![There are more than 20 open cardio machines at Crunch Fitness. I enjoyed the spacious environment at Crunch, a sentiment that was shared by sophomore Sanjana Daggubati. “[Going to] Crunch Fitness was the right decision because [it] feels more professional. Crunch’s workers are laid back, but not to the point where they don't care,” Daggubati said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_5242-1-300x225.jpg)
![The narrow lens contrasts with a diverse reality; whitewashing means altering or concealing something to make it more appealing to white people. The word “whitewashed” as it is used today has caused identity crises for thousands, if not millions, of students. “I have been called whitewashed before, and it feels very sad. [It’s] just hard because it makes me not know who I am. You don’t get a lot of backlash for [saying it], so I think it’s a throwaway term for people who aren’t affected by it. When you are the person [who] is being called whitewashed, over time, it builds up,” sophomore Raaga Golla said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_5740-1-300x200.jpg)
![Setting up the activity for his first meeting, Financial Literacy Club founder and sophomore Yash Bandiananthaiah writes on the whiteboard. For the first meeting, Bandiananthaiah created an interactive experience for members to immerse themselves in. “To me, the most important thing during a meeting is to make sure we are all engaged and participating, and [I do this by] always making sure we have a hands-on activity,” Bandiananthaiah said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC5306-1200x798.jpg)
![Hand raised into the air, senior Lauren Anstrom watches as her graduation cap flies along with the caps of all her peers. Anstrom hopes to leave behind the legacy as someone who was kind, hardworking, and always supportive of others. “Tossing my graduation cap honestly felt surreal. In that moment, everything hit me at once with all the excitement, relief and a little sadness too. It felt really emotional [because] this was the end of such a big chapter of my life, but also exciting knowing that everyone was about to start a completely new journey,” Anstrom said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_3031-Enhanced-NR-2-1200x800.jpg)
![French teacher Blair Hopkins enters City Coffee & Creperie in Clayton, Mo. for breakfast with her Honors French 4 students and AP French 5 students. Both classes went on a field trip to a fair trade chocolate factory in St. Louis to begin their unit on Côte D’Ivoire, a major producer of cocoa beans. “My ideal school would just be the Magic School Bus — you would always learn about things by going someplace and learning hands-on, being able to see it yourself and asking people questions. I think [learning is] always so much more memorable if you can experience it firsthand,” Hopkins said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC2795-1200x798.jpg)
![Takeout containers and boxes sit unused in the garage of senior Yein Ahn. Her family’s sushi restaurant, 153 Sushi, went out of business in March 2024. Like many restaurants, Ahn’s family experienced the struggle of the restaurant business amidst the lasting economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Business teacher Andy Croley has been teaching his classes about these modern challenges restaurants face trying to adapt to the rapidly changing economy and market. “[The food industry is] super competitive. There are restaurants everywhere you go, so they have to figure out what niche they're going to fill. Then, just like us as consumers, right now at home, where our prices are going, prices [for restaurants] are continuously going up as well. Inflation would definitely be a factor for people as well, because with inflation, [restaurants] are also seeing rising costs in their lease or their rent, electricity and all across the board,” Croley said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_0004-1200x800.jpeg)
On March 31, 2024, my family closed down 153 Sushi, the restaurant that we had owned for eight years. The business had survived the early years...
On March 31, 2024, my family closed down 153 Sushi, the restaurant that we had owned for eight years. The business had survived the early years...
![Laughing, sophomore Julia Adams (right) takes time from her day to let loose and hang out with her friends. Adams, who has received lessons from Parkway’s Peers Advocating for Total Health (PATH) program, has maintained the status of being alcohol free. “Playing sports, [and] being surrounding myself with friends who encourage each other to [not drink] is [not only] helpful, [but] doing these activities is super fun and helps me reach a natural high,” Adams said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DSC_0029-1200x800.jpg)
Every March, the National Institute on Drug Abuse promotes National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week. The annual campaign began as an effort to bring...
From clothes to food, and even cars, the internet has completely changed the way people shop. Since the early 2000s, technology has grown rapidly,...
![The narrow lens contrasts with a diverse reality; whitewashing means altering or concealing something to make it more appealing to white people. The word “whitewashed” as it is used today has caused identity crises for thousands, if not millions, of students. “I have been called whitewashed before, and it feels very sad. [It’s] just hard because it makes me not know who I am. You don’t get a lot of backlash for [saying it], so I think it’s a throwaway term for people who aren’t affected by it. When you are the person [who] is being called whitewashed, over time, it builds up,” sophomore Raaga Golla said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_5740-1-1200x800.jpg)
When I was younger, my mom took my brother and me to an aquarium in Springfield, Mo. We were on our way to a movie showing there when an usher...
![Days out from annual Advanced Placement (AP) exams, a pencil lies snapped in half, surrounded by a variety of study materials, symbolic of the frustrations accompanying end-of-year exams. AP exams are scheduled to run May 4 - 15, 2026. “I am taking three AP exams this year, [and] I only took one last year. [Last year,] I made sure I got a good rest before my exams; [this week,] I’ve been taking notes on each chapter [from my textbooks],” sophomore Shree Sikkal Kumar said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DSC9826-1200x798.jpg)
As April comes to an end, students across the country find themselves balancing the excitement of the approaching end of school while simultaneously...
![From March 12 to 23, 38 Parkway School District Latin students and six chaperones journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean to visit Italy. Throughout the trip, students noticed an unusually high level of military presence at the sites they visited. “[It] seems like a lot of people are unhappy with our country’s current foreign affairs [and] foreign policy. I think that affects people's view [of] our country and our people as a whole. [We saw] signs [and] graffiti with anti-American sentiment. I think there's fear all over the world, and people don’t know what's going to happen next,” junior Jackson Stirling said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/march-feature-revised--1200x675.png)
Prom. World War III. Graduation. As the end of the school year nears, our high school minds should be filled with thoughts of long-awaited, stereotypical...
![Students at West High and beyond have shown their commitment to act for change, rather than remaining as passive observers. Yet, along with student activism, the student journalists covering these controversial issues have faced censorship from the government and other institutions. Pathfinder continues to strive to report on difficult topics and provide a platform of information and conversation at Parkway West. Journalism adviser Lindsey Katz teaches about the First Amendment and the rights of student journalists as one of the lessons in Convergence Journalism 1. “Out of all the things we learn in journalism, the takeaway that I want journalists to walk away with the most is having a true understanding of their rights as citizens and their rights as student journalists. By studying the First Amendment, media law and students’ rights, [journalists can] build foundational knowledge of why we do what we do,” Katz said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/feb-2026-feature-1200x678.png)
Our words matter. We don’t need the government to tell us they don’t, but as we face an onslaught of restrictions, we have to wonder about...
![Justice. Domestic Tranquility. General welfare. Blessings of liberty. These key phrases have been redacted from this copy of the U.S. Constitution, reflecting the values lacking in the United States' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE’s behavior suggests that the values instilled in our nation have been stripped. “When you're implementing [immigration enforcement] on a mass scale at the speed it's happening [now], you're bound to see unjust, horrible things. The only way to solve that is to make the crackdowns less severe,” junior Alisha Yin said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/feature-image-jan-2026-1200x710.png)
"[No state] shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction...