Most Popular Stories of 2017

The Shack, The Tavern and The Corner Pub and Grill are all successful local restaurants owned by 1991 alumnus Brant Baldanza, who first got into the restaurant business by working at Mike Duffy’s when he was 16-years-old. “I am childhood friends with fellow Parkway West grad Katie Frailey, and her dad, Bruce Frailey, [who] opened Mike Duffy’s in Town and Country. I was a cook there and was actually part...

Even with over 20 Advanced Placement (AP) courses in the West curriculum, only 28 percent of the student population enrolls in at least one AP class during their years in high school. To encourage more students to enroll, Principal Jeremy Mitchell is working with Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) to add AP Language, AP Human Geography and AP Environmental Sciences. “When we looked at our rigor...

After being cleared a year ago of Ewing Sarcoma, sophomore Brynn Haun relapsed on June 16. While undergoing chemotherapy, she was diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, an autoimmune disease that landed her in Barnes Jewish hospital for the entire first week of July. Since then, the community has bound together in support of Brynn and her family. The “#FightLikeAHaun” cup signs on ...

The Angry Birds are back seven years after the app was first released now that Angry Birds: Blast is now available. Join them against their world renowned villains, the Green Pigs. The game is a tap-to-match puzzle game, that doesn't have a story. As with all Angry Birds games, players’ ultimate objective is to get back at those dang pigs, but this does not have a narrative driving the action. ...

History teacher Nancy Sachtleben’s life forever changed Aug. 6, 2009 when she was diagnosed for the first time with the silent killer, ovarian cancer. “It was shock and disbelief for a few months because I did not expect it and it came out of nowhere. It didn’t seem like it was real,” Sachtleben said. A ruptured cyst was the cause of Sachtleben’s first round of cancer. “I had flu...

The school community continues to support sophomore Brynn Haun in her fight against cancer by electing her to be a homecoming court maid. “It was really awesome to see her [at homecoming], and it was just good to be all together as friends again,” sophomore and friend Natalie Hitchcock said. “By seeing her walk at the pep rally, I’m not gonna lie, I kind of started bursting into tears because we...

Standing at 4’5”, freshman Jordan Russell is noticeably shorter than her peers. Russell was born with a rare disease called Russell Silver Syndrome. It is a growth disorder, which means she has a difficult time growing at the expected rate. Many times children with this condition can have asymmetric or uneven growth of some parts of the body and digestive system abnormalities. “I want to...

Three seats on Parkway’s school board of education are up for election on April 4, where two incumbents will be facing nine other candidates. The candidates include Debbie Hopper and Chris Jacob, who previously served three year terms, in addition to Robert Gore, AnnMarie Puhan, Peter Meisinger, Matthew Eckerle, Kristy Klein Davis, Zach Goldford, Philip Oehlerking, Jeff Todd and former candi...

It’s 7:19 a.m. You left your house at 7 a.m. but still have not made it off of Clayton Road. With sweaty palms and a pounding chest, you’re anxious about making it to class on time. Your fears are not in isolation.   At the start of school Principal Jeremy Mitchell contacted Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to help investigate the traffic congestion from Clayton Road into Park...

Despite the app being banned on school wifi, students are among the 150 million worldwide Snapchat users that utilize the platform to send 'disappearing' photos and videos. The latest craze? A school-wide Snapchat story on which students are publicly posting material ranging from drug sales to vaping in their cars on campus—unbeknownst to administrators and teachers. Originally created by an individua...

Walking through the halls I see three main trends: the classic Chuck Taylor Converse in white, white adidas sneakers, Chacos and ankle boots. Converse Chuck Taylors have a retro look, especially when they’re a little beat up; the imperfections they get after being worn for such a long time create a character difficult to come by in a society that puts a higher value on ‘new’ things. They do g...

Fifty-two area high school principals were invited to attend Rosh Hashanah services at United Hebrew on Sept. 21 with Jewish students and faculty. Principal Jeremy Mitchell was one of the two principals who accepted the offer. “The community thought it was really terrific because it gives the opportunity to show students and families that school administration is trying to understand Jewish hol...