Ashlyn Gillespie, News/Sports Editor
Pronouns: she/her
I am a junior, this is my third year on staff at the Pathfinder and I am more excited than ever. The newspaper has taught me that no dream is too far-fetched and there are no limits to what you can write about. My favorite quality about myself is that I am empathetic. I believe everyone deserves to be heard. I love getting to write about other people’s stories and being able to express my writing through them. I love soccer, drawing, reading, listening to music and hanging out with my friends. Outside of the journalism classroom, I play soccer at AFA Fillies in the fall and Parkway West in the spring. I am also a part of the National Honors Society, Link Crew and I lead the Mountains and Valleys Club. I hope that through my writing I can make a difference in the world and make it a better place for myself and others.
![Wearing a bright smile, custodian Sean Smith sits on a bench greeting students in the morning. Smith believed that if the first thing students see when they enter the school is someone saying good morning, it will make their day that much better. “Now, if youre walking up that walkway with an attitude, I want [you] to see a cheery face that says ‘hey, Im glad to see you,’” Smith said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IMG_1186-900x675.jpg)
![Starting at her grid paper, freshman Nola Becquette tries to recreate a spread from another school’s yearbook using Cheez Its, graham cracker, Airheads, Twizzlers, Hershey kisses and Kit Kats. After watching the Pica King video, students applied the skills they learned before getting on to computers to create their own designs. “I definitely got an understanding because before then I didn’t know how to [create a spread]. But now that I have more experience, I finally feel like I can get the hang of it,” Becquette said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/pow1_27-edit.png)
![Freshman Skyler Gulino and freshman Molly Bailey converse and laugh at their second lunch. Now that she has been in person for three months, Bailey is feeling more a part of West than she did last year. “In eighth grade, I was [a part of] the virtual Parkway West (middle school campus) program. I hadn’t actually and physically been in person since about November of 2019, my seventh grade [year],” Bailey said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/skyler-Bailey-900x629.jpg)
![Waltzing with the chambelanes, May Trejo-Vasquez and her court perform the second dance in her quinceañera. Although everything played out smoothly in the end, Trejo-Vasquez and her court had some problems performing the waltz in the rehearsals leading to the big night, due to Trejo-Vasquez’s ball gown. “It was pretty difficult, the boys kept slipping on [the dress] in our last practice but we got it down,” Trejo-Vasquez said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/File_007.jpeg)
![Counting out the steps to the beat, freshman May Trejo-Vasquez and her friends practice the dances for the Quineañera one more time. This was the last of the practices before the big day, and Trejo-Vasquez’s friends who were standing in the ceremony did their part. “All my friends are going to be able to come because most of them are standing in the quince and then the other [friends who are not standing in the ceremony] I’m just inviting, they’re all going to show up,” Trejo-Vasquez said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMG-3741-900x675.jpg)
![Principal Jeremy Mitchell measures the distance between desks to aid in contact tracing. After measuring the desks, Mitchell gave the information to Assistant Principal Kate Piffel, who used seating charts to determine close contacts. “Dr. Mitchell measures the desks to see how far apart they are because if they are within six feet [there is a] 98% chance that those students are going to have to quarantine if theyre that close to another student,” Piffel said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/DSC_0011-900x600.jpg)
![Seniors Abigayle Dorrance, Sophie Reidt and choreographer Joe Milliano rehearse a tap routine to go along with the song Toledo Surprise from “Drowsy Chaperone.
Milliano assisted with auditions and choreography in preparation for the musical. “[The actors] dont have the tap experience but everyone thats working in the musical has a can-do attitude of if I work hard at this and I practice I know I can make this happen. Thats what makes it so much fun. And I know that with the hard work that the students are putting in that we will get a great end result as a result of that,” Milliano said.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Milano-900x548.jpg)
![Freshman Rohan Daggubati engages in a ping pong match against junior Sri Jaladi. Daggubati has played ping pong for two years and with the Ping Pong Club every Tuesday. I get the chance to play, and I liked the tournament [we had], Daggubati said. [I like that] in the club everybody can play, even if you dont have a table at home.](https://PWestPathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/DSC_0127-900x600.jpg)
