What school did you go to?
I grew up in St. Louis County and attended Oakville Elementary. Then, I went to Oakville Junior High. I graduated from Oakville Senior High.
How...
What school did you go to?
[For] elementary school, I went to St. Louis Evangelist. Then, in high school, I went to Cor Jesu Academy.
How was your childhood home life?
Pretty...
What school did you go to?
Fort Zumwalt South in St. Peters. I grew up going to Pattonville but moved in middle school to the Fort Zumwalt school district.
What was your childhood...
What school did you go to?
For junior high — we didn't have middle school at the time — I was in Barnwell Junior High. I graduated from Parkway South High School.
How was your childhood homelife?
It...
What school did you go to?
Parkway West Middle [and] High School. The elementary school [I went to], Manchester Elementary, is not there anymore. My kindergarten class is now a Maiden Voyage; that’s...
Will Gonsior, Opinions/A&E Editor
• November 14, 2023
An oppressive republic
On Sept. 16, 2022, Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini passed away in custody of the Iranian government. Amini had been arrested three days earlier for improperly wearing her hijab. Although...
What school did you go to?
I went to a school outside of Richmond, Va. [called] Scott Dinwiddie High School. It was named after a general in the Civil War.
How was your childhood home life?
We...
What school did you go to?
I started school in Southeast Missouri. I started kindergarten in Sikeston, Mo., and then I moved to Hayti, Mo. and was there until fourth grade. Then I moved to Arcadia Valley,...
Needles flying and conversation flowing, members of Yarniacs congregate in special education teacher Alexandra Fehlig’s classroom biweekly to share an hour of knitting, crocheting and macramé together....
What school did you go to?
I went to a small public school called Sleepy Eye Elementary School.
How was your childhood homelife?
I had three other siblings, [and] I was the oldest of four....
![Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Katie Hashley stands beside a plate of cookies in front of her kitchen. Hashley wanted to be a teacher from an early age, but worked 10 years in the restaurant industry before she pursued the career. “I started imagining being a teacher when I was in third grade. At that time, I wanted to teach elementary school, but as I got older and matured and thought more about my career, I realized that wasn't the group that I would work best with. I went back and forth in college on what I wanted to do, and in the end, I [knew] high school was it for me. I also worked in restaurants for 10 years so [teaching] Culinary Arts was a natural transition [from] that,” Hashley said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-25-1200x800.jpg)
![English teacher Andria Benmuvhar stands in front of the bookshelves in her English classroom. After experiencing great sacrifices by her parents for her well-being, Benmuvhar gained an appreciation for her childhood. “Neither of my parents had a college degree. They were not making that much money, but they still found a way to send me to a private high school. At the time, [it] was nowhere near how much it costs today, but it was still a sacrifice. My dad would [also] take us out and we would do all of these [fun] things. It wasn't until later when I realized how much debt my father was in. When he got his pension, he literally kissed all of his credit card bills. He kissed the envelopes to send off all the debt,” Benmuvhar said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-19-1200x800.jpg)
![Math teacher Kristen Judd smiles in front of her classroom. From a young age, Judd was motivated to become a teacher. “My parents were very against [me being a teacher]. I was a straight-A student and they thought that teaching was a waste of talent, so I actually started pre-med at Saint Louis University. Then, I found my own voice at the end of my freshman year. I said, ‘No. I know what I want to do. I really want to be a teacher,’ [and] I switched majors and switched schools,” Judd said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-8-1200x800.jpg)
![English teacher Angela Frye stands behind her desk in her classroom. Frye went through a lot of personal struggles to get to where she is today, and with each step in her life, she carries her gratitude for those obstacles. “Everything happens for a reason. I believe in [the concept of] good energy, good karma, [from] being a good person. Those are things I don't take lightly. [Struggles] build character. You really appreciate everything you have when you have to work for everything you have,” Frye said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Untitled-8-1200x800.jpg)
![Social studies teacher Nancy Sachtleben stands in front of her classroom. Sachtleben attended West in her high school years and returned to the school to teach. “You look back and realize how fortunate you are to be at Parkway West High School. I tell these kids every day to take advantage of this free education. You don't realize where you are. I've had kids that have gone to college and come back, and they're like, ‘I am so much more prepared than some of these other kids.’ And I [tell them], ‘Yeah, you went through Parkway West.’ Kudos to the English department because they get [the students] writing with critical thinking skills. It's just a great school. I'm so fortunate to have gone here and still be here,” Sachtleben said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Untitled-1200x800.jpg)
![Senior Dana Zafarani poses in paint reading “Women, Life, Freedom” and “#BarayeAzadi” as a protest against the Iranian government. The experiences of Iranian women inspired Zafarani to assist in any effort to protect women’s rights. “The world should live in peace. Every woman deserves to be equal. Every woman deserves love [and] kindness,” Zafarani said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-10-31-12.54.47-PM.png)
![Business and personal finance teacher Andy Croley stands in front of his 5th hour, Intro to Business. In high school, business was the class Croley enjoyed most. “Business class was my favorite course in high school. I didn't know that was something I wanted to teach coming out of high school, but I wanted a business degree and to own my own business. When I entered university, I thought about a [teaching] avenue. I met with my advisor and looked at different departments. I fell in love with the people in the education department, the professors and the coursework, because it tied right into what I loved about the class when I was in high school. I fell in love with it even more when I was student teaching,” Croley said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DSC_0008-2-1200x800.jpg)
![Art teacher Kat Briggs poses for a picture in her art room. Briggs grew up loving art, and now is fulfilling her passion. “My own experiences that I had outside the classroom with my own art teacher made me realize that there are skills that I can use outside of the classroom,” Briggs said. “Encouraging the students and also showing interest in the things that they do, whether it's extracurriculars or their own hobbies and interests that they enjoy doing in their free time, is something I like to [do to] feel engaged with them. The classroom is a snapshot, it's 90 minutes of just seeing somebody in one context, [but] everybody is so much more than that,” Briggs said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/image3-3-1200x800.jpg)