![At the Sioux Passage cross country meet Sept. 21, junior Emily Sipp rounds a bend in the course. Sipp has been running since second grade when she began a track program through her church. “My favorite part is probably just [being with] the people that I get to run with daily. Outside the sport, we probably wouldn’t really all be friends. When you get to know each other, and push each other and work hard together, it's really fun to [share] that experience with other girls,” Sipp said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/sipp.jpg)
![Aside from learning rowing techniques and mindset skills, junior Emma Wistuba also spends time bonding with friends during her month-long stay. The girls resided in dorm rooms and spent breaks getting to know one another. “There are always going to be people that you don't get along [with] and ODP helped me overcome that. I knew I wasn't going to [immediately] get along with everybody, so I went out of my way to be nice and do things,” Wistuba said. “One night, the whole floor came into my room, and we started making friendship bracelets. That's what we did, and we just had fun. That's important for my future because I'm going to have to do that around people who I really don't like, and it's important that you can take those people and turn them into people that you can be friends with.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/IMG_1941-900x675.jpg)
![Performing as Nibs in “Lost Girl,” junior Avery Hermann inspects a drawing of Neverland made by the show’s main character, Wendy Darling. Hermann not only acted in “Lost Girl”, but he also served as assistant director of the show. “I found ‘Lost Girl’ to be a beautiful and touching story, and I’m really glad I got to be a part of it. My favorite part of the show [was] my work as assistant director. I spent a lot of time working with every [cast member] on character, deliveries and emotional development. It was so amazing to see these brilliant actors come to life on stage in such a colorful way,” Hermann said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/DSC_1258-Enhanced-NR-1-1200x798.jpg)
![Gazing up from the stage, junior Joseph McCurdy who played Peter Pan in the school play, Lost Girl, sits next to senior Juliana Rogers, who plays Wendy Darling, during a theater rehearsal. McCurdy’s passion for theater began when he observed a West High production in middle school. “I've been in the high school theater program since I was a freshman. I've always loved theater, but [what prompted me to join] was [when] I went to see [a performance here] when I was in middle school, and it was super cool,” McCurdy said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_6535-1200x798.jpeg)
Nov. 7 to Nov. 9, Parkway West’s theater department traveled through the life of Wendy Darling, in their newest production. “Lost Girl,”...
From down the hall, bursts of laughter and applause spill out of a classroom unlike a typical history class. Inside, instead of sitting through...