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
Ellie Philippi

Ellie Philippi

Julia Adams, CJ1 Writer • November 7, 2025

“I do varsity cheer for school, and stunt for Cheer Athletics. [Being a sophomore on varsity] has been fun to get to know all of the upperclassmen, and just being close with them, also learning new skills...

Dressed in West High’s signature red and Carolina blue jerseys, the eighth grade (left) and varsity (right) football teams take the field for their respective home openers. Varsity played on Aug. 30, and the eighth graders on Sept. 7. “Each year brings new excitement and a new challenge. Bringing everyone together to work to achieve one common goal is something that is exciting each and every year,” physical education teacher and varsity football head coach Jeff Duncan said. (Payton Dean and Nikhita Cherukuri)

Kickoff to high school season

Payton Dean, Opinions Editor • September 26, 2024

Feet stomping. Hands clapping. Arms rolling. “Everybody rumble!” The fan favorite cheer, dubbed the ‘Longhorn Rumble,’ echoes through the air during a fall football weekend where the Longhorns...

Kate Roland

Kate Roland

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Editor-In-Chief • November 11, 2022

“My favorite thing to do outside of school is cheer. [I love] the community that it builds. With stunting, you have to trust each other, and if you don't have that trust, it can go bad quickly. Recently,...

Seniors Abigail Wheeler and Grace Fotheringham hand candy to a princess at the varsity cheer trunk. Fotheringham helped decorate with streamers and loved interacting with kids and seeing their costumes. "I love kids, and it [was] a great way [for them] to get involved at West. It was such a cute idea," Fotheringham said.

Spooktacular Trunk or Treat trunks reviewed

Ashlyn Gillespie, Deputy Managing Editor-in-Chief • October 31, 2022

One hundred elementary kids lined the faculty parking lot at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27. High school teams and clubs greeted cats, princesses, pirates, Ender Dragons and even Pennywise walking across...

For two hours, seniors and varsity cheerleader Abigail Wheeler works on painting a poster for the homecoming football game entrance. The poster read ‘grab some popcorn: we’re about to put on a show’ and included all of the starting offense and defense players’ names. “My favorite part of cheering for the homecoming game was the student section,” Wheeler said. “Everyone comes to that game, so it’s even bigger than it usually is and everyone is super excited no matter if we win or lose, but hopefully we beat Lafayette.”

Photo of the Week – Sept. 23

Elle Rotter, Deputy Conceptual Editor-in-Chief • September 23, 2022

Senior Emily O'Connor poses in her navy and gold cheer uniform at the ICE All-Stars competition. For years, O'Connor looked up to the ICE athletes. "I feel lucky to be able to take the mat with ICE across my chest. The owner has built such a well-oiled machine, and the coaches at ICE have helped me become a better person by their life lessons and examples."

Senior Emily O’Connor cheers on a new generation

Emily Kate Beach, CJ1 Writer • February 7, 2022

Fixing her high tight ponytail and wiping the sweat from her face, senior Emily O'Connor lightens the mood at practice with a cheesy joke as her team, ICE All-Stars Aftershock, perfects their routine before...

“Cheer,” a new documentary series on Netflix changes the way people think about cheerleading. Which cast member from Netflix’s “Cheer” are you?

Which member of Netflix’s “Cheer” are you?

Brinda Ambal, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief • February 3, 2020

Netflix’s documentary series "Cheer" has been stirring up excitement regarding the sport. Briefly meet some of the cast members from “Cheer” below, then take the quiz to find out which team member...

As a junior, senior Natalie Larsen decided to try the poms team. Joining the team gave her the opportunity to perform more often. “[My dancing] hasn’t been anything performance based for a while since poms, which I think is fine,” Larsen said. “I miss the vindication of performing, but honestly, I don’t miss performing. It’s that respect as a dancer that I miss.”

Dancing across the world: senior Natalie Larsen’s post-graduation plans take her to Australia

Zoe DeYoung, Staff Writer • January 7, 2020

She knew her plan. Senior Natalie Larsen would go to a four-year university straight out of high school; she would use her childhood experiences from mission trips with her family to study social work....

With 14 years of experience, junior Dorothy Wunderlich pitches the softball to her opponent. During the season, Wunderlich’s bone hit against her hip labrum and re-tore the muscle. “I played the entire season and had surgery the Tuesday after [the last game]. Loving the sport keeps me going [through the injuries]; I would love to play softball in college,” Wunderlinch said. “I love my teammates, and they are really supportive about me being injured.”

Un-be-leaf-able season: Fall sports recap

Nayeon Ryu, Video Editor • October 29, 2019

Rallying the crowd, competition cheerleaders freshmen Kelsey Long, Lauren Adam and Sophie Gulino support the football team with the JV team.

They’re back: The return of competition cheer

Maddie Hoffmann, Staff Writer • January 30, 2017
Bringing competitive cheer back to the school for the first time in nearly 40 years, tryouts were held on Jan.16 for regular-season cheerleaders looking to participate.