no rescheduled date. CHS Soph Football at Sparta has been cancelled with no rescheduled date. 

CGS & CHS 9/27/24 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT: Friday 9/27/24 is an 11:30am Dismissal for School Improvement Bus Drop Off & Parent Pick-Up Times Adjust NO Jacket Care on 11:30am dismissal days.

CHS 2024 HOMECOMING QUEEN, KING, RUNNERS UP AND COURT: Homecoming King: Kolton Jany Homecoming Queen: Elaina Lutman Runner Up: Max Blechle Runner Up: Mirra Krieg Court: Maggie Caby Court: Callie Davis Court Sadessa Sellers Court: Ethan Colvis Court: Trayton Peters Court: Alex Williamson

CHS 2024 HOMECOMING QUEEN AND COURT: Homecoming Queen: Elaina Lutman Runner Up: Mirra Krieg Court: Maggie Caby Court: Callie Davis Court Sadessa Sellers Court: Ethan Colvis Court: Trayton Peters Court: Max Blechle Court: Kolton Jany Court: Alex Williamson

CHS ATHLETICS HUDL BROADCAST QU CODE: See attached graphic. Link: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/il/chester/organization/14289/chester-high-school

CHS HISPANIC FESTIVAL FIELD TRIP CHS Spanish Club Field Trip to the Hispanic Festival in the Soulard Park neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Our students are having fun even though it’s just a little warm out. It is a great opportunity for our students to experience Hispanic culture during this celebration.

CGS CCSI 8th GRADE FIELD TRIP (2 of 2) CGS 8th Graders attended Career Center of Southern Illinois (CCSI) for a Career Day. The event afforded students the ability to select 3 morning sessions to attend and learn about different career opportunities, college degree and program exploration, and take part in hands on job market activities. Thank you to ROE 45 and CCSI for making this event possible.

CGS CCSI 8th GRADE FIELD TRIP (1 of 2) CGS 8th Graders attended Career Center of Southern Illinois (CCSI) for a Career Day. The event afforded students the ability to select 3 morning sessions to attend and learn about different career opportunities, college degree and program exploration, and take part in hands on job market activities. Thank you to ROE 45 and CCSI for making this event possible.

CHS 2024 HOMECOMING WEEK: Wednesday's 1st Annual CHS Homecoming Day, the start of a great new tradition at CHS. Students participated in a variety of Homecoming School Spirit Building activities culminating with our Spirit Games on W.O. Smith Field. Our students really came together to represent not only their classes in the competition but also as our school and community as a whole!

CHS 2024 HOMECOMING WEEK: Fri.: Find Your Jacket Pride (dress up in Orange & Black Yellowjacket Spiritwear) HOMECOMING FOOTBALL AGAINST SPARTA TONIGHT! COME ON OUT AND SUPPORT OUR JACKETS!!!