Hashtag: the word you hear everywhere across social media. Hashtags mark keywords or topics in a Tweet like #selfie, #humpday and #springbreak. It was created by Twitter users as a way to categorize information and create instant links to the latest trends. And now, the use of the hashtag has spread itself to Instagram, Facebook and Parkway West.
Athletic Director Brian Kessler along with freshman class principal Kate Piffel collaborated to create a universal school hashtag.
“We wanted to further our sense of community within the school. We hoped that by creating a hashtag for the school to utilize we could build unity between students, staff and parents,” Piffel said.
Kessler hosted a contest to all students and faculty asking for email submissions of hashtags they thought best represented the school.. One hundred and twenty entries were sent, leaving it up to the faculty to vote for the winning hashtag.
“I thought having a contest for the student body would be fun. We got a lot of strong submissions and ended up merging two different suggestions from both faculty and students together to come up with #PWestPride,” Kessler said.
People who use Twitter often were found to be the ones most involved in the contest. With the hashtag now open to use freely online, Kessler and everyone with a Twitter account can view who is using the hashtag.
“Administration greatly encourages the use of #PWestPride,” Kessler said. “All of us who have accounts try to tweet it often, and I’ve seen a lot of students incorporate it in their tweets when they’re talking about school events, especially recently for the Glow Dance.”
The goal is to keep the hashtag alive and continue to have it for convenience, school spirit and easy access to the latest trends and events taking place in school.
“The hashtag will be featured on the 2015-2016 edition of the planner, and we want to keep putting it on our t-shirts,” Kessler said. “We want everyone to be involved in using our universal hashtag so that we can keep sharing the pride we have in our school.”
![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. "[The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jeff] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![Principal John McCabe announces that Jeffrey Chazen has won Teacher of the Year. Chazen was discussing freedom of speech with his AP Government class when the door opened and administrators rushed in. “[I was] extremely happy and humbled, but mostly shock[ed]. I've been here longer than any other teacher, so I know most of the people on the list of Teachers of the Year, and they are amazing teachers themselves,” Chazen said. “It's just nice to be on the list with them, including [social studies teacher Kristen] Collins, who is the only other social studies teacher who has won Teacher of the Year. It was nice to bring something back to the social studies department.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/DSC_0021-1-2-1200x801.jpg)
![Striking a pose following their group dance, the 2024 Mr. Longhorn contestants welcome their audience to the show. Throughout the night, the nine competitors participated in an occupational section, skits for the talent portion and a fashion attire show before finalists were interviewed. “It's a fun time getting to hang out with my friends and doing [our] acts. I think I'm most excited for my performance with [seniors Bart Connors, Gavin Hamlin and Colin Hughes]. I like that I get to dance a little bit. I don't think I'm very good, but I'm gonna try my best to put on a show,” contestant and senior Henry Wild said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/DSC_9759-1200x798.jpg)
![Kicking off dress rehearsal, Mr. Longhorn contestant and senior Carson Hughes goes over the group routine alongside other competitors. With just two days of practice, all participants learned the entirety of their introductory dance, chose an occupation to embody and crafted skits for the show. “The best part of this [whole thing] was learning the dance and just practicing with the guys. We [have to] try not to laugh the whole time, but we're having a lot of fun,” Hughes said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/IMG_5112-1-e1732164157549-1200x812.jpg)
![Blending together a concoction for a science experiment, science teacher Joel Anderson scares his students by bringing excitement and thrill into his classroom for his annual Halloween show. It took about six weeks for Anderson to set up his classroom for the show. “It’s pure terror. I came up with this idea a couple decades ago to do something fun for Halloween. So I pretend to be this mad scientist [that creates] a Frankenstein-like creature [with the class], learning a little bit of science along the way and [then ending] with a laser show. It’s just for fun; entertainment value,” Anderson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0021.JPG_-1200x800.jpg)
![Standing with girls cross country team mascot Pump the pumpkin, senior Sydney Etchason laughs with her teammates. Before the team’s senior night, Etchason undertook an odyssey to recover the pumpkin, which had been stolen by boys cross country. “We went through practice, and then a little birdie told me that it was in [senior] Emmett [Vernon's] car. I [offered Vernon] $50 to give us our pumpkin back, and we got Pump back,” Etchason said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0002-1-1200x800.jpg)
