Westfield High School performers back on stage

WESTFIELD, Ind. (WISH) – Westfield High School performers were back on stage on Saturday, more than one week after a devastating stage collapse in the auditorium.

Two of the high school students who performed in Westfield’s ‘American Pie’ performance on the evening of April 23 performed at the one year anniversary celebration for the Grand Junction Brewing Company.

The brewing company’s owner, Jon Knight, said, “My daughter happened to be one of the performers during American Pie. She was involved in the stage collapse so it hits pretty close to home for us.”

Knight said his daughter suffered a mild concussion from falling after the stage she was performing on collapsed. Knight said his daughter is doing great.

Blake Rice, a Westfield High School senior, was one of the two students who performed at the one year anniversary celebration on Saturday. He was also on stage at the time of the collapse.

Rice said being back on the stage is “just a little bit chilling just because, you know, I haven’t been on stage since then because I don’t do a whole lot of performing during the school year. But it’s going to be interesting trying to get back into the swing of things again.”

Indiana’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched a formal investigation into the cause of the stage collapse at Westfield High School that sent 16 students to the hospital.

It’s not known when a cause for the collapse will be determined.