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
Spanish teacher Jessica Verweyest stands in front of her Hispanic-themed classroom, decorated to show her love for the culture. Verweyest fell in love with the Spanish language through her travels to various Hispanic countries after high school. “I lived in Colombia over one summer, and then I received a scholarship through the Youth Rotary Club to live in Ecuador as a gap year. Those immersive experiences encouraged me to continue to speak Spanish. In Ecuador, I had the opportunity to do some volunteer work. I worked with an underprivileged group of children between the ages of five and 15 to teach them English. That opened my eyes to the difficulties of communication and turned me to wanting to teach Spanish,” Verweyst said.

Flashback Friday: Spanish teacher Jessica Verweyst

Sakenah Lajkem, Staff Writer • February 23, 2024

What school did you go to? I went to Edgar Road Elementary School in the Webster Groves School District. Then, I went to Steger Sixth Grade Center, Hixson Middle School and Webster Groves High School.  How...

Following a district announcement that Latin A and B will be removed from course registration at the middle school, teachers and students with ties to the language have been disappointed. However, some Latin students are taking strides to promote enrollment to rising freshmen. “Even if [the administration] is making these decisions based on numbers, there is a human element that should be considered. How does this affect other teachers? How does this affect families? How does it affect your financial bottom line? As Parkway moves towards a student choice schedule, we need to allow all possible options: including Latin,” Latin teacher Tom Herpel said.

The loss of a language

Madi Michajliczenko, Conceptual Editor-in-Chief • March 2, 2023

What causes a language to die? Is it when people stop speaking it? Reading it? Writing it? Historians have long regarded Latin as a dead language because it no longer has native speakers. However, they...

French and Spanish teacher Blair Hopkins evaluates Spanish 1 students' speaking abilities during a speaking test. Tests in the third quarter are taken outside the classroom for 3 minutes to evaluate the curriculum learned in that unit. “Since we’re in-person, each student has to scan the QR code to be outside the classroom,” Hopkins said.

Saying hola to new teaching strategies

Lydia Kirkou, Staff Writer • April 13, 2021

“I can’t hear you.”  “Please turn on your screen.”  “My screen can’t be on while you are presenting or my computer knocks me out of Zoom.”  “There is such a lag with what...