Principals tout Triad School District student, staff highlights at April board meeting

By Editor | May 1, 2026 |

By Charles Bolinger

Editor • School principal reports were replete with Triad’s student and staff achievements for April as shown at the April 27 board of education meeting.

Starting with Triad High School, where student enrollment is 1,200, Principal Kelli Barbour had plenty to discuss:

“Mrs. Maedge took THS Culinary students to compete at the Platinum Chef competition at the SWIC Granite City Campus. The theme they chose was ‘Elevated Ballpark.’ Students were provided a mystery bag containing four ingredients to incorporate into their dishes. Presley Gruber took home the team and competition MVP award!

“Congratulations to Sophie Muetnich and Abby Willard, whose work was chosen to be exhibited at the SIUE Annual High School Art Show. Sophie’s piece, ‘King Ozzie,’ won the Art Education Award!”

Six members of Triad’s Student Council attended the Illinois Association of Student Councils State Convention in Springfield on April 2-3.

The school’s debate team competed in both the NSDA District Tournament and the State Tournament, earning multiple top finishes. At the district tournament, four Lincoln-Douglas debaters, Daniel Winfield, Merik Alford, Morgan Barnett and Connor Pearce, all advanced to elimination rounds, with Daniel Winfield and Morgan Barnett reaching the semifinals. At the state tournament, Daniel Winfield continued his success, advancing to the quarterfinals and finishing among the top eight debaters in the state!

Ag Explorers welcomed a special guest at their March meeting. Triad alumna, Kelsey Grapperhaus, shared her inspiring journey in the Ag industry. She is currently working for Mixon Seed Service in South Carolina.

Before spring break, Brighter Futures organized an egg hunt in the building. The staff hid the eggs throughout the day for students to find and then claim a treat in the student services office. The big prize was to find the golden egg for a gift card.

During spring break, the THS choir traveled to New Orleans. All three choirs received Gold categories! In addition to performing in the National World Strides Music Festival, they explored the highlights of NOLA, including the French Quarter and Mardi Gras World. They also had a great time on a swamp tour, seeing all kinds of critters, including alligators.

Also, over spring break, the school had some students, along with Ms. Lane, volunteer at the Col. Benjamin Stephenson House in Edwardsville. They wore period attire and it made content for them to use on their social media.

Congratulations to Triad’s FCCLA, who competed at State in early April. Elise Heinle received gold in Interior Design and qualified for Nationals! Violet Hallowell received silver in Salad Production and Devin Culpepper received bronze in Pastry Arts – Decorated Cookies. FBLA went to state the following day and 26 students placed!

The Spanish Honors Society spent an evening putting on a mini-carnival to provide activities and childcare for the families who attended the Bilingual Education Parent Meeting at Granite City. They also collected snacks and school supplies and purchased bilingual books for each student. Everyone had a lot of fun with this meaningful service project!

Congratulations to Coach Jeff Guidry for being named the Illinois Basketball Associations Coach of the Year!

The CTE Department has recently received all kinds of accolades! Stephanie Potthast was named the Madison County CTE Teacher of the Year! Three CTE students were also named Students of the Year: Dylan Neace as Finance and Business Services Student of the Year and Zane Rakers and Gabe Rappold were named Information Technology Students of the Year!

In the CTE Showcase at SWIC on April 17 the school had three students bring home awards and two of those three received substantial amounts of money as awards! Dylan Neace and Lucas Martin took 2nd place in Marketing and Graphic Design. Miles Quinn placed 2nd in Manual Lathe and received $2,500. Ben Montano finished in 1st place in Manual Lathe and brought home $5,000! Congratulations to all of the CTE students and teachers!

“We were so excited to learn that our very own SRO, Joe, was named the Officer of the Year by the Troy Police Department! A very well-deserved honor for him. We are so fortunate to have him at THS. His connections, enthusiasm and engagement with our students truly makes a difference!”

On April 17, the THS band performed at the Metro East Music for All Concert Band Festival! Both ensembles have been working hard in preparation for this opportunity to perform, receive feedback and participate in clinics led by a nationally acclaimed panel of adjudicators. It was a very productive evening of music for our students.

On April 18, 14 members of our math team competed at the Math State Competition held at Illinois State University.

On Sunday, April 19, THS hosted the Region J Special Olympics Track and Field games. We had 75 student volunteers that helped make the special event a success!

Also, on April 19, THS Students were featured at Highland Arts Council’s Youth Arts Expo. Elliana Eichenseer for Original Music, Kara Littlefield for Original Poetry, Annalee Kennette and Mackenzie Hoover for Visual Arts.

Tickets have been sold and guest forms turned in as they prepare for prom. The theme is “One Enchanted Knight” and will be held at the Regency Conference Center in O’Fallon on May 2 from 7-11 p.m.

Over at Triad Middle School, Principal Brooke Wiemers had things to tout as well:

Student enrollment is now at 957, 13 more than a year ago; 68 more than five years ago and 105 more students than in April 2018.

For the spring play, “Matilda, Jr.” on May 1 and 2, 84 students auditioned for on stage parts; 40 students were cast in the musical this year. Twenty-five students auditioned for backstage crew; 12 students are behind the scenes. Twenty-five students built the set and props and 15 high school students volunteered to assist. Students have been working on the show for four days a week over the last seven weeks.

The students have built a community of inclusion, creativity and hard work – Mr. Douglas and Mrs. Gravois shared that when they say this show is going to be awesome, they can’t be any more honest. The students have worked unbelievably hard memorizing lines, blocking (stage movement), choreography, mapping of the stage and much more. Come out to Matilda, Jr. this Friday and Saturday at THS at 7 p.m.

Some important topics taught at the school recently included:

Vaping – teachers are talking with students about the recent increase in vaping, sharing of vapes and distribution. We shared information regarding nicotine, dangers to their lungs, brain and well-being, chemicals, addiction. We plan to add personal student account videos later this week that share how vaping and an addiction changed their lives.

Earth Day – Recycling Club members made Blookets to share with students in CSC to celebrate Earth Day.

Fourth Quarter Expectation Reminders – teachers took time to highlight the student handbook and do a quick end-of-the-year overview of behavior expectation, academics and attendance to hopefully help with some of the end of the year behaviors that we start to see the last few weeks of school.

Sports/Extracurricular Activities:

Track and field is underway, the coaches are really excited about the potential of the group.

Our inaugural soccer season is off to a strong start as the team has started 3-0 so far. The coaches and players are enjoying their first season.

Scholar Bowl

The JV Scholar Bowl team has a great record of 15 wins and one loss. The last regular season match was Tuesday, April 21. Varsity competes at regional on April 29 at Effingham. Scholar Bowl will celebrate the end of the season on May 6 with a fun party after school, parents are welcome.

Summer camps and fall try-out dates have been posted. Coaches started meeting with potential 6th and 7th graders who are interested in playing sports next fall.

Eighth grade science students have been learning about the periodic table and how subatomic particles make up each atom. One activity they did was an element card sort, where they worked together to solve clues like, “This atom has 8 more protons than boron.” After figuring it out, they had to find the matching element card in the hallway, making it a fun and interactive way to learn.

PLTW – Medical Detectives

It’s sheep brain time in Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Medical Detectives. Students have been learning the location and function of 18 parts of the brain and they recently put that knowledge into action with the highly anticipated sheep brain dissection. This hands-on experience helped bring their learning to life as they explored real brain structures up close.

Over at Silver Creek Elementary, the big news was the donations brought in for the Spartan Sprint for Q’s Wish. Students went door-to-door in neighborhoods near the school and set up lemonade stands to raise funds. Their efforts hauled in $75,674.77! Specific Spartan Sprint for Q’s Wish donations include:

Harper Byrne ($7,250 raised) participated in SRO for the day with Officer Tony
Izzy Wolfe ($4,910 raised) participated in SRO for the day with Officer Tony
Paisley Gibson ($2,100 raised) participated in SRO for the day with Officer Tony
Mrs. Riddle’s second grade class ($1,163.25 raised)
123 students ($250+ raised) through car rides with Troy PD
52 students ($500+ raised) on a field trip to Edison’s in Edwardsville

A popular movement at the school is the Silver Creek Sneaker Club. The fifth-graders have enjoyed it so school administrators decided to let the fourth-graders have a crack at it, starting this fall.

Silver Creek’s student enrollment is at 661, with the largest class currently in second grade.

Over at Henning Elementary School, enrollment is up to 823 students, with pre-kindergarten and early childhood as the largest class at 173 students; fifth grade came in second with 126 students.

The school’s run club will meet for its final race of the school year on May 8 in Tri-Township Park in Troy.

Over at St. Jacob Elementary, where there are currently 226 students enrolled, the school has 35 students signed up for its run club, which began March 23.

Kindergarten enjoyed their field trip to Mid America Airport on April 8. The kids had so much fun climbing on SWAT vehicles, motorcycles, helicopters and fire trucks.

First grade enjoyed a field trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens on April 10.

Second and third grades enjoyed a field trip to Marcoot Creamery and Greenville Park on April 17. Students learned about the milking process, how cheese is made and got to meet and pet calves.At Marine Elementary School, the Hornet Heroes fundraiser was a tremendous success, raising $9,985! These funds will be shared between Marine PE, Marine Activity and Triad Strong to support opportunities for our students and school community.

Marine Elementary Bond Issue Construction update: The construction process is progressing smoothly. Staff, students and parents have demonstrated adaptability and have managed the changes to building procedures effectively. There is a shared sense of enthusiasm among all for the upcoming improvements.