Jacob Bartkiewicz has been named as Addison Trail’s March recipient of 88’s Best recognition for his outstanding achievements in the performing arts/electives. Bartkiewicz, a senior, was recognized during the March 21 District 88 Board of Education meeting.
Many students are part of Addison Trail’s performing arts programs – but none quite match the involvement, dedication and growth of Bartkiewicz.
Bartkiewicz has been active in music and theatre since his freshman year, and theatre soon became a second home for him. He started out with the crew, but by his senior year has landed key roles in many plays and musicals, most notably as Pontius Pilate in this year’s winter musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
“As a senior, Bartkiewicz has blossomed into a fantastic actor,” said Addison Trail Theatre Director Anna Jakubka. “He makes extremely smart choices on stage.”
Addison Trail social studies teacher and choreographer for the musicals LeVonne Cescolini-Boyer agreed.
“I have always enjoyed working with Bartkiewicz on many musicals here at Addison Trail,” Cescolini-Boyer said. “He is such a talented performer – he has brought me to tears with many of his performances. Bartkiewicz also is such a happy student, who has a love for learning, and I really enjoyed our political discussions!”
Bartkiewicz has played the trumpet since fifth grade, but it wasn’t until high school when he really gained the desire to become a better player. During his sophomore year, he was asked to be the lead trumpet in Marching Band, and he rose to the challenge.
“Bartkiewicz has steadily improved his performance, including being the first trumpet player in a long time to comfortably play the ‘High B’ in the famous ‘Hallelujah’ chorus,” said Dan O’Connell, Addison Trail Music Department Chair and Orchestra Director. “His leadership in the band has raised the overall performance level of the trumpet section, which has made it possible for us to do other notable works.”
Bartkiewicz’s confidence has grown as a result of his motivation to excel, and he has decided to play in the Marching Band in college.
Bartkiewicz also excels inside the classroom. To date, he has taken 10 Advanced Placement (AP)/college-level courses and 15 honors courses.
“Bartkiewicz has the self-discipline and drive to maximize the social and academic benefits of his innate intelligence,” said Jim Perusich, Addison Trail English teacher. “He is a structured writer, a creative thinker and a student who responds positively and proactively to instructional feedback.”
Bartkiewicz also has a long résumé of sports and extracurricular activities, including playing on the golf team, in which he qualified to the Sectional competition this year. He also is a member of Science Olympiad (in which he won first place for an air trajectory machine he built) and DECA (in which he recently won first place for his operations research paper, qualifying him for the DECA International Career Development Conference, which will take place from April 23 to 26 in Nashville, Tenn.). Bartkiewicz also is a Thespian, Sergeant at Arms on the Theatre Board, Vice President of the Tri-M (Modern Music Masters) Honor Society and has participated in Relay For Life.
Bartkiewicz plans to attend Purdue University, where he will join the Marching Band and study aerospace engineering. He would like to pursue a career as an astronaut.