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
After being qualified for the VEX robotics world championship, members of the 5430 robotics team remain humble because of their drive to collaborate and express their ideas with each other. For sophomore and Blue Brains member Esther Young (center), being the newest addition of her team has allowed her to meet people that she shares interests with. It has also allowed her to meet some of the nicest people she has ever met. “Being on the team is very energizing. I know for a fact my team definitely wants to take home trophies, but we also wanted to be qualified for world. That basically just means performing super well — maybe an award, but the experience is good too,” Young said.

Beyond the bots

Esta Kamau, Features/Humans of West Editor • April 17, 2023

Gearing up all four robots in preparation for the big day, members of the robotics program boarded a 5 a.m. bus March 5 and set off for Jefferson City, Mo. Each team — the Blue Brains (5430A), END GAM3...

The Blue Brains Robotics Team and supporters pose together after winning State and qualifying for Worlds. Teammates hold Second place Skills, Tournament Champion and Excellence Award trophies as the competition comes to an end. “It was such an amazing experience to not only double qualify for Worlds, but to do it with my teammates who are some of my favorite people in the world. I’m really glad I get to continue competing for my senior year,” Senior, Notebook Writer and Drive Team Member Katherine Hanses said.

From state to world: Blue Brains Robotics team emerges victorious

Ashlyn Gillespie and Elizabeth Franklin • March 13, 2023

West High became the 2023 Missouri VEX Robotics High School State Champion this past Saturday. Through a series of 2v2 competitions in Jefferson City, Mo., the team won the State tournament, qualifying...

The Blue Brains team members juniors Katherine Hanses, Joseph Britt, Isaac Porter and Anushka Dharmasanam and seniors David Meisinger and Rick Biswas pose in front of their robot and awards at the Speedway signature event in Indianapolis. The awards include their trophies from smaller competitions and World 2021, as well as a small trophy gifted to the team for their performance by robotics sponsor Chris Donaldson. “The trophy was for just being a good team, because this was our first big signature event outside of the virtual ones we did last year,” Hanses said. “[At this competition], we had six matches on the first day, and we won five. We got knocked out in the quarterfinals.”

Blue Brain breakthrough: robotics team prepares to compete internationally

Tanvi Kulkarni, Features Editor • December 16, 2021

Tucked away in the school’s most remote classroom, students spend hours after hours tinkering with mechanical parts, writing sophisticated codes and reworking robots to execute extremely precise...