October news briefs

As the days get colder and fall approaches, take a look back at the events that marked the beginning of the school year.

Zaira Ahmad, Print Editor-in-Chief • October 6, 2023

Helen Orszula

West High had a busy start to the year, look back at some of the memorable moments.

School Changes (Aug. 23)

This year, students were met with many new policy changes. Parking passes are now free after previously being $5. In addition, the school will tow cars without passes and students’ cars parked in the teacher lot, bus lane and fire lane. Advisory has returned to West and takes place on Wednesdays. Students will have the same Advisory teacher for every year they are at West.

Cones sit in front of West High, preventing faculty from parking there. (Gianna Liu)

West Ranked #1 (Aug. 29)

U.S. News and World Report ranked West High the #1 high school in Iowa and the #398 school in the United States. U.S. News took factors such as college readiness, graduation rate and state assessments into consideration for this ranking. Liberty High and City High also ranked #6 and #12 in Iowa, respectively.

Congratulations to West High on being named the #1 Best High School in Iowa based on U.S. News & World Report Rankings! To view the rankings, head to: https://t.co/pZdAlHsKRa pic.twitter.com/S500d5j1hu

— Iowa City Schools (@IowaCitySchools) August 29, 2023

ICCSD Twitter

Theatre West Auditions (Sept. 11)

Theatre West is showcasing “A Christmas Carol.” Auditions for the fall production took place in the Arganbright Auditorium. 39 students are acting in the show with Andreas Warren ’24 playing Ebenezer Scrooge. The production will be held Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, and tickets are sold online at theatrewesthigh.com.

Club Fair (Sept. 13)

The club fair took place in the cafeteria during Advisory and sixth period. 48 clubs participated in the club fair including new clubs such as Table Tennis Club, Film Club and Pickleball Club.

Winners of the Hero of Troy pose at Homecoming Sept. 23. (Mitch Gross)

Homecoming (Sept. 19-23)

Homecoming kicked off with spirit week including themes like pajama day, t-shirt signing day, Adam Sandler day, anything-but-a-backpack day and green and gold day. A homecoming parade honoring the Heroes of Troy nominees took place Sept. 20 in Galway Hills and featured sports, band and more. The Mamma Mia-themed homecoming dance took place at West High Sept. 23. The six Heroes of Troy included seniors Aidan Jacobsen, Ankur Karandikar, Cindy Wang, De’Jah Jordan, Zaira Ahmad and Zoe Smith.

Winners of the Hero of Troy pose at Homecoming Sept. 23. (Mitch Gross)

Football (Sept. 15-22)

Following their 35-28 win against Liberty in the season opener Aug. 25, the Trojans played the Little Hawks in the 55th annual Battle for the Boot Sept. 15. The game took place on Bates Field at City High with the Trojans losing to the Little Hawks 23-8. West faced Ankeny Sept. 22 in the Homecoming Game and lost 48-21.

Mason Goering ’26 and Izaiah Loveless ’24 lead the Trojan team onto the field for their first home game of the season Sept. 8. The boys dominated Muscatine High school winning 42-20. (Elena Garcia Van Auken)

Donate to West Side Story

$50

$2000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of West High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase Scholarship Yearbooks, newsroom equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

About the Contributors

Zaira Ahmad, Print Editor-in-Chief

(she/her) Zaira Ahmad is a Senior at West High. This is her third year on staff, and she is the Print Editor-In-Chief. Outside of the newsroom, you can probably find Zaira at show choir rehearsal or volunteering with Rotary. She also loves spending time with her friends and family, reading, and watching movies.

Gianna Liu, Print Co-Editor-in-Chief

Gianna Liu is a senior at West High. This is her third year on staff and she is the Print Co-Editor-in-Chief. When Gianna isn't busy taking photos or writing the next big story, you can find her bouncing a volleyball on the 10-foot line, watching the newest kdrama, walking 10,000 steps and volunteering.

Wesal Haroun, Yearbook Co-Editor-in-Chief

(she/her) Wesal Haroun is a senior at West High and this is her third year on staff. She is the Trojan Epic Yearbook Co-Editor-in-Chief. In addition to photography and design, she likes to hang out with friends and binge-watch TV shows.

Elena Garcia Van Auken, News Editor, Social Media Co-editor

(she/her) This is Elena's second year on staff. This year she is news editor and social media co-editor. When she's not at school she is either working, reading or listening to music.

Helen Orszula, Artist, Designer

(she/they) Helen is a senior at West and this is her second year on staff. She is a designer and artist for WSS print. In her free time, she likes to read, mess around on Illustrator, and do crosswords.