For the first time, WeGo Drama advanced to the IHSA state finals and earned sixth place at Springfield.

Drama performed “Breakthrough” on April 1 and 2.

“I am very happy because the cast worked so hard. It shows their efforts, the time spent, and the communication of each powerful idea,” director Mark Begovich said.

“Breakthrough” is the true story of teen Jack Andraka who came up with a test for pancreatic cancer after experiencing bullying.

Three students received all state recognition. Senior Stephen Lewis, RJ Bradley, and junior Megan Graal received individual state recognition.

“It was an awesome experience. I am glad that we are able to make it. We worked really hard on the show and it is an honor to be recognized at the state level,” Lewis said.

In order to compete in state, judges select the top three teams in sectionals.

“At state, they are broken down into two divisions for preliminaries, each one with five judges. Those five judges rank them in the top three in each prelim, in which the final teams advance to the final round,” Begovich said.

Advancing to state also let the audience know about the powerful message of “Breakthrough.”

“I think for us it is more than just advancing to the state finals. In the final round, it was being able to tell the story again because it is a really powerful message. I wanted to share the story with more people,” Bradley said.

The audience was engaged throughout the show.

“The response from the audience was incredible and showed how important WeGo Drama is on a state level and other groups. We had an audience laughing, crying and congratulating all of the students,” Begovich said.

WeGo Drama practiced on and off for seven weeks.

“It feels good that we are recognized for all of the work we do because we put in quite a bit of time into these shows. We are also going up against schools that theatre is their one main thing and they put a lot of money into it. It is nice to compete against these schools and succeed with them,” Bradley said.

WeGo Drama also received the 2016 Sportsmanship award.

“They made new friends, had a blast and the fact of the matter is that IHSA noticed that and that is why they were awarded the 2016 Sportsmanship award. Our students here at WeGo behaved so exceptionally,” Begovich said.