With Bad Blood by Taylor Swift playing from English teacher Erin Fluchel’s blood playlist, about 63 students and a few adults lined up to donate blood. Students were patient as they awaited their turn...
Ashlyn Gillespie, Deputy Managing Editor-in-Chief
• March 6, 2023
People’s rationale for donating blood varies: they think it’s the right thing to do, as a means to get out of class, their parents made the suggestion or they have seen the direct impacts. ImpactLife...
On account of a new Missouri law, school librarians and teachers have removed certain content from the bookshelves that was previously available to students. Passed Aug. 28, Senate Bill 775 modifies state...
Addie Gleason, Managing Editor-in-Chief
• March 31, 2022
Looking through her camera viewfinder, English teacher Erin Fluchel waits for the right moment to capture. The camera lens follows a child splashing in a creek; the parents watch from afar. Click. The...
Able to complete administrative tasks like collecting materials, grading papers and passing out books, student cadet teachers gain experience teaching first-hand without the responsibility of teaching....
Leah Schroeder, Managing Editor-in-Chief
• April 13, 2020
Making connections between the past and modern times, English teacher Erin Fluchel’s students compare Edgar Allen Poe’s, “The Masque of the Red Death,” to the current Coronavirus pandemic. Offered...
Whiteboards shooting up, discussion clamoring and competition raging, juniors in English III teacher Erin Fluchel’s class play a Trivia Crack-inspired game coded by senior Ronik Bhaskar to discuss chapters...
Eyes glued to senior Taylor Fisher as she reads a poem, students and staff gather in the library. The powerful words of poems written by African Americans echo throughout the room.
The African American...
![Manning the check-in table with junior and fellow National Honors Society (NHS) member Rachel Livak, senior and President of NHS Nikita Bhaskar, prepare for more incoming blood donors. This was Bhaskar’s first time donating blood. “When I signed up, I was excited to be able to donate blood. But, the day of, I was getting more nervous as my time slot came. But, all the volunteers and my friends were supportive and keeping everyone distracted, so it was really easy [and] painless,” Bhaskar said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Untitled-design-3-1.jpg)
![After three months of preparation for the first annual blood drive, National Honor Society (NHS) President and senior Nikita Bhaskar lays in one of the stretchers holding senior Jame Wild’s hand as she donates blood. The blood drive gathered 61 bags of blood to donate to ImpactLife. “I loved seeing the NHS volunteers shine. Katie Jauss, Jame Wild and [senior] Adam Lancia choreographed dances to perform in front of the donors to distract them, and it genuinely brightened the event. They let their personalities shine to help others, and I felt that's what NHS is all about. It was inspiring to see,” Bhaskar said. “Knowing that I could save three lives by donating a pint of my blood made it a no-brainer; donating was an easy choice."](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0007-1-900x600.jpg)
![NHS members wear red to support and promote blood donations. NHS sponsor and English teacher Erin Fluchel helped student members organize the event. “[Donating blood] is a really small thing that can make a big difference. It can impact people that you don't necessarily know. You don't see the immediate impact, but it can be really powerful,” Fluchel said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/DSC_0004-900x600.jpg)
![English teacher Erin Fluchel places Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” back on her bookshelf. While some staff members were concerned it might cause legal troubles because it contains a sketch of a naked woman’s chest, the district ultimately determined it was not offensive. “Some of these pieces are really powerful, important pieces of dystopian literature that deserve to stay. I think [the book] provides students with a different perspective that kids should be able to access,” Fluchel said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/BookBansFeaturePhoto-900x600.jpg)
![English teacher Erin Fluchel poses with the camera she uses during sessions. Fluchel experimented with other types of photography but decided that she preferred family moments most. “[Photographing a wedding] was stressful. It was a long day that I was away from my kids. I felt like I was capturing more of the stage moments and not the spontaneous stuff that I love doing. I'm glad that I tried these things, but it wasn't for me. Again, it was less about connection and more about getting perfect things,” Fluchel said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/SNAPSHOTS-OF-LIFE-900x600.png)
![Annotating her copy of the short story, sophomore Zeina Daboul works on her assignment. Daboul found the parallels between the story and modern times interesting. “When you look deeper [into the story], you can see that it reflects our society, in ways that you wouldn't think a story written in 1842 would,” Daboul said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200406_2316051-900x709.jpg)
