- June 5On to the next
- May 22The fun in finance
- May 22Photo of the Week - May 22
- May 22Spring in action: A look into West's 2026 spring sports season
- May 21French en route
- May 19Sarah Johnson
- May 19Crime, class and consequence
- May 18Athletes of West - Alexander Berryhill
- May 15What Happens Next
- May 15An empty table
![Smiling at her teammates, freshman Angela Diosdado works on her state robot. As a freshman and mechanic for the robotics team, the Blue Brains, Diosdado’s dedication has already been contributing to the team’s success. “[State] was really fun and we did pretty good, [but now] we really have to focus on Worlds. I know that our teamwork and [the fact that we have each other’s backs] will make [our goals] happen,” Diosdado said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DSC_4717-Enhanced-NR-1200x800.jpg)
![Crowding around the robot with his team, Blue Brains, sophomore Theo Branch prepares for another qualifying round. With only a few minutes to make repairs and fix flaws between matches, some teams struggled under the pressure of time. “In competition, it can get really stressful really quick if [you’re] not doing as well as you wanted to. It’s good to keep your mind focused on what you can do in the moment, especially if you’re not in the driver’s box during a match. [Still], if you look at the difference between what we've done this year and last year, we've improved a lot on our I design philosophy, and that's helped us improve in competition and as a team. We have a good team chemistry right now, [which is] where things are going well for us this season,” Branch said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DSC01475-2-1200x800.jpg)
![After forming an alliance, West robotics teams Blue Brains and BreakPoint compete alongside each other in the semifinals of a VEX V5 Robotics Competition. On Jan. 11, West High hosted its first robotics tournament. “We have two more competitions until the state competition. These are gonna be very high-level competitions, so I’m hoping we can refine our [robot] and give some more time to our coders so they can perfect our autonomous portion of the match,” junior Adam Thomas said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DSC02146-2-1200x800.jpg)
![“This school year, I'm looking forward to really settling into West, because last year I was a freshman getting used to the environment, and now that I [am aware of] my surroundings, I know the opportunities that West provides me. I feel like getting more involved than I was last year and it's going to be [a] fun [experience] for me. [This year I am going to] join the diplomacy club and the spanish club. I'm excited to meet new people, try new things and see what those clubs are about. I [might] join volleyball again, because I had a lot of fun doing [it] last year. I'm also on the robotics team at West and I'm super excited, because last year I didn't have any past experience in robotics, but now I know the lay of the land and what I'm doing. [This year] I think my personal growth is my [biggest] motivator. I've always wanted to be a better person and just continue growing [in] this journey of self improvement and [through] joining these clubs. Discovering myself in high school really [helped to] push me, and that has been my motivator for a long time. I love the community here, [and] I love all the opportunities that the school has given me.”- Adam Thomas, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WunschA_ThomasA1-Anna-Wunsch-1200x800.jpg)
![Peering through his glasses, Blue Brains Team Lead and senior Sawyer Ladd carefully examines his team’s robot in between contests. As team lead, Ladd seeks to encourage collaboration among his teammates. “We try [to] become more than just a group of people achieving successful robotics. On my team, I've tried to make us more of a friend group than a robotics team. So that's improved our team chemistry — we just generally enjoy being around each other and that allows us to work together a little [better],” Ladd said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DSC_0021-1-1200x801.jpg)
![Sitting behind the A-team’s robot, junior and robotics team president Rick Biswas converses about the bot with Donaldson, who is behind the camera. Since joining the robotics team, Biswas decided to pursue a related career such as mechanical engineering or computer science. “. After I joined [the robotics team at West], I knew for sure that this was what I wanted to do,” Biswas said. “In general, everyone’s really supportive, especially Mr. Donaldson and the teams. Before I joined the robotics team, I was new here and I didn’t talk to many people. At robotics, I met new people, made new friends. They supported me to be [who] I am right now. ”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/5430A_Closeup-4-900x675.jpg)
![The narrow lens contrasts with a diverse reality; whitewashing means altering or concealing something to make it more appealing to white people. The word “whitewashed” as it is used today has caused identity crises for thousands, if not millions, of students. “I have been called whitewashed before, and it feels very sad. [It’s] just hard because it makes me not know who I am. You don’t get a lot of backlash for [saying it], so I think it’s a throwaway term for people who aren’t affected by it. When you are the person [who] is being called whitewashed, over time, it builds up,” sophomore Raaga Golla said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_5740-1-300x200.jpg)
![Two of Pathfinder’s most recent editorial accolades shine on display in journalism teacher Lindsey Katz’s room. Pathfinder was recognized as a SNO Distinguished Site on April 24. “Praise isn’t everything, but it feels so nice to see the hard work of our staff recognized. So much more than just writing words on a page occurs [in journalism], and I am so glad people see that. I love being surrounded by such talented writers, but also such great people,” editor-in-chief and junior Payton Dean said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DSC_4941-300x200.jpg)
![There are more than 20 open cardio machines at Crunch Fitness. I enjoyed the spacious environment at Crunch, a sentiment that was shared by sophomore Sanjana Daggubati. “[Going to] Crunch Fitness was the right decision because [it] feels more professional. Crunch’s workers are laid back, but not to the point where they don't care,” Daggubati said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_5242-1-300x225.jpg)
![Setting up the activity for his first meeting, Financial Literacy Club founder and sophomore Yash Bandiananthaiah writes on the whiteboard. For the first meeting, Bandiananthaiah created an interactive experience for members to immerse themselves in. “To me, the most important thing during a meeting is to make sure we are all engaged and participating, and [I do this by] always making sure we have a hands-on activity,” Bandiananthaiah said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC5306-1200x798.jpg)
![Hand raised into the air, senior Lauren Anstrom watches as her graduation cap flies along with the caps of all her peers. Anstrom hopes to leave behind the legacy as someone who was kind, hardworking, and always supportive of others. “Tossing my graduation cap honestly felt surreal. In that moment, everything hit me at once with all the excitement, relief and a little sadness too. It felt really emotional [because] this was the end of such a big chapter of my life, but also exciting knowing that everyone was about to start a completely new journey,” Anstrom said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_3031-Enhanced-NR-2-1200x800.jpg)
![French teacher Blair Hopkins enters City Coffee & Creperie in Clayton, Mo. for breakfast with her Honors French 4 students and AP French 5 students. Both classes went on a field trip to a fair trade chocolate factory in St. Louis to begin their unit on Côte D’Ivoire, a major producer of cocoa beans. “My ideal school would just be the Magic School Bus — you would always learn about things by going someplace and learning hands-on, being able to see it yourself and asking people questions. I think [learning is] always so much more memorable if you can experience it firsthand,” Hopkins said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC2795-1200x798.jpg)