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
Social studies teacher Aaron Bashirian smiles in front of his classroom. Bashirian didn’t know he wanted to be a teacher from early on, but he found the choice to be a good one. “I started [teaching] because there was an opportunity for me to experiment with it. Fortunately, [teaching] was a good choice. In 2012, I became a teacher at Parkway at the Alternative Discipline Center, which is where they send suspended kids to keep being educated if they choose. I spent six years there and then I got drafted to West, [where] I've been for about six years,” Bashirian said.

Flashback Friday: Social studies teacher Aaron Bashirian

Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer • January 12, 2024

What school did you go to? I went to Royall Middle and High [School]. It combined [students from] Elroy, Mo. and Kendall, Mo., so that’s [the name] they came up with for the school. How was...

Social studies teacher Amy Thornhill writes her daily class agenda in front of the whiteboard. Thornhill teaches AP Human Geography, World History and Psychology and has witnessed difficulty for students to form an opinion recently in all of these classes. “Everyone's opinion is valid. Everyone's opinion is justified. But [when] you have so many opinions. It's hard for kids to figure out their [own]. Those are the things I try to articulate and get kids to understand,” Thornhill said.

Nurturing informed minds

Aliza Schroeder, CJ1 Writer • June 2, 2023

Social studies teacher Amy Thornhill knows that current events play a major role in the topics she teaches in her classes. Thornhill constantly updates lesson plans to fit the news around the globe because...

Eyes and ruler fixed towards the screen, social studies teacher Aaron Bashirian points to his Smartboard and explains the history behind his barn. Having learned the ropes of carpentry, Bashirian made structural changes to the barn by himself over the past three years. “It’s not your normal barn, but it’s cool, though. It’s got quite a bit of history to it,” Bashirian said. “It used to be a carriage house; you can see where they used to keep the horse. There’s still a grain [and] hay shoot [too]. They parked Model T-style cars [that created] all these oil slicks on the floor where they leaked. You can see that there’s a lot of history in there. I love it, [it’s a] perfect building for a history guy. ”

From shack to studio

Kristen Skordos, Staff Writer • January 17, 2023

Too much time spent without music often kills the desire to play, but social studies teacher Aaron Bashirian did not lose interest. Instead, the rockstar-gone-teacher stayed in touch with his desire to...

Rosie the Riveter style, junior Kashifa Farooq poses, eager to vote. “I’m excited to see how voting trends are going to be when Gen Z is allowed to vote. I think a new generation brings new insight and perspective. So when my generation can vote, I feel our government will reflect us more,” Farooq said.

Student suffrage: How to register to vote

Anna Claywell, Staff Writer • October 7, 2022

As thousands of Missourians prepare to vote for the 2022 midterms, 18-year-old students have the opportunity to join them.  With midterm elections on Nov. 8, the deadline to register to vote is Oct....

Acting as the presiding judge, senior Irene Yannankakis opens the hearing by banging her gavel and saying "Here ye here ye! All stand for Judge Irene!" Yannakakis, and the rest of her Crime and Law class, solved a case about a student whose parents sued the school for negligence when their son blew up his hand with a volcano, during a science project. "My favorite part was that I got to wear the judges gown and bang the gavel on the table super loud," Yannankakis said.

Photo of the Week – March 15

Bri Davis, Staff Writer • March 18, 2021

We must incorporate more Black history into our schools.

Reform education for equity now

Pathfinder Editorial Board • February 29, 2020

African-American history is American history. There is no doubt that our curriculum, and even the way we interpret the past, does not reflect that truth or even a mere semblance of it. The teaching of...

History teacher Aaron Bashirian plays a gig at a local fair in his hometown of Elroy, Wis. July 1998. “I would say [my music] is pop-y,” Bashirian said. “It’s a happy-go-lucky sort of pop. There are some rock elements to it but it really is just feel good, fun music.”

The road not taken: Aaron Bashirian, rock star gone teacher

Peyton Gaskill, STAFF WRITER • May 13, 2019

When West’s newest social studies teacher, Aaron Bashirian, graduated from college and got his degree in history, it would be almost two decades before he got to use it. Instead, Bashirian pursued his...

Carrying boxes of food raised in the annual history canned food drive, seniors Bailey Silva and Chris Kastberg add to the growing pile of over 3,500 cans. “It’s really important to help other people who might have less than we do. Bringing in a few cans seems like a really small thing but it can add up and do a lot to help other people,” Silva said.

Wayland wins canned food drive for seventh consecutive year

Dani Fischer, MANAGING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF • December 8, 2018

Standing in the main foyer surrounded by 3,768 cans of food, social studies teachers Jeffrey Chazen and Annie Wayland direct students on how to stack the remaining cases. The next morning, volunteers from...

The gingerbread contest was held in the cafeteria on Thursday, Dec. 17 [Gwenn Pietrowski, 12]

Week of Dec. 14 – 18

Mary Galkowski, Staff Writer / Photographer • December 23, 2015
Jim Hermann's AP World History class had an ethnic food day where students brought food from their ancestral background heritage lands.
History department competes for the winners circle

History department competes for the winners circle

Gwenn Pietrowski, Staff Writer • December 23, 2015
For 10 years, the Social Studies Department has donated to COC, but Wayland and Chazen added a twist when they made the donations a competition four years ago.
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