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The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

Paul Gipkhin is planning his strategy of attack in a chess game against Jason Wan. Gipkhin memorized all his opening moves and plans to use his specialty. “My favorite opening is the Sicilian Defense opening,” Gipkhin said. “It is a powerful opening and it is my specialty. I still need to perfect it so I have to practice different variations.”

Chess team embarks on the road to state

Andrew Li, STAFF WRITER February 26, 2018

The game of chess has been around for 1,500 years and played by hundreds of millions of people, but only six players from the Parkway West chess club are going to the state competition on March 17. “Anyone...

Senior men prepare for Mr. Longhorn festivities

Chris Bass, STAFF WRITER February 26, 2018

Pageantry, entertainment, and an all-around good time? This sums up the type of atmosphere Mr. Longhorn provides. The senior beauty pageant will take place Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the theater. A yearly...

ASL teacher Tiffani Symons signs to one of her students in her American Sign Language II class. Symons has been teaching for 17 years. "Students are only learning visually. I admire students who are up for this challenge, and my job as a teacher is to promote their learning and success," Symons said.

Getting to know American Sign Language teacher Tiffani Symons

Gabby Leon, STAFF WRITER February 23, 2018

Pathfinder: What got you interested in teaching? Symons: “I wanted to be a teacher since I was in high school. I realized I wanted to teach deaf and hard of hearing students, so I became a teacher...

Freshmen Tyler Kinzy and Praveen Dharmavarapu work on their cases during free time in between rounds. Jefferson City High School hosted one of the last tournaments for debate teams around the state before districts. “I’ve done two tournaments so far and I’ve won first place at both of them, so it’s definitely been something surprising, especially to join this late in the season when everyone else has been [competing] for a while,” Kinzy said.

Freshman Tyler Kinzy goes undefeated in debate

Nayeon Ryu, Video Editor February 23, 2018

During the final weekend of January, Jefferson City High School hosted their annual debate tournament for teams all around the state. “There was a bunch of different competition we normally don’t...

King of Hearts proposals take on new puns

King of Hearts proposals take on new puns

Nayeon Ryu, Video Editor February 21, 2018

Arden Dickson, 9 Pathfinder: Who did you ask? Dickson: Zane Alshekhlee, and he's a sophomore. How did you ask? I made him a poster with a pun from the musical we're working on. It was a joke...

Sishir Yarlagadda checks his portfolio and finds out that Ethereum is at $1,054. Yarlagadda and his fellow investors predicted that Ethereum still has more room to rise. “The highest Ethereum has ever been was at $1,400,” Yarlagadda said. “It dropped $300 recently due to speculation that South Korea will regulate cryptocurrencies, but there is still so much untapped potential this coin still has.”

Junior Sishir Yarlagadda capitalizes on Ethereum’s massive growth

Andrew Li, STAFF WRITER February 15, 2018

Recently, many cryptocurrencies’ prices skyrocketed, especially one popular cryptocurrency called Ethereum, which grew about 115 times since the last year. There are many reasons as to why the massive...

Rebecca Lintner poses with her two-year-old friend Mark, also called Markaroni, who is the son of a single mother who started the first women’s empowerment group for HIV positive women.

Alumna Rebecca Sheppard Lintner makes a difference through projects in Uganda

Sarah Lashly, COPY COACH February 9, 2018

[Courtesy of Rebecca Lintner] Rebecca Lintner poses with her two-year-old friend Mark, also called Markaroni, who is the son of a single mother who started the first women’s empowerment group for HIV...

The Ballman family poses for a photo. "We lost a wonderful person that tragic day ten years ago, but his positive influence will be felt for a long time to come," Claymont Elementary school principal Aaron Wills said. Tom Ballman is survived by his son Josh, daughter Rachel, and wife Cindy.

8. In memory of Officer Thomas Ballman

Susie Seidel, Convergence Media Editor February 7, 2018

On Feb. 7, 2008, a shooter opened fire at a Kirkwood City Council meeting, leaving six dead and two injured. Police officer Tom Ballman was among the fatalities. He is survived by his wife Cindy and his...

Enjoying the summer day, maltipoo Ruby smiles with juniors Juliane Pautrot, Megan Roberts and Kristin Priest. Roberts made an Instagram account dedicated to posting selfies of her dog. “Ruby’s very feisty and sassy, she has such an attitude,” Roberts said. “Ruby literally thrives off of socializing.”

Junior Megan Roberts helps animals during school

Nayeon Ryu, Video Editor February 7, 2018

Most students wake up for school and go through the same old routine. For junior Megan Roberts, her morning includes puppies and kittens as soon as she walks into school. Dreaming of helping animals...