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
Maria Newton

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR

Grade:  12

Years on Staff:  2

If you were a fictional character, who would you be?  Chandler Bing

Does the toilet paper go over or under on the roll?  Over.

How many alarms do you set in the morning to get up on time?  Two.

Favorite Quote:  “Whatever you are, be a good one.” -Abraham Lincoln

All content by Maria Newton
Seniors Stephen Zhao, Andrew Li, Caleb Canatoy, Joaquin Rendon and Noah Wright work in teams to create tasty dishes for a cooking competition, judged by seniors Maria Newton and Harper Stewart. The boys, also including seniors Tony Galanti, Paul Gipkhin and Umer Mallick, raced against the clock and each other to avoid the losers’ punishment of having some hair waxed off. “Having a friendly competition drove me to try my hardest so that my friends could be impressed,” Li said.

Chopping the competition: senior boys compete in high-stakes cook-off

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
May 8, 2019
The awarded seniors pose for a picture in the hallway outside Derek Grier’s office on their way to be recognized on the House floor. Each student was awarded one of the virtues of Missouri that surround the house ceiling. “I was awarded ‘law,’ and I think that’s because I’m a very morally driven person. I base most of my life around ethics, and use that to lead others,” senior Bella Hatzigeorgiou said.

Senior students receive Glory of Missouri awards for embodying values of the state

Dani Fischer and Maria Newton
April 15, 2019
Senior Noah Wright delivers a speech at the St. Louis Youth Climate Strike US in front of a crowd of 100. Wright was a lead organizer for the event after being inspired by what he learned in AP Environmental Science and Honors Environmental Sustainability. “For decades, our politicians have failed us by doing so little when we need so much. It is my hope they see crowds like this across the country and realize that the time for denial is over,” Wright said. “To our politicians we have one message: take action against climate change or we will vote you out.”

St. Louis youth gather downtown to demand action regarding climate change

Maria Newton and Sabrina Bohn
March 15, 2019
Senior Noah Wright makes a poster for the Youth Climate Strike on March 15. He has been an organizer for the walkout in St. Louis. "Climate change is a massive problem that must be addressed as soon as possible," Wright said. "I encourage all West students to get involved in their future and join us downtown."

Students organize a walkout combatting environmental apathy

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
March 14, 2019
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
Spanish teacher Lauren Bernstein promotes SeneGence tinted lotion to potential customers. After this year, Bernstein will be leaving the education field to pursue sales for these cosmetics. “This really provided an opportunity for me,” Bernstein said. “I do [feel empowered], both on the business sense of things and [the personal].”

Hóla oportunidades: Lauren Bernstein pursues her new passion for sales

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
February 22, 2019
Leading their team in their final West spell-out cheer, the seniors jump screaming “Let’s go West.” Before every home meet, the girls cheered in the center of the pool. “It was a bittersweet feeling. I was sad that things were becoming our ‘lasts,’ but I was also really grateful for my swim family,” senior Natalie Butler said.

Swim team seniors make their final splash

Reese Berry and Maria Newton
February 4, 2019
10:15 a.m. Sophomore Mathieu Sze dances passionately to music blaring in the English hallway. English teacher Shannan Cremeens plays music outside her room every Friday between classes to uplift the student mood. “Personally, [I believe] music is the great equalizer,” Cremeens said. “[It] brings everyone together.”

[Photo] 10:15 a.m.

February 4, 2019
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
Strumming his guitar and singing into the microphone, junior Ryan Egan performs with his band The Brink STL at last year’s benefit concert. Egan has been playing concerts in the St. Louis area for four years. “I love performing,” Egan said. “It’s a lot of fun. I enjoy playing in front of a crowd and just playing music in general. I hope to release some music so that I can spread my messages of positivity, perseverance and dedication.”

[Photo] Junior Ryan Egan uses STEM courses to pursue a career in music

Lydia Roseman, News and Sports Editor
January 23, 2019
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
Senior Noah Wright performs a kazoo solo at the Pwest for Flint benefit concert. The concert was held by the Honors Environmental Sustainability class to raise money for the victims of the Flint, Michigan water crisis. “Playing kazoo was a fun and unique way to spice up our music,” Wright said. “I wanted to contribute in whatever way I could to the people of Flint.”

Environmental Sustainability class puts on second successful benefit concert

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
December 18, 2018
A student mimics using a juul outside the Juuling Lounge, where a temporary sign has been hung up. “I think that even this flash drive looks cool, you know? I can almost feel the nicotine buzz,” the unnamed student said.

Broken Compass: Administration finally takes action on Juuling epidemic

Maria Newton and Dani Fischer
December 6, 2018
Handing an ‘I Voted” sticker to a participating voter Nov. 6, junior Hasan Rizvi works the midterm election at Bonhomme Presbyterian Church. Rizvi and other US Government and Politics students volunteered at the polls from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. to hand out stickers and help to keep things organized. “I really enjoyed it,” Rizvi said. “It was nice to talk to older people and help them out. It was a good experience seeing how an election works and how polling works.”

Senior students add to the youth voter surge in the 2018 midterm election

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
November 8, 2018
Pacing together, sophomores Leach Selm and Emily Sipp compete at the Paul Enke Invitational at Sioux Passage Sept. 15. Sipp and Selm have both qualified to compete with the state team. "Even if you're having a bad day, the team is always there for you," Selm said. "That's what I love about this sport."

Girls cross country team poised to podium at state

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
November 1, 2018
Seniors Peyton Gaskill, Dani Fischer and Zach Poscover take a much-needed snooze in the senior lounge. The senior lounge exists so that seniors can sleep during the school day. “My favorite part of senior year is staying up late so I can sleep at school,” Fischer said. “School is so fun.”

Quiet Zone mandate to be enforced around the senior lounge to protect the rights of seniors

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
October 25, 2018
Practicing during school, senior Gwyn Allendorph works on music for an outside ensemble. One of her most impactful moments in music was listening to melodies in the strings during a performance of the Peer Gynt Suite at Powell Hall. “One of my favorite pieces of all time to play is Donzón no. 2 by Arturo Márquez, that was the first piece we ever started rehearsing in the YPCO in my first year,” Allendorph said.

[Photo] Senior oboist Gwyn Allendorph works to make her passion a career

Nell Jaskowiak, OPINIONS AND ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
October 16, 2018
Senior Meghan Stanfield, junior Theresa Monteleone and senior Chloe Hershenow perform enthusiastically in Jazz Choir at the First Annual Music Department Showcase Concert. This is Stanfield’s second year in the ensemble. “Singing is my passion, and it’s so nice to come to class to just sing with all my friends,” Stanfield said. “It really helps me forget about all the chaos of the world.”

Showcase concert sets music department off on a strong start

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
October 8, 2018
Secretary Susan Lowenstein works on her computer to update the school schedule for September. Lowenstein works with Principal Jeremy Mitchell on the overall workings of the school rather than with a specific grade level. “Secretaries want people to be comfortable around them,” Lowenstein said. “They almost act a counselor sometimes.”

The increasing responsibility of the modern secretary

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
September 28, 2018
Student Resource Officer Zeus Hernandez directs traffic in the parking lot. Hernandez has been working as an SRO for the past five years, but this is his first at West. “Like any profession [in police work], you are always aspiring to do different things, better things,” Hernandez said. “I love my job.”

Get to know the new SRO

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
September 19, 2018
Senior Caleb Canatoy leads the pack during a boys Cross Country practice. Despite having his lung collapse last spring, Canatoy is a captain on the Varsity team and hopes to inspire young runners in the same way alumnus Jacob Cupps did for him. “My freshman year we had Jacob Cupps as a captain and he was also going through an injury, but it was cool how he had a connection to the freshmen,” Canatoy said.

After suffering a lung collapse, senior Caleb Canatoy is inspired to pursue nursing

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
September 17, 2018
Senior Caleb Canatoy leads the pack during a boys Cross Country practice. Despite having his lung collapse last spring, Canatoy is a captain on the Varsity team and hopes to inspire young runners in the same way alumnus Jacob Cupps did for him. “My freshman year we had Jacob Cupps as a captain and he was also going through an injury, but it was cool how he had a connection to the freshmen,” Canatoy said.

Junior Lauren Beard reads weather pattern graphs after attending an Earth Sciences camp this summer. At the camp, Beard explored her passion for meteorology with students from all over the United States. “[I] thought it was a great opportunity to see if this is something that I’m really interested in," Beard said. “I’ve just found myself drawn to that subject, I’ve always just found it really interesting."

Earth Sciences camp inspires junior Lauren Beard to pursue Meteorology

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
September 5, 2018
Junior Harper Stewart hands junior Caroline Dunn a raffle prize, a Menchie's gift card. “[The] Puerto Rico [concert] took a lot of long hours, tears and hard work, and having someone else recognize that fact and congratulate us for it outside of the West community was incredibly humbling,” Stewart said. “It reminded me of how all that work was funneled into a project that did so much good, whether that be the money we raised or the awareness we brought to the West community specifically about Puerto Rico and their struggles”

[Photo] Environmental Engineering students receive Promising Practice award

Anna Pavlisin, STAFF WRITER
May 22, 2018
Seniors Erin Puhan and Ann Truka attempt to staple an essay in their AP English Literature and Composition (AP Lit) class. AP Lit is the senior honors option English course. “I think English is very collaborative,” AP Lit teacher Andria Benmuvhar said. “You read together, you talk together, and, apparently, you staple essays together.”

Students facilitate the creation of a National English Honors Society chapter

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
May 17, 2018
Junior Audrey Heathcote dissects a minx in Human Anatomy and Physiology. The class focuses on the workings of the human body and helps students to learn medical terminology. “The smell was so bad,” Heathcote said. “They smelt worse than cadavers; I almost threw up.”

Junior Audrey Heathcote attends Washington University medical program

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
April 30, 2018
Seniors Kaleigh Stanfield, Sydnee Yap and Hannah Hoffman attend the Festival of Nations, an annual event in Tower Grove Park in which attendees can try food from all over the world, over the past summer. National Honors Society (NHS) members volunteered at the festival and were spread out throughout the park. “I was kind of worried about being so far away from [my] friends,” Hoffman said. “[This was] one of the most fun events I’ve ever worked. Oddly, it kinda made me loosen up as a person.”

Seniors: top ten things to do this summer

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
April 26, 2018
Sophomore Namah Al Battah and art teacher Ashley Drissel look over meeting plans for the club We Dine Together. The club was created to ensure all students feel included in places like the cafeteria or classroom. “We’re trying to create a network of support,” Drissel said. “[We want] to have a culture here at West High that is supportive and inclusive instead of exclusive.”

Namah Al Battah named Missouri Be Strong representative

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
April 6, 2018
Senior Jonah Hathaway and junior Noah Wright perform at the Jazz Coffee House concert. Both students are members of the jazz band led by band director Brad Wallace and choir director Brian Parrish. “Jazz was a genre of music that I wasn’t familiar with,” Wright said. “Being in Jazz Band has made me a better musician and has helped me to enjoy music even more.”

Jazz Coffee House Review

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
March 30, 2018

Students collaborate to produce original film “Glitch”

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
March 19, 2018
Quiz: What AP class are you?

Quiz: What AP class are you?

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
February 28, 2018
Senior Kennedy Brown performs as a perfectionist in the West High Dramatics Company’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee musical. The musical was chosen for the spring show this year and was performed three separate times on the weekend of Feb. 9-11. "I feel really good about [the performance]; I think we did a really good job," Brown said. "I still have people coming up to me and congratulating me which is a cool feeling."

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee review

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
February 8, 2018

BØRNS concert review

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
February 6, 2018
Staff writer Maria Newton enjoys sushi at Wasabi Sushi Bar. Wasabi’s menu features options from California Rolls to Teriyaki Chicken and has been voted St. Louis’s best sushi by Sauce Magazine for the past 13 years. “I had no problem finishing off four sushi rolls with just a couple friends to help,” Newton said.

Five warming winter activities

Maria Newton and Dani Fischer
January 31, 2018
2016 graduate Drew Bonnett and the late Joe Ross pose for a picture at a Parkway Swim Club swim meet. Bonnett and Ross swam together for many years and grew up as best friends. “Joe was a light of joy and laughter,” Bonnett said. “I loved him and respected him deeply.”

4. In memory of Joe Ross

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
January 30, 2018
Section editor Nell Jaskowiak gets duct-taped to the wall in a ‘trial run’ for the fundraiser being put on by the editorial staff in which teachers will be being duct taped. The fundraiser will be held in the cafeteria with donations to the teacher you want duct taped being accepted starting Jan. 22. “There was a second when they pulled the box out from under [my feet] and I wondered what the heck I was doing,” Jaskowiak said. “But sure enough, I stuck.”

Duct tape your teachers to a wall Friday, Jan. 26

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
January 25, 2018
Senior Sophie Vietor practices her dive at swim practice. As a sprinter, the beginning of a race is important. "My experiences on the swim team have been great," Vietor said. "the practices are really hard, but it helps me push myself."

[Photo] Sophie Vietor breaks one minute in the 100 yard freestyle

January 19, 2018
Senior Sophie Vietor practices her dive at swim practice. As a sprinter, the beginning of a race is important. "My experiences on the swim team have been great," Vietor said. "the practices are really hard, but it helps me push myself."

Sophie Vietor breaks one minute in the 100 yard freestyle

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
January 19, 2018
Playing Blink-182, Green Day and The Killers covers, sophomore Ryan Egan and junior Dani Fischer play guitar and bass, respectively. Although Fischer is not part of The Brink, she filled in for the benefit concert. “We pulled some songs that we regularly do from most of our gigs. I definitely went for songs that everyone would know, but at the same time, I wanted to choose songs that were fun to play, so we could have a good rock-out,” Egan said.

[Photo] Puerto Rico benefit concert surpasses fundraising goal

Sabrina Bohn and Carly Anderson
December 8, 2017
Junior Tony Galanti

Senior Eryka Jones

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Juniors Harper Stewart and Dani Fischer lead the class in planning the Puerto Rico benefit concert. The concert will be held on Dec 7 and has been planned entirely by Amy Van Matre-Woodward’s Honors Environmental Sustainability class. “Dani and I spearheaded the project, but now our classmates are super involved as well,” Stewart said. “We have people designing logos, doing research and slideshows and figuring out set up.”

Students put on Puerto Rico Benefit Concert

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
December 6, 2017
Junior Maria Newton poses with Sophomore Lauren Beard (left) and senior captain Sarah Bonnet (right) after performing at the meet on Nov. 27.

Music teacher Brian Parrish instructs the concert choir on facial expressions. Parrish has been singing since his childhood. “Voice is my primary instrument, always has been, but I’m also a jazz pianist—I can manage my way around that pretty well,” Parrish said.

Music teacher Brian Parrish inspires student musicians

Maria Newton, FEATURES EDITOR
November 14, 2017
Senior Ava Brao completes a College Algebra workstation activity in the math hallway.

[Photo] #ASKPWESTTEACHERS – Back to School Edition

Kristin Priest, STAFF WRITER
August 25, 2017