It was half-past seven in the evening on April 22, the night of the final poetry slam of the year, and the spotlights in the Black Box theater were up on four rather unsuspecting teachers. “Years ago, evil struck the streets of Bel Air,” bellows Mr. Taylor as he steps up on stage. “Now, gathered together to combat it, our heroes… THE HEIGHE STREET AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!”

Immediately, science teacher Mr. McIntyre began pounding at his drums with an unrivaled fury, English teacher Mr. Schuler revived the bass skills he exhibited in his younger days, social studies Mr. Doyle jammed along, and our beloved foreign language teacher, Mr. Schoppert, channeled his inner 90s rock star as he thrashed on his guitar and half-sung-half-yelled into the microphone. The crowd was shocked and ecstatic. How was any of this real?

“I just wanted to do something really cool for my final poetry slam,” explains Olivia Streett, the slam host for the 2014-2015 year. “Mr. Taylor had told me rumors about an old teacher band, so I decided to resurrect that.”

That band was Staff Infection, which had also included Mr. Schuler and Mr. McIntyre. “The two of us already knew we could work together, but the problem was finding our new singer,” said Mr. Schuler.

It was Streett who heard Mr. Schoppert singing and convinced him to join the Heighe Street Avengers. He agreed, and thus, the Heighe Street Avengers were born in Mr. McIntyre’s basement.

“We only practiced twice,” confesses Mr. Doyle. “For about an hour each time.”

Mr. Schuler described his initial feelings towards HSA in much the same way he explained Harper Lee’s new book. “It could’ve either been the best thing I’ve ever done, or absolutely embarrassing,” he laughs. “But I had played with Mr. McIntyre in Staff Infection and in some of the musicals, so I had a lot of confidence in him. I knew as long as he was playing, it would sound pretty good.”

The chemistry the audience observed in HSA, of course, could only come from years and years of musical experience. “I’ve been playing music for 35 years, and I couldn’t even tell you how many bands I’ve been in.” Mr. McIntyre explained.

“I’ve played for about 30 years myself. I was in a lot of bands before I moved to Maryland. I’m even on a couple records,” adds Mr. Schuler.

From the start, the Heighe Street Avengers were advertised as a grunge-revival group. From their shoddy band photo on the announcement slideshow to their attire and of course, their 1990s inspired setlist featuring covers of bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Nirvana, it was clear what they were going for. Why this particular aesthetic, you may ask?

“We decided on doing early 90s rock because it was the genre we could all agree on. We were all either in high school or college when those songs came out; we were all young and full of angst,” Mr. Schuler says. “If you were to talk to all of us, you’d see that we all like the same things, but we’re also different in a lot of ways. That was our common ground.”

Mr. Doyle elaborates by saying that HSA “wanted to get up on stage and know that everyone in the crowd had heard the songs at one point. We were looking for something rocking, but also something kids would know.”

It was a success. “I really liked that they played Plush by Stone Temple Pilots,” says Streett.

Of course there was so much more to the poetry slam that night — Streett remarks that she feels that the timing was “perfect.” “A lot of musical guests showed up for the open mic, and HSA just sort of blew everyone away.”

The Heighe Street Avengers couldn’t agree more. “The whole night was a totally new experience for me,” says Mr. McIntyre. “I don’t usually go or listen to poetry slams.”

“I’m disappointed in myself for not going to more,” adds Mr. Doyle. “I saw some students I don’t normally hear say so much more that night than I had ever heard them say before. [Brogan Gerhart] was impressive — you could tell she stepped up there with a little notebook she wrote in everyday and just did a great performance. All of the slammers did a great job.”

“Chris Lovorich was very good,” says Mr. Schuler. “We were all impressed with him, his original song had a great melody and lyrics. When I was his age, I was excited that I could play a chord, you know? He was awesome.”

The poetry slam nights will return next year, with BAHS junior Julie Stuck taking Streett’s place as host. But will our beloved Avengers ever reassemble? Well, according to Mr. Doyle, “you’d have to come to Mr. Austing’s end of the year party to find out.”