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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

Ava Griswold

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief

Pronouns: she/her

Grade: 12

Years on staff: 4

Who is your favorite musician? Hozier

What gets you up in the morning? Food! (Breakfast) or dance if I have it that day.

What’s an unpopular opinion that you have? Pop rocks are so fun.

All content by Ava Griswold
Hearing the bridge creak, Latin teacher Tom Herpel winces as he carefully stacks another book on top of a popsicle stick bridge during Latin 3 on Feb. 7. Within groups, students were randomly assigned different hierarchical roles of Ancient Roman construction workers and attempted to build bridges for their Roman Engineering unit. “I created this activity to showcase how certain [Romans] on a construction site would not talk to each other because they were higher or lower in society, and that creates problems when trying to create a final product. So then, after [the students’] bridges were done, we tested how strong they were. We slowly put more and more books onto the bridge to see when the bridge would break. And believe it or not, that bridge got to the point where someone actually sat on it,” Herpel said.

[Photo] Photo of the Week – February 14

Cindy Phung, Editor-in-Chief
February 14, 2025
Firing up the final touches, junior Jacob Burch finishes his triple decker s’more. Mr. Anderson’s chemistry class focused on chemical equations in lab experiments. “My favorite part was when we were able to experiment and have fun with the activity and do what we wanted with the ingredients that we were given,” Burch said. “I really enjoyed this experience because it was a fun way to learn a usually boring topic. That's what Mr. Anderson is good at. He uses labs in chemistry to reinforce the things we are learning, which is way better than sitting and listening to a lecture.”

[Photo] Photo of the Week – November 10

Dana Zafarani, Photo of the Week Editor
November 10, 2023
Captivated by the flashing lasers, junior Sally Peters experiences science teacher Mr. Anderson’s 25th annual Halloween Show extravaganza on October 31. Mr. Anderson performed science experiments to entertain his students. “My favorite part was the lasers because I have never seen lasers like that before,” Peters said. “In the beginning, everybody was nervous because he told us how scary it would be, but we were impressed.”

[Photo] Photo of the Week – November 3

Dana Zafarani, Photo of the Week Editor
November 3, 2023
Kickstarting a flame, sophomore Allison Rueschoff begins her lab experiment by inserting an element into a liquid in her Honors Chemistry class. Student scientists explained how elements can release photons within this experiment. “I liked getting out of worksheets and labs. This is one of the best experiments we do in this class,” Rueschoff said.

[Photo] Photo of the Week – Sept. 15

Dana Zafarani, Photo of the Week Editor
September 15, 2023
Sophomore Sadie Burgess poses with her grandmother's novel "Spirited Sisters." Burgess' grandmother grew up in India and has written 20 novels with her experience.

Discovering diversity

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
March 31, 2023
Sydney Etchason

Sydney Etchason

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
March 10, 2023
“A lesson that has stuck with me throughout my whole life is to always outwork the person next to you. Whether it’s athletics or school, work hard, and work harder than the person next to you. As an educator, I know that my job is never finished and I’ve got to continue to work harder and harder to help students. I’m most proud to be a teacher when I have a former athlete or student reach out to me and tell me about their successes. That makes me feel like a proud parent and a proud teacher. My mom always talked about when I was a little kid. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. When I got to high school I thought I wanted to be a PE or history teacher because I wanted to coach basketball. My high school basketball coach said to do something that will make you more marketable, so you’ll more likely get a job out of college. I was always really good at English, I loved reading and writing, so I just followed that passion and advice. The best compliment I’ve ever gotten is when I get letters from my students saying how much they enjoy my teaching and that I actually helped them enjoy English class. One of the reasons I wanted to become a teacher and a coach is because a lot of the time the teachers and coaches I came from weren’t always great, and I wanted to be an example of what they were not,” - Casey Holland, English

Casey Holland, English

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
March 9, 2023
“I’m passionate about school and baseball and have faced many challenges in both. With school last semester, my science class was very difficult, I felt like I had to learn the [lessons] by myself. And with baseball, when I was in seventh grade, I sprained my elbow pitching. I felt sad that I couldn’t play, but I learned how much having an injury can suck. My dad is the most influential person to me, he has taught me to work hard in order to reach my goals in baseball, school, and life. In my freshman year, I only got one B, it felt very good because I worked hard and it paid off. [I’m motivated] to do well in school, so that I can make good money when I come out of college and retire early. Right now, Rose Hulman sounds like a good college to help me reach those goals. The school has a good engineering [program], and I could play baseball there. In the future I want to be able to relax, provide for my kids and play with my dogs," -Colin Hughes, 10

Colin Hughes

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
March 8, 2023
An assortment of Oreo Flavors, from Mint to Toffee Crunch.

Flavors galore: Oreo taste test and ranking

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
May 12, 2022
“The happiest moment of my life was my freshman year when I won state. My older brother dragged me out of the pool, gave me the biggest hug and shook me. Swimming is my source of confidence and where my whole personality stems from. I don’t know what kind of person I would be if I didn't swim. Everything I’ve learned about life comes back to swimming.  [A lesson I've learned from swimming] would be to do your best, [because] you’re not going to win every game. You’re not going to do everything well, [and] you’re not going to get the best score on every test, but you got to keep moving and doing it again.” – Campbell Murawski, 11

Campbell Murawski

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
April 22, 2022
Standing in front of the Marine Corps symbol, junior Audrey Griswold tours Iowa State University ROTC. Griswold always thought the Naval Academy was the place where she wanted to start. “At the Naval Academy, once you step on campus you are active military, whereas by taking an ROTC program you would be able to have your own college experience. So it's very different, but I think both are exceptional options,” Griswold said.

Hoping to continue her family legacy in the military

Ava Griswold, Yearbook Editor-in-Chief
January 27, 2022