- 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
![With her arms held high, junior Jenna Rickelman throws the ball across the pool during a girls water polo practice. With hours of practice after school and over the summer, Rickelman saw many improvements in her water polo skills. “When I look at [my] stats, I'm so much better than I was last year,” Rickelman said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Untitled-design-2-.png)
![“The first memory that comes to my head is when everyone starts doing the longhorn rumble when we call [out to the audience], they stomp and clap with us along to the beat of the cheer. I [started to appreciate cheer] when I got to high school. [At first], I did it for fun in middle school just to say that I [had a hobby]. When [I got to] high school my coach appreciated me and [listened to] my opinions. It really made me fall in love with the sport again. My favorite thing about cheer is the friendships that I get from it. [I] get to see the people I’m with all the time because [we] have practice [together often]. Especially during football season [is when I get to] hang out with [my teammates] every day. The people I met through cheer and got close with this year make me [want] to continue cheer. [I also got closer with] the people on [the] varsity team and [was able to gain friendships] through that. I am happy [that I get to] cheer with [everyone] next year. It [urges me to] keep going. The cheer community is fun because everyone just understands each other. We're all very similar [and connected] in ways and it's like a tight knit family.” Alyssa Gessner, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0063-1200x800.jpg)
![At the Spring Pep Rally on March 8, boys varsity water poloist and junior Jack Brau stands with the boys water polo team. The group, hoping to include everyone — whether boy or girl, varsity or JV — cheered on the girls water polo team during the sports team runouts. “Even though we all play separate games and have different practices, we like to see ourselves as one big group who represent one water polo [team],” Brau said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_8810-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Junior Will Gonsior lies down on a pile of money, an opportunity gained by allowing the Pathfinder to use his name, image and likeness. Accusations of corruption and misconduct have revealed just how easily the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) lets money pile up where it doesn’t belong. “[The NCAA] is a business, so they're trying to win games. No matter the sport, they're trying to be the most successful that they can,” varsity football coach and physical education teacher Jeff Duncan said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Foul-Play-Amateurism-or-a-collegiate-cartel-1-1200x900.png)
![“I went through a sport-ending injury. There was a lot of time where I questioned coming back to my sport because of how separated I felt from my team and all the complications that came with my surgery and physical therapy. It just felt like a lot was holding me back and that I shouldn't even attempt to come back to my sport but [I had to] push past that. I've been playing soccer for 12 years. If I wanted to come back and play soccer, which I love, I had to rush past the pain and the mental part of not being ready to come back. I value hard work and always push myself to the limit because, if you're not putting in 100% you won't get anything out of it. You have your highs and lows but it's up to you whether or how you react to them, and [the circumstances] will get better. This is just a period in your life, [and it’s] tough. But you have to work really hard. You have to [do what you] want to get past it to feel better.” - Hanna Jacquin, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Option-1--1200x800.jpg)
![Female tennis players thrive regardless of their limitations. While there are many issues within the sport — unequal pay, no maternal care for athlete-mothers, unequal opportunities for different races and more — many activists have been advocating for change within the industry. “I hope there are a lot more milestones set along the way and a lot more improvements in [tennis],” freshman and JV tennis player Sara Ashok said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Screenshot-2023-10-24-at-12.37.04-PM.png)
![“I do cross country; I get a shirt [for running five hundred miles over the summer] and running those miles improves your endurance. I didn't think of the five hundred miles as, ‘I have to run five hundred miles.’ I [have the mindset that], six days a week, I have to run. [I] started [running] about four to five miles a day and was able to build up over the course of the summer. It's just that I had my goal; I wanted to be on varsity. I wanted to get the red legs this season, so I had my goal in mind. Red legs are a new set of warmups made up of a nicer jacket, thin hoodie, and red sweatpants, given to anyone who runs sub-18:15 in the 5k [race]. They have been a goal since I joined [the sport in] sophomore year. They are often a mark of being on varsity as well and can make you feel like you made it. I guess the same thing is true for motivating myself for school; I have my goal of keeping up my grades. Stay involved with something because it's good to have multiple [hobbies] going on. Make sure to decide what you want your focus to be. You can be involved in multiple things, but, if you want to focus on sports and school, make sure to keep it balanced. Enjoy your high school years. Have some passion in what you do.” - Ryan Smith, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/488ACA7C-8DD7-4712-A89E-2DEAE7DACC49-1200x800.jpeg)
![“I have always wanted to play a sport that I was good at, and have [a] strong community [within] a team. I hadn’t played a sport since 6th grade so I was very excited when I made C-team lacrosse at tryouts last year. During the eighth practice of the year, I stepped in a hole in the back field [at school] and shattered my ankle. At the time, I felt like my whole team was improving while I had to sit on the sidelines. But as I have grown, I’ve realized that it brought me closer to the people on my team, but especially [my] coaches. It made me realize how close our team really was because they treated each other like family. [If someone is going through the same thing], ask them if they need help. Moving around was hard, getting to class with your bookbag, [and] going up the stairs to your house. [But] my friends were really helpful during this time, making sure I was okay and didn’t need anything. It’s important to keep your friends close to you. Especially when they go through hard times because you never know what they're actually going through.” - Kendall Conway, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kendallconway10.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)
![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)
![Discarded to the side, Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams merchandise sits in a trash can after the two National Football League (NFL) teams left the state of Missouri. Both the National Hockey League’s (NHL) St.Louis Blues and Major League Baseball’s (MLB) St. Louis Cardinals, two other Missouri professional sports teams, have been in the city since their developments in 1967 and 1882, respectively. “St. Louis fans are incredibly loyal, judging by [the MLB’s] Cardinals and [the NHL’s] Blues. Team owners on the whole, not so much, judging by the [National Football League’s] Rams. This is more a function of ownership and profit than fan loyalty,” government teacher and football coach Melvin Trotier said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/DSC5875-2-300x225.jpg)
![Carefully holding a young athlete's face, senior Elizabeth Knott works at the face painting station in Victory Village. The Victory Village, located in the North Gym, served as a space for athletes to engage in multiple independent tasks. “I like to volunteer [and] interact with all different kinds of people [and] helping them have a fun experience. There was a little boy who asked me if I could [draw] a character from a game he liked [and] I was able to look it up and draw that character for him,” Knott said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/DSC9290-1-Enhanced-NR-1-300x200.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)