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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

Junior Sravya Guda dances at Clayton High School to showcase her debut performance: the arangetram. The performance was the culmination of years of effort and preparation from Guda “This was my first time performing with a live orchestra. Usually, in St. Louis, a lot of students don't perform with a live orchestra for everyday events. If you're in India, it's a norm that you perform with a live orchestra, but it's harder to find here,” Guda said.

Blending worlds together

Will Gonsior, Opinions/A&E Editor October 10, 2024

  “Ascending the stage” is a term that invokes the image of someone realizing their potential before an enraptured audience. This is the Tamil meaning of the word arangetram, the first solo...

Sophomore Isaiah Meese smiles after his Eagle Scout Ceremony. Meese has participated in the scouting program since first grade, learning new aspects of life and growing a community of a second family. “I almost didn’t do [boy scouting], but I'm glad I eventually did start doing it. I regret that I wasn't [working towards Eagle Scout during COVID]. It might not always seem like the most rewarding thing, but if you put your time into it, there's a good chance you'll get quite a lot out of it: friends, new activities and hobbies, or just more experience,” Meese said.

The eagle’s flight

Aminah Hilaly, Staff Writer October 4, 2024

Surrounded by adult and young troop leaders, sophomore Isaiah Meese took to the stage on Sept. 15 to receive the coveted, sparkling silver badge of honor. The event marked Meese’s achievement of the...

Standing in front of the American Sign Language program’s mural, junior Brooke Hoenecke signs with freshman Darren Young. Hoenecke began cadet teaching for ASL this year alongside working towards earning her seal of biliteracy. “I was in ASL class when I received the email [that I qualified for the seal]. I was jumping up and down with my teacher and the rest of the class. One of the reasons why I took cadet teaching this year was so that I could prepare for the Seal of Biliteracy and be immersed in ASL,” Hoenecke said.

Fluent in silence

Samir Shaik, Multimedia Editor-in-Chief May 29, 2024

On May 15 at the 56th annual Honors Ceremony, junior Brooke Hoenecke walked across the stage after marking a landmark achievement for the school: becoming West’s first student to earn the Seal of Biliteracy...

Walking onto the field, freshman Erastus Adewusi wears a pink jersey in remembrance of cancer awareness month. With the number seven on his jersey, Adewusi reflects on his life in Nigeria before moving to America. “I [used to wake up] at 5:30 a.m. and school would end at 5 p.m. [versus] now,” Adewusi said.

Kickin’ it

Lia Emry, Staff Writer May 14, 2024

In seventh grade, freshman Erastus Adewusi and his family stepped off a plane into America after living in Nigeria for 11 years. His mother landed a job in St. Louis as a contract nurse.  After picking...

As seniors complete their final assignments, tests and work of the school year, they reflect on their time in Convergence Journalism.

Seniors signing off

Emily Early I began Convergence Journalism 1 as a freshman on a Zoom call. It feels like a lifetime ago. Sitting next to my mom in my dining room, I remember feeling so scared and so small in such a...

Envisioning a cathedral in his mind, senior Soren Frederick puts pencil to paper and practices a rough sketch in the drawing room. Frederick grew up surrounded by a family of artists who helped him realize his passion for drawing and painting as he matured. “My family [is] very much [an inspiration] for drawing and painting. [Art] didn’t start [in the family] with me; it started with my mom and my older sister, and my older brother is very good at drawing [too],” Frederick said.

“Reflections” of talent

Emily Early and Samir Shaik May 2, 2024

This spring, senior Soren Frederick was one of 34 artists whose work was selected to be featured at the Missouri Capitol for the Missouri Senate Student Arts Exhibit. Founded in 2014 by the Missouri Alliance...

Junior Amelia Geistler poses with her aunt, uncle and cousin. Moving through childhood, Geistler learned that having parents with a different appearance from her meant facing awkward, upsetting situations. “Something I faced [after] being adopted was that I was [treated] better when people discovered I had white parents. A childhood memory [is] when I went over to a friend's house for the first time and her parents seemed to be very passive-aggressive, but when they learned I was adopted by white parents, they gave me equal treatment and ‘love’ as their white daughter,” Geistler said.

A home across the Pacific

Audrey Ghosh, Opinions Editor May 1, 2024

When she was nine months old, junior Amelia Geistler flew across the Pacific Ocean to her new home in St. Louis. Originally born in China, Geistler was abandoned close to a fire station in the rural Chinese...

Each year, as temperatures start to rise, students await the coveted spring break, a week-long vacation taking place from March 16-24. Students and staff appreciated the respite from school and the sunny weather that came along with it. “I enjoyed traveling as a way to spend spring break [and] have a last trip with my family before college. I wish spring break was a little longer so I could have spent more time and not have a quick turnaround coming back to school,” senior Norah Rutkowski said.

Spring Break shenanigans, senior style

Audrey Ghosh, Opinions Editor April 4, 2024

Amidst the hectic whirlwind of school life, as students prepare for upcoming AP tests, finals and college, a week-long spring break offers a long-awaited and cherished hiatus for students to wind down...

Seniors Andrew Son (left), Tommy Eschbach (center) and Kaiden Kelley (right) laugh together while waiting for their robot, OverDriv6, to compete at the 2024 Missouri VEX State Championship. Although the competition was stiff, the trio managed to have a good time, content with their performance and teamwork. “We’re very good at recognizing small victories while in the face of adversity. If one of our subsystems failed or one of the parts of our robot broke, we'd spend half an hour or so fixing that. The next match, even if we lost, we'd still celebrate the fact that that adjustment we made ended up working and succeeding. Being able to celebrate minor victories was very good for our team chemistry and strength,” said Eschbach. (Photo by Mikalah Owens)

Graduating gears

Mikalah Owens, Staff Writer March 28, 2024

All four robotics teams competed at the 2024 Missouri VEX State Championship in Park Hills, Mo. While each individual team did well in competition — robotics team Blue Brains even earned a spot at the...

Acting under the spotlight, junior Jack Mullen and freshman Joe McCurdy perform an emotional father-to-son scene from “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” The cast members worked hard to master the accents of the characters of the original story, which takes place in England. “We started off with American accents and robotic lines and slowly morphed into a British wonderland full of different characters, accents, and cadences,” Mullen said. “It took a while and it was hard work, but the people around me are what helped.”

From page to stage: The Curious Incident comes to life

Keira Lang and Zoya Hasan March 4, 2024

From Feb. 23-24, the theater department produced and performed the adapted play, “The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time.” Based on the mystery novel by author Mark Haddon, the play follows...