Photo of the Week – March 3
Learning the chemistry behind how popcorn pops, juniors Talie Seers and Nykira Johnson use a beaker clamp to shake a beaker full of popcorn kernels and cover the beaker with a sheet of mesh. The lab helped Seers better understand the kinetic molecular theory concept. “My favorite part [of the class] is how Mrs. Robert leads the class. We get to do labs pretty often which helps me understand the material more and it all ties into what we were learning,” Seers said. “The hardest part was being impatient and waiting for the popcorn to pop and see if we actually did [the lab] right.”
Your donation will support the student journalists of Parkway West High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Pronouns: she/her
Grade: 12
Years on staff: 4
What was your favorite childhood TV show? My favorite childhood TV show was Liv and Maddie!
What...
![Celebrating in Victory Village during Special Olympics, junior Caitlin Brandmill and her buddy Franchesca Chevalie decorate a paper bag to hold her crafts, like necklaces and slime. Brandmill wanted to participate in the Special Olympics because she thought it was an excellent opportunity to make an impact in the Parkway community. “I loved all of it. I had so much fun getting to know Franchesca and all the kids in our group,” Brandmill said. “My favorite part was making slime, but also basketball was fun because a lot of the athletes were getting into [the activity].”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0157-1-240x150.jpg)
![During the song “Morning Glow” in the spring musical “Pippin,” senior Andrew Gwin acts as the main character that just killed his father in hopes of finding the meaning of his life. With just 24 hours until the first show, Gwin and other cast members ran through choreography and lighting to ensure everything was set for the opening performance at 7 p.m. “My character was someone who longed to find meaning and wanted a purpose for his life. So he went throughout the musical searching for things to try,” Gwin said. “[To relate to my character] I thought of how my lines went together because I knew how the character was supposed to develop throughout the show, so I tried to match how someone would go through that.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0123-240x150.jpg)
![Using chalk to draw the atmospheric processes and effects of air pollution, senior Kaitlyn Barnes reflects on the lesson in AP Environmental Science on acid deposition cycles. The purpose of the activity was to help students visualize and better understand the cycle. “I like the environment, and I like learning about the environment. I want to minor in Environmental Science. It is just fun to learn. [The class] was not like Chemistry where I’ll probably never use [the content of the class] again, but this is useful to know,” Barnes said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/DSC_0106-e1676561021499-240x150.jpg)
![Adding a base to their acidic liquid to complete a titration, juniors Mazz Siddiqui and Sofia Wu successfully neutralized the liquid. They did the math to find the molarity of the mixture. “The labs were the most interesting [part of chemistry] because I stood up and did something innovative,” Wu said. “The math [was sometimes challenging because it] needed to be correct in a chain reaction; you needed the first question to be right to do the next one right.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/image1-240x150.jpg)
![Peeling off her gloves after examining a healthy lung compared to the lung of a smoker, junior Ione Cornelius explores High School Heroes training. High School Heroes is an organization that teaches middle school students about drug prevention that focuses on the dangers of e-cigarettes, marijuana and CBD. “When I was in sixth grade I thought [High School Heroes] was really fun and interesting. I learned a lot from it and looked up to the high schoolers who taught me. [I knew] I wanted to do that one day,” Cornelius said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_9746-240x150.jpg)
![The battle of ingratiating Black history into the mainstream has been arduous, especially with the media’s capitalization on villainizing Black history. Underneath this vilification lies a history that is abundant in culture and has impacted America more than it is typically credited with. “Representation is [a] really big [deal], and people want to do things that they can see themselves being represented in. I think that a lot of African Americans — and a lot of students in general — don’t know how rich the history of Black [people] is in America,” senior and Black Student Union president Lauren McLeod said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/vilificationofblackhistoryfeatured-240x150.png)
![Celebrating in Victory Village during Special Olympics, junior Caitlin Brandmill and her buddy Franchesca Chevalie decorate a paper bag to hold her crafts, like necklaces and slime. Brandmill wanted to participate in the Special Olympics because she thought it was an excellent opportunity to make an impact in the Parkway community. “I loved all of it. I had so much fun getting to know Franchesca and all the kids in our group,” Brandmill said. “My favorite part was making slime, but also basketball was fun because a lot of the athletes were getting into [the activity].”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0157-1-475x317.jpg)
![During the song “Morning Glow” in the spring musical “Pippin,” senior Andrew Gwin acts as the main character that just killed his father in hopes of finding the meaning of his life. With just 24 hours until the first show, Gwin and other cast members ran through choreography and lighting to ensure everything was set for the opening performance at 7 p.m. “My character was someone who longed to find meaning and wanted a purpose for his life. So he went throughout the musical searching for things to try,” Gwin said. “[To relate to my character] I thought of how my lines went together because I knew how the character was supposed to develop throughout the show, so I tried to match how someone would go through that.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0123-475x317.jpg)
![Using chalk to draw the atmospheric processes and effects of air pollution, senior Kaitlyn Barnes reflects on the lesson in AP Environmental Science on acid deposition cycles. The purpose of the activity was to help students visualize and better understand the cycle. “I like the environment, and I like learning about the environment. I want to minor in Environmental Science. It is just fun to learn. [The class] was not like Chemistry where I’ll probably never use [the content of the class] again, but this is useful to know,” Barnes said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/DSC_0106-e1676561021499-316x475.jpg)
![Adding a base to their acidic liquid to complete a titration, juniors Mazz Siddiqui and Sofia Wu successfully neutralized the liquid. They did the math to find the molarity of the mixture. “The labs were the most interesting [part of chemistry] because I stood up and did something innovative,” Wu said. “The math [was sometimes challenging because it] needed to be correct in a chain reaction; you needed the first question to be right to do the next one right.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/image1-475x317.jpg)
![Peeling off her gloves after examining a healthy lung compared to the lung of a smoker, junior Ione Cornelius explores High School Heroes training. High School Heroes is an organization that teaches middle school students about drug prevention that focuses on the dangers of e-cigarettes, marijuana and CBD. “When I was in sixth grade I thought [High School Heroes] was really fun and interesting. I learned a lot from it and looked up to the high schoolers who taught me. [I knew] I wanted to do that one day,” Cornelius said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IMG_9746-475x317.jpg)
![Freshman Clara DAquino Lazarini cuts out pieces of a magazine to make a vision board in her Fashion Apparel and Housing Design class. Following a recommendation from her sister, senior Luisa DAquino Lazarini, Clara was thrilled to start the class at the beginning of the semester, looking forward to having an elective class where she can learn, grow and be creative with her friends. “I am a more creative person, but sometimes it is hard to be creative. I like getting to sit around and explore. Fashion is one of those things I like to explore and get to know more [about]. I think [the class] is very fun because we get to create [our] own things,” Clara said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/DSC_0007-copy-475x317.jpg)
![Popping balloons as fast as she can, junior Sakenah Lajkem participates in a group bonding activity in her Convergence Journalism 1 class. Students were divided into groups where one student wore a onesie, and the balance of the group had five minutes to fill the suits with balloons. “Mrs. Klevens said there are a lot of different ways to do things,” Lajkem said. “I realized different groups have different strategies, which was surprising. [Freshman] Kennedy [Hodge] suggested that one person blow up the balloons and the other ties and the other stuffed the suit. [This activity taught me how to] problem solve and that there are many different ways to do things,” Lajkem said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/POW-2-475x317.jpg)
![Greeting his 3-year-old daughter Molly McCabe, Principal John McCabe smiles after getting pied in the face by senior Esha Francis during lunch. McCabe got pied as a reward for school spirit at the Parkway Holiday Cup Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday Dec. 14. “[Molly] just started her first year of Pre-K and shes loving it. I told her all weekend I was getting pied and she thought it was really funny, so she just wanted to see dad getting pied. She loved it but she told me she was a little bit scared because she didn’t recognize me,” McCabe said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0060-475x317.jpg)
![Swimming the 500-freestyle, junior Maddi Lang competes in a home meet against South, Tuesday, Dec. 13. Already five weeks into the season, Lang improved her freestyle time by five seconds. “I loved the meets and how we all supported each other, it was a positive [environment]. At our very first meet, I could see our team at the side of the pool cheering for everyone, which was a cool [experience.] Even though some people might not have [as good of a ranking] as others, we all supported each other,” Lang said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSC_0517_2-475x317.jpg)
