The world of photography first caught senior Abbi VanValkenburgh’s eye when she had a camera placed in her hand in fifth grade. Now, she is captaining her self-run photography business at just 18 years...
Kicking off the 2023-24 school year, students were forced to say goodbye to study hall as the district removed it as an option for students. The decision wasn’t well received by students, parents, teachers...
Entrepreneur junior Krish Bhagat created speakUP! to help non-profit organizations promote their brands.
In elementary school, junior Krish Bhagat was labeled gifted before moving into Mosaics Academy,...
Arms pumping, heart pounding and sweat dripping, senior Julia Liguore dribbles toward the goal. She spins around one, two, three players before shooting the ball, which swooshes up against the back of...
During her sophomore year, now senior Lexi Lutz had an experience where a boy took her power away. Since then, she has turned her pain into self-empowerment and innovatively pushes for women to do the...
When junior Lexi Lutz and senior Claire LeDuc went shopping, they felt like they couldn’t find what they wanted. So they decided to create it themselves. LeDuc and Lutz started a clothing business through...
In the midst of anticipation and excitement at the Spark! Incubator, with $500 on the line, stands junior Sri Jaladi as he is announced as the winner of the 2020 Thomas Phelps Business Pitch Competition...
Players crack their knuckles in preparation for the big game. A win in amateur leagues could mean a scholarship or a big pay day. One local competition had $40,000 to dish out to the victors. This may...
![With the click of a button, senior Abbi VanValkenburgh snaps a shot of her twin sister, senior Alli VanValkenburgh. Abbi found her passion for photography during her freshman year, allowing her to expand her class knowledge into her current photography business. “Photography has taught me how to be patient with myself. I learned that sometimes I'll fail, and that's okay. I know that not every image will be perfect, but the ones that [are] keep me going,” Abbi said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_5197-copy-2-1200x940.jpg)
![Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, Parkway discontinued study halls throughout the district. Concerned over the consequences it may have on their academic success, several students and teachers have spoken out against the elimination of a necessary tool. “Kids aren't abusing study halls to sit there on their phones or something. They might need [more support]. Just because you're not taking this amount of AP classes doesn't mean you're not being challenged, and just because you're not having ‘X’ amount of hours every night doesn't mean you have enough time to get homework done,” chemistry teacher Chloe Gallaher said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/image1.jpg)
![Seniors Grace Fotheringham, Kelsea Wilson, Luisa DAquino Lazarini and Ibrahim Hacking pose together after attending Parkway’s Educators’ Signing Night. Students were encouraged to invite family, friends and teachers to watch. “Signing days are cute, and I never committed to a sport, so I never really thought I would have the opportunity. I’m excited that I [got] to be a part of a signing day for education. On signing night, it was wholesome to see everyone’s future plans and invite my family and teachers. It made me realize how important teaching is and how we need more teachers,” Wilson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image1-2-900x600.jpg)
![Posing for a picture, junior Lexi Lutz wears thrifted clothes to promote her brand, Divine Minds. Junior Thomas Anderson and Lutz ran similar businesses and collaborated to advertise each other's items. “[In Spark!] we get unstructured business time to work on our business, so Claire [LeDuc] and I went out and did a photoshoot in our clothing,” Lutz said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/image1-e1644118949174.jpg)
![Spark! mentor Xanthe Meyer, Bilal Danish, and competitors senior Emma Lee Francois, Parkway South senior Subah Shovik and winner junior Sri Jaladi pose for a photo after the Parkway Spark! Thomas Phelps Pitch Competition Feb. 6. Jaladi’s business, Nano Lending, aims to empower impoverished and homeless entrepreneurs by providing them with foundational products to help them start their own businesses. “It feels really good [running Nano Lending] because it's not necessarily just for money,” Jaladi said. “I think it's great to do something where this is not meant for profit and any money that's repaid back just goes back into the program.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-17-at-3.32.32-PM-900x582.png)
![Using only string to stack cups, Spark! students and seniors Christian Hopkins, Ryan Mendonsa, Matthew Weitekamp, Rachel Fleming and Parkway Central senior Sophia Chelist complete a group bonding activity. The program allows students from all four Parkway high schools to explore various career paths of interest in lieu of taking three on-campus courses. “It's nice to leave the traditional day and go [to Spark!]. It's not a typical classroom setting, it helps you to learn about the real world,” Fleming said. “[Spark! has helped me] see if teaching is what I want to do when I'm older, if I actually enjoy it or not before I go spend money on it in college.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/20190816_133951-900x675.jpg)
![Senior Airi Murray leans over the keyboard while in the midst of an amateur competition. Murray hopes to one day join the big leagues with a team of friends. “You’ll have a [competition] and it’s almost like just friends hanging together with a prize pool,” Murray said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/unnamed-1-1-3-900x600.jpg)