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
Smiling with Parkway North seniors Sarah Ham and Alison Lam (second and third from right), eight West state qualifiers hold up the iconic DECA symbol. The program has connected over 7,000 high schoolers, giving students the opportunity to network and expand their social circle. “Getting along with people that might be different from you is the most important part of DECA. You learn things about people that you originally wouldn't talk to, and it's nice to know how to work with other people [as well as] make new friends in a different area,” junior Laya Krishnakumar said. Courtesy of Laya Krishnakumar

Entrepreneurial endeavors

Triya Gudipati, Editor-in-Chief • April 8, 2024

From March 3-5, 13 students traveled to Kansas City, Mo. to compete in the DECA State Conference. Throughout the days, competitors participated in events ranging from Hospitality and Lodging Management...

DECA students (left) stand shoulder to shoulder, wearing their blazers. Meanwhile, band students (center) pose before “The Bean”and journalism students (right) show off an award from their conference in San Francisco. “It was a lot of fun because we were a small group, which meant we had a lot of say in decisions of where we eat and go to do stuff,” junior and DECA competitor Suraiya Saroar said. (graphic made by Claire Creely, photo by Kelly Kennedy [left], photo by Lacy Roberts [middle], and photo by Debra Klevens [right])

Conventions, competitions and clinics

Claire Creely, Staff Writer • May 26, 2023

Over the past few weeks, students have traveled all over the country. Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) students went to Orlando, Fla. to compete in the DECA International Career Development...

Parkway West students stand with their awards at the DECA State Career Development Conference. Twelve students returned as winners of the event. “It was a great experience since I was able to meet new people and spend time with my friends away from schools. Looking back, I’m happy I joined DECA and was able to go to the state competition,” junior Max Brophy said.

DECA students return from state victorious

Grace Loethen and Emily Early • March 14, 2023

Stepping off the bus, 12 students return from their DECA State Career Development Conference. The state-wide competition took place Monday-Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo. Students who won will move on to...

Senior Joseph Denklau and juniors Derrien Gatchel and Matt Freedman stand in front of the Olympic Rings in Olympic Park. They stayed in the Atlanta, Ga.'s heart, allowing them to attend a variety of local events and visit tourist attractions. “We walked everywhere. We started the first night walking 1.5 miles to Waffle House because Matt put in the wrong location for our order. It sounds like an inconvenience, but honestly, that showed us where everything around the city was since it’s all relatively close together. It set off the trip with a good feel of the city,” Gatchel said.

Welcome to Atlanta, DECA Internationals

Makinsey Drake, Staff Writer • June 2, 2022

After placing in the top five in their sectors at Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) State, juniors Derrien Gatchel and Matt Freedman and senior Joseph Denklau traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to...

Juniors Tony Galanti, DECA Sponsor Holly Weber, Caleb Canatoy and Kristin Priest finish competing at the State DECA competition in Kansas City. Weber helped Priest prepare for each of her competitions through online practice. “I hope that I medal, but just the fact that I’m qualified is pretty awesome,” Priest said. “So, whatever I do I’m glad that I’ll be there. I will be there for six days by myself, so it will be a good learning experience.”

Junior Kristin Priest moves on to international DECA competition

Anna Pavlisin, STAFF WRITER • April 20, 2018

After placing third in the Apparel and Accessories Marketing category at the DECA state competition in Kansas City March 11-13, junior Kristin Priest is moving on to the International Career and Development...

Reviewing the marketing research survey, senior Blakely Gibeaut looks at the data to determine the student run coffee shop name. A school wide survey concluded that 32 percent of students were interested in working at BlueBrew. “I think it [the coffee shop] will be a good way for students to get involved at school and it provides a way for people to get real life work experience,” Terry said.

Business department moves forward in coffee shop plans with BlueBrew soft opening

Claire Smout, AWARDS COORDINATOR • December 21, 2017

A school-run coffee shop is becoming more of a possibility as plans are made for a soft opening of BlueBrew, the winning name for the shop, second semester. “Parkway Central High and Parkway North...

Wrapping gifts and organizing supplies, sophomore Rachel Deadwyler, junior Johnathan Stephens and senior Brandi Beaubien set up for Marketing II's holiday wrapping event. Community members have the opportunity to bring the gifts for marketing and DECA students to wrap in exchange for a donation to the Day of Service programming. "For parents who are really busy this time of year, it's really helpful for them to just be able to drop off gifts. It relieves a lot of stress and it's for a really good cause," Beaubien said.

Marketing students DECA the halls with holiday gift wrapping event

Sabrina Bohn, Managing Editor-in-Chief • December 1, 2017

To get into the holiday spirit and help out the community, DECA, along with Marketing II students, are doing a holiday gift wrapping event Dec. 5-7. “Community members will bring unwrapped gifts to...

Standing at the Barclays Center, Marketing students wait to watch the New York Islanders game.“The hockey game was really fun. “I was a lot more into that than if we watched a Nets game,” Weber said.

DECA students travel to New York to pursue marketing

Ridwan Oyebamiji, Features Section Editor • November 15, 2017

Rather than sitting in a classroom, 10 marketing students involved in Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) flew to New York from Nov. 8-12 to get hands-on experience of a marketing career. “The...

Ava Larsen and Rachel Friedman pose together before the competition.

Students compete in the DECA state competition

Ellie Widowski, Staff Writer • March 13, 2016
On Sunday, March 13, 26 students traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks to compete in the DECA state competition at the Lodge of Four Seasons.
Participants line up to compete in an egg toss.

DECA Olympics raises over $100 for Gateway Children’s Charity

Ellie Widowski, Staff Writer • November 25, 2015
At 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, seniors Dinara Manafova, Maddie Kaempfe and Jamie Gardner entered the cafeteria with aspirations of raising funds for Gateway Children’s Charity while their peers earned extra credit participating in a series of minute-to-win-it activities called the DECA Olympics.