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
Art teacher Kat Briggs poses for a picture in her art room. Briggs grew up loving art, and now is fulfilling her passion. “My own experiences that I had outside the classroom with my own art teacher made me realize that there are skills that I can use outside of the classroom,” Briggs said. “Encouraging the students and also showing interest in the things that they do, whether it's extracurriculars or their own hobbies and interests that they enjoy doing in their free time, is something I like to [do to] feel engaged with them. The classroom is a snapshot, it's 90 minutes of just seeing somebody in one context, [but] everybody is so much more than that,” Briggs said.

Flashback Friday: Art teacher Kat Briggs

Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer • October 27, 2023

What school did you go to? I went to a small public school called Sleepy Eye Elementary School. How was your childhood homelife? I had three other siblings, [and] I was the oldest of four....

Freshmen Cole Barton and Preston Priest make origami flowers during free time in their Drawing 1 class. Both gained an affinity for origami through the internet and further practiced this art under the guidance of West High Drawing 1 teacher Kat Briggs. “Their origami pieces are especially intricate. Both use multiple small pieces of paper that fold and interlock, enabling their sculptures to move and also simulate textures. They also use very precise folds, and I appreciate the careful craftsmanship that [goes] into their art,” Briggs said.

Origami artisans

Audrey Ghosh, Opinions Editor • October 18, 2023

When a time of leisure arises in class, as students go on their phones or talk to friends or read a book, just one piece of paper and a sense of creativity can leave a student to casually experiment...

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,...