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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

A graphic of the 2022-23 Pathfinder senior staff.

Seniors signing off

Addie Gleason I’ve been a shy person for just about as long as I can remember. While I always completed coursework on time, my teachers often commented that I rarely participated in class. This followed...

14 students from Parkway West High School were nominated the Glory of Missouri awards.

Meet the glories of Missouri

Katie Wallace, Triya Gudipati, and Serena Liu March 15, 2023

In the early 1920s, 14 virtues were engraved on the Missouri House Chamber walls: knowledge, liberty, equality, law, justice, fraternity, education, progress, honor, truth, virtue, temperance, enterprise...

The Pathfinder has posted hundreds of stories throughout the 2021-2022 school year for the community to read. These stories are this year’s fan favorites, from bachelorette shows to wacky traditions.

Pathfinder “fan favorites” of the 2021-2022 school year

Addie Gleason, Managing Editor-in-Chief June 2, 2022

The school year is coming to an end. Lockers are cleared out, friends are saying goodbye and everyone’s cramming to get their missing assignments turned in. Amid yet another atypical school year, students...

“I’ve been doing journalism for three years now. It all started in the eighth grade, [when] I got mail from [the] high school-a little pamphlet and a letter telling me that my English teacher had recommended me for the program. At that point, I didn’t have many electives I wanted to do, so I thought it would be good to try it out and see what I thought. I wound up involved in CJ1, and I loved it. I did like my first couple of stories, as bad as they were. It was fun writing about people that I knew and things that they're doing. I will say one tough thing that happened at the end of [last] year: I had to juggle two stories at once because COVID had messed with the whole schedule. I struggled a lot to learn how to draft and do everything online. I work a lot better in person. I like having [face-to-face] conversations. When we were online, Brinda, my section editor, took time out of her day to talk with me after school, work with me on stories, and help me with my sentence structure. She’s been one of the writers at the forefront of my mind when I talk about people who have inspired me. Her advice has pushed me to become an even better writer; I’ve even won two Best of SNO awards with some of her advice, which I'm happy about. [Earlier] this year, I wrote a story about gifted kid burnout. It affected a lot of my friends since they were a part of the gifted program. I could tell they’ve been struggling recently because of all the pressure put on them. I thought, ‘Okay, I want to write about this issue.’ It’s something that’s not raised all that often. So what I did was I got on [the computer] and started drafting, and I ended up loving it. When I posted it, I doubted I would win anything with the story, but I was happy because it was something I enjoyed writing. It ended up being my first Best of SNO, which I was really, really proud of. Winning [the award] was a goal for this year, to be able to get to this point. And I did it. It’s one of my favorite memories.”
- Madi Michajliczenko, 11

Madi Michajliczenko

Anshu Chappidi, CJ1 Writer May 18, 2022

In Latin teacher Tom Herpel’s Latin 3 class, Herpel sets up a chariot race in his room. Junior Madi Michajliczenko won the first race in a series of six and was crowned with the laurel wreath of victory. “The race was weirdly stressful. The entire class was cheering for who they wanted to win and counting laps. At one point, everyone lost count, and I had to complete an extra lap to make sure I got the seven needed. When I finally crossed the finish line, Katie Henak, the person counting my laps, and I were excited because I won,” Michajliczenko said.

Latin teacher Tom Herpel shares the benefits of his course

Jordan Scales, Staff Writer April 11, 2022

With more than half of English words rooted in Latin, Latin teacher Tom Herpel is surprised that only 100 students enrolled in the 22-23 school year program. Herpel believes that students think Latin is...

Singing his character titular song "I am Aldolpho," senior Zane Alshekhlee, plays the self-proclaimed 'ladies' man' Aldolpho in the musical "The Drowsy Chaperone." To play Aldolpho, Alsheklee had to speak with an exaggerated Spanish accent. "I think my favorite part would be my character song," Alshekhlee said. "It's so much fun to play and sing and dance," Alsheklee said.

Theatre department readies for meta musical “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Olivia Bradshaw, Staff Writer February 7, 2020

After more than three months of preparation, the theatre department is debuting their production of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a musical comedy paying tribute to–while also parodying–golden-age musicals. The...