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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

Senior Sadie Burgess squeezes a stress ball as she gets her blood drawn. Burgess was the first student donor of the day for Impact Life’s blood drive. “I'm not good with needles or shots, so giving blood made me a little nervous, but I think I did okay,” Burgess said. “I saved three lives today and I feel like Halloween is a good day to give blood. It's very festive with the vampires and the costumes.”

A scary good cause: West High hosts a schoolwide blood drive on Halloween

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Sports/Newsletter Editor November 1, 2024

This Halloween, Oct. 31, the National Honor Society (NHS), Red Cross Club and Key Club came together to organize a schoolwide blood drive. With more than 30 students and staff giving blood, this year’s...

NEHS hosts multilingual poetry night

Cindy Phung, Editor-in-Chief April 12, 2024

Smiling widely, senior Dana Zafarani embraces English teacher and contest organizer Andria Benmuvhar after being announced as West’s 2024 Poetry Out Loud champion. Zafarani will represent West at the regional competition in February. “I’ve done Poetry Out Loud for the last two years. I’m a senior now, so I want to make it count,” Zafarani said.

Lines and rhymes

Serena Liu, Editor-in-Chief January 17, 2024

On Wednesday, 12 students performed in the 2024 Poetry Out Loud School Competition in the library. They delivered a wide range of poems, both contemporary and historical, memorized from Poetry Out...

English teacher Andria Benmuvhar stands in front of the bookshelves in her English classroom. After experiencing great sacrifices by her parents for her well-being, Benmuvhar gained an appreciation for her childhood. “Neither of my parents had a college degree. They were not making that much money, but they still found a way to send me to a private high school. At the time, [it] was nowhere near how much it costs today, but it was still a sacrifice. My dad would [also] take us out and we would do all of these [fun] things. It wasn't until later when I realized how much debt my father was in. When he got his pension, he literally kissed all of his credit card bills. He kissed the envelopes to send off all the debt,” Benmuvhar said.

Flashback Friday: English language arts teacher Andria Benmuvhar

Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer December 8, 2023

What school did you go to? [For] elementary school, I went to St. Louis Evangelist. Then, in high school, I went to Cor Jesu Academy.     How was your childhood home life? Pretty...

Teachers recount where exactly they were during the 9/11 attacks, 22 years later.

Where were you during 9/11?

Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer September 11, 2023

On Sept. 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked and sent to crash into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the White House. While the White House was spared from the attack, the other two targets were hit,...

Beaming after winning the regional competition, senior Zoe Skidis stands with English teacher Andria Benmuvhar. Skidis won the school-wide competition for Poetry Out Loud, the regional competition, and went to compete at the state competition. “We went up there, and it went really smoothly. I loved listening to the other poems. It's a little harder to focus on other people's poems because you're nervous for your own, but it was still really cool,” Skidis said.

Speak Up

Grace Loethen, Staff Writer April 12, 2023

Stage lights shine brightly in senior Zoe Skidis’ eyes. Standing in front of a large crowd, about to give her regional presentation, Skidis can barely see her parents and English teacher Andria Benmuvhar....