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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

Adding the final touches to their documentary, juniors Sabrina Bohn and Emma Caplinger discuss how their interviews turned out. The junior were given six weeks to complete the project. “I’m really glad we did this project because I’m really interested in documentaries and film in general so this was a really cool opportunity and it introduces you to something that you wouldn’t think to be introduced to in English class and I think that it gives you different skill set that you [aren’t normally] given in school so I think it’s pretty cool,” Bohn said.

AP Language and Composition students take a unique approach to prepare for the exam

Ridwan Oyebamiji, Features Section Editor April 5, 2019

With camera and questions in hand, juniors in AP Language and Composition grabbed footage for the documentaries they created to understand their visual rhetoric unit. The idea was created when English...

Attending a meeting after school, sophomore Kunal Addagarla makes adjustments to their robot. Twisted Metal was not able to qualify for the 2019 Missouri State VEX Championship, but they will be newcomers at the CREATE US Open Robotics Championship displaying teams from across the U.S. and China. “I would say teamwork is very important because we have different roles to fulfill," Addagarla said. "I'm one of the programmers for my team and I want to make sure that my code works [so I have to] test the robot occasionally. [Then] the rest of my team is building or researching various ways we can build a better robot."

Robotics team prepares for international tournament

Ridwan Oyebamiji, Features Section Editor April 3, 2019

After not qualifying for the annual VEX Robotics Competition, senior and president Paden Davis and his team, Twisted Metal, are taking their talents to the CREATE US Open Robotics Championship April 4...

Translating a story from their textbook, freshmen and Latin II students Mary Hardy and Claire Folkins work together. The practice translations in the textbooks follow a story of the same characters throughout the four books. “I chose latin because both of my sisters took it and they both really enjoyed it. Also because they both said Herpel was the best teacher,” freshman and Latin I student Claire Folkins said. “Our class is really close and we all get along really well. We can joke around with each other but also get work done when it needs to get done.”

Latin program faces potential cuts

Claire Smout, AWARDS COORDINATOR March 13, 2019

Due to an enrollment drop in Latin in recent years, the future of the program is being threatened. If more students do not start taking Latin I and II, the number of sections of the class will only continue...

The annual buzzbook will not be available for purchase this year due to scheduling and printing errors. In the future, the buzzbook will be distributed digitally and Digital Design students will still compete to be the cover artist as sophomore Ariej Rafiq (left design) and freshman Jack Andrews (right design) did. “This was a new experience for me. I was quite impressed and surprised by all the [software] had to offer,” Rafiq said. “I feel like I picked it up quickly.”

What’s the buzz? Everything you need to know about this year’s buzzbook

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR March 7, 2019

Due to complications in the printing and formatting of this year’s buzzbook, an official booklet will not be distributed to the student body. However, freshman Jack Andrews and sophomore Ariej Rafiq...

Senior Farhan Hassan entertains children while volunteering at the Gateway 180 shelter for day of service. Last year students got to read books, played with the kids and sorted out the donation closet. “Volunteering at Gateway 180 allowed students to not only see the other side of St. Louis, but also it helped those impoverished families to the best of our ability,” Hassan said. “Even if it was only one day out of the year, I’m sure we made a huge impact on some of the people staying there.”

Students and staff prepare for second annual Day of Service

Claire Smout, AWARDS COORDINATOR March 6, 2019

Organizations set, permission slips signed, students put into groups, supplies gathered. It must be about time for Day of Service. March 7, every student will be either volunteering with Special Olympics...

Listening to her peers at the African American Read-In, senior Kyra Clerk wears red in support of the event. Clerk worked to spread the word verbally about the event. “The only time we really hear about [African American] stuff is in history class, and mainly it's about slavery. We hardly ever hear about accomplishments of African Americans and what we’ve done for the country,” Clerk said.

Improving our celebrations of Black History Month

Fatema Rehmani, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief March 4, 2019

Throughout the hallways, classroom doors are uniquely decorated with tokens of African-American history. Starting early mornings, students listened to their classmates' recitation of African-American poetry...

Focusing in on a new strategy to beat future opponents in an upcoming tournament, chess team captain and senior Matt Boyd draws on his self-made improvements to strategically think through his moves. Earlier in his career, Boyd made moves quicker than he does now; however, he has improved as a player and realized the importance of working through the scenarios. “We have had multiple matches where I spent all of my two hours, and I'm the last one there,” Boyd said. “I'm just so involved [in the game]. I don't think there's any one thing that makes me concentrate more than other people, but I guess it's just that I'm so invested in it.”

Chess team savors last year with four senior players as state championship nears

Brinda Ambal, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief March 4, 2019

Surrounded by silence, five chess players duke it out against their rival, Ladue High School, in an intense battle on the boards. Four of the five players are seniors Matt Boyd, Jason Wan, Paul Gipkhin...

As students raise their hands, president Kyra Clerk leads a meeting to discuss the positives and negatives of attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) or a Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). Students were called out of class during school hours to attend the meetings. “ASAP empowers me to do better in school but I like to think that I was already doing well,” Clerk said. “I feel like it kind of gave me a push to continue being a role model for my underclassmen;  I’m the president so when they look at me, I want them to be able to say, ‘My president is studious. She’s there for me and she’s also very helpful.’”

African-American students strive to embody qualities of leadership

Ridwan Oyebamiji, Features Section Editor February 27, 2019

Pairs of eyes peer into sponsor Carly Roach’s gaze as she explains why all African-American students in the school are in this room. Why have they been singled out? “The very first meeting we had,...

In a hands-on activity, freshmen Claire LeDuc and Claire Folkins write curse tablets in Latin 2 . After learning about how Romans used wax tablets to write curses on gravestones of people who wronged them, the class tried to replicate them. “It taught me more in depth about how people used to live back in Rome,” LeDuc said.

Students bring a dead language to life

Fatema Rehmani, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief February 26, 2019

Reading the works of classical authors like Cicero and translating, Latin students focus on bringing back Roman history. Labeled as “dead” and thought of as ancient or a language of the past, Latin...

Juniors Lily Stiegemeyer and Emma Caplinger and seniors Olivia Riemer and Hayden Sampson,  are carrying bags to the truck to load donations for St. Clair high school. Bags are being carried down and loaded onto a truck  to be taken to kids in need. “In the morning at 7am, we carried  the bags down to the main floor, and they were all heavy. Klevens asked some of the guys that were sitting in the Art Foyer  to help us carry down the bags do it went a lot faster.”Yearbook Editor -in-Chief, senior Olivia Riemer said.

Quill and Scroll Members capitalize on Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up” to help other students

Tre Bell, Staff Writer February 15, 2019

Piles of garbage bags covered the floor of room 3000 for a week as Convergence Journalism students walked single file throughout the classroom to avoid falling over the clothing-filled stack. “Over...