HHS alumnus, teacher, and coach for over 30 years, Mr. Gus Schell has an cornucopia of achievements under his belt. His newest venture is a talk show style segment, in collaboration with Bears Broadcasting, called Schell’s Spotlight. The Clarion sat down with him to see what it was all about. 

The Clarion: What is “Schell’s Spotlight”?

Mr. Schell: Well, I think as a school that we have not done a great job of promoting a lot of the really special things happening here at Hawthorne High School so having been here a long time, I’ve seen it all. Like I said, we don’t get the word out there that things are happening here.

The Clarion: What inspired you to make “Schell’s Spotlight”?

Mr. Schell: I’ve been thinking about it for while, but I never knew the mechanism or how it would work, but Mr. Small, a very talented person here[at HHS] was a big part of it and it just came at a time of year, you know after Covid and we couldn’t do much, and then at the end of the winter season we had four athletes[Leah Alves, Ashton Navarette, Andrew Morzetta, Jayson Harmer] who were really excelling and nobody really knew about it. So I said we have to do something to get the word out. So it was a thought for a while, but those four athletes (and their achievements) kind of got this thing going. 

The Clarion: What kind of things do you want to highlight on “Schell’s Spotlight”?

Mr. Schell: Well we did sports, I know our STEM team has a very special invention for a competition, they have a great invention that has to do with energy, regeneration, key strokes, so I’m going to have them on and it’s a great group, doing great things that nobody really knows about. I plan on doing something with Peer Leaders, I know they put together a very special PSA for a competition. I’m planning on doing something for the spring play coming up. I also plan on doing something for the art show, we have very talented senior artists and I’d like to profile them and some of their work. So it’s not just about one thing in particular, it’s about all of the things happening here in HHS that people might not know about. 

The Clarion: Why is it important to highlight big successes in small town high school environments?

Mr. Schell: I think that sometimes people in general tend to be negative about a lot of things and they always point out things that are wrong and things that don’t go right, maybe even something like, ‘I cant send my kid to that school because of..’ but I’m here to tell you that Hawthorne has always been like a hidden gem in Northern New Jersey and I want to let everyone know, in and out of town, hey good things are happening here you just don’t hear about it.

The Clarion: What was the process of planning and executing the first “Schell’s Spotlight”?

Mr. Schell: I have to be honest with you, I think the thing that makes Schell’s Spotlight special, is there’s no script. I find out what’s going on and I call people in…that’s it really. 

The Clarion: So, you don’t have any pre-written questions?

Mr. Schell: No, I just listen to what they have to say and we go and they say great things and I think it’s better unscripted. You know in the first one[segment] those athletes said remarkable things about academics, calling their teammates brothers, and things like that. You know I want to get a real true reaction, I don’t want anybody to say ‘oh of course they said that because it’s scripted’. No, this isn’t reality tv, this is real. 

The Clarion: What is like collaborating with Mr. Small?

Mr. Schell: Mr. Small is ridiculously talented, as you know he’s won many Emmy awards, I only hope that he stays here for a long long time. He’s another person that we are not using to his full potential and how he can help the public relations of Hawthorne High School.

The Clarion: When creating “Schell’s Spotlight”, what was the intent or goal? Was there something specific you wanted to achieve in mind when making Schell’s Spotlight?

Mr. Schell: I want everybody out there to know that, regardless of what they hear, there are some great kids here at Hawthorne High School and they’re doing some really great things. I just want people to know that.

The Clarion: Can you give us any information about the next “Schell’s Spotlight”?

Mr. Schell: As I mentioned our STEM team has put together some sort of invention that I’m probably going to try to steal the patent, so I can steal the millions of dollars made off it and not let them know. But that’s another thing…this isn’t a big building but there are kids here who are creative and working hard, so that’s the next thing we’re going to talk about.