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
Managing Editor-in-Chief Dani Fischer and Conceptual Editor-in-Chief Justin Cupps make sure the Pathfinder keeps pace with the best online newspapers in the nation. The Pathfinder has been nominated for a National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Pacemaker Award, which recognizes excellence in high school journalism programs. “We know our site is incredible and we know how much work we put into each story and all the things that go on behind the scenes. But, to have someone else with as much authority as NSPA see our site as one of the best is a completely different feeling,” Fischer said. “It validates all the hard work that has been put in.”

PWest Pathfinder nominated for its first ever NSPA Pacemaker Award

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR • January 22, 2019

The National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) has named the Parkway West High School Pathfinder as one of 44 finalists for the Pacemaker Award for Online Newspapers. This award is given to school news...

The late alumna Mackenzie Naylor poses for a portrait while working with Local Ambition modeling. Mackenzie graduated in 2017. “With her award-winning smile, sparkling diamond blue eyes, witty dry humor, loyalty to a fault and calming ways it is easy to see why anyone who met Mackenzie instantly fell in love,” Mackenzie’s mother Janet Johnson said. “She was an old soul for such a young woman and a complete throwback which made you love her even more.”

Remembering alumna Mackenzie Naylor

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR • January 15, 2019

On Dec. 26 the community lost 2017 alumnus Mackenzie Naylor. Mackenzie was born Dec. 1, 1998, and was a prominent art student as well as a model for Local Ambition, who made their own memorial video...

Student photographers try ugly location photoshoot challenge

Nayeon Ryu and Susie Seidel • January 11, 2019

Senior Shahzan Mian holds a strip of potassium over a bunsen burner. Mian has pursued accelerated math and science courses in order to follow a career in medicine. "I’ve worked so hard in high school and I’ve had the stress of the ACT and all of the standardized tests. If I can get the solid guarantee of getting into medical school, which is a very, very difficult thing to do, statistically, I won’t have to stress as much," Mian said.

From purposely tanking a placement exam to applying to medical programs

Fatema Rehmani, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief • January 10, 2019

The test proctor announces that time has expired, marking the completion of another AP exam for senior Shahzan Mian. It's already his 12th such test over the past four years. With one eye on high school...

Laughing with art student and senior Kristin Priest, art teacher Peggy Dunsworth advises her Drawing 2 class on their final projects. Dunsworth has been teaching within the Parkway District for more than 31 years. “We get to the next level in our work by being inspired to make an artistic statement,” Dunsworth said. “I have been a learner since high school. I craved the critique and I always wanted suggestions.”

Art teacher Peggy Dunsworth draws her last stroke on high school education

Reese Berry, Convergent Media Writer • January 4, 2019

After dedicating 31 years of service to the Parkway School District, art teacher Peggy Dunsworth is drawing an end to her career as a high school Painting and Drawing teacher. “Students have ideas...

Standing at the building entrance, school resource officer Scott Scoggins works with local police and Parkway officials to keep the school safe. Scoggins worked with the district and administration to be sure that our school was safe today.

Top 10 stories of 2018

Pathfinder Editorial Board • December 29, 2018

Staring into the spotlight, sophomore Arden Dickson performs in the fall play The 39 Steps. Dickson has been featured in 21 shows since she began participating in theater five years ago. “The arts are creating something out of nothing, based purely on what is inside of you,” Dickson said. “STEM subjects emphasize technicality, memorization, and what people don’t realize is that art is just as, if not more difficult. Art is creating something completely new based on what is going on inside your head, which, I guarantee for everyone, is a hot mess.”

Sophomore Arden Dickson pursues theater in a STEM-focused world

Lydia Roseman, News and Sports Editor • December 19, 2018

What career are you pursuing? I really want to go to a Conservatory Performing Arts college and get a Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA) in either acting or musical theater, preferably musical theater. Those...

Singing “The First Noel,” senior Malik Penton harmonizes with Concert Choir at the Winter Concert Dec. 11. Students from grades seven through 12 performed at the 50th anniversary of the Winter Concert. “Being in Concert Choir, after eight years of choir, is one of the most special experiences of life. Wherever I go, I’ll always have the memories with my friends to hold onto. When I transferred junior year to Marquette and later Saint Charles West High School, I made sure choir was on my schedule because music is something I can’t live without,” Penton said.

Photo of the week – Dec. 10

Caroline Judd, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER • December 15, 2018

Scott Bender prepares for a four minute fight scene for the short film, “The Eagles are a Country Music Band,” in which he starred. The film made its premiere at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Hollywood in August and the fight scene took 12 hours to film with the help of a stunt choreographer, a fight choreographer, a props team and a special effects team. “Me and the actress who plays my wife [get into a huge fight] and it is a little over the top, but it is part of the film. She breaks a wine bottle and throws it at me and it gets stuck in my back and I pull it out. We just have this crazy fight and she ends up killing me. The prop team attached a harness that goes around my chest and back and they cut a hole out of the shirt and put the shirt over the hardness and lodged the bottle into a suction cup in the harness so it looks like it went through my shirt and my back,” Bender said. “It is a really cool action movie and I have never done something to that effect before so it was really cool to learn how they do that so I can look at all these movies that have all these special effects and fights in them and break them down.”

Surviving as an actor in Hollywood

Sarah Lashly, COPY COACH • December 10, 2018

From taking on lead roles in short films to participating in Buzzfeed and Google Home commercials, 2005 alumnus Scott Bender has pursued his passion as an actor in Hollywood. This dream first surfaced...

Carrying boxes of food raised in the annual history canned food drive, seniors Bailey Silva and Chris Kastberg add to the growing pile of over 3,500 cans. “It’s really important to help other people who might have less than we do. Bringing in a few cans seems like a really small thing but it can add up and do a lot to help other people,” Silva said.

Wayland wins canned food drive for seventh consecutive year

Dani Fischer, MANAGING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • December 8, 2018

Standing in the main foyer surrounded by 3,768 cans of food, social studies teachers Jeffrey Chazen and Annie Wayland direct students on how to stack the remaining cases. The next morning, volunteers from...

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