Scientia potentia est
September 19, 2017
College. Who in high school isn’t thinking about it? It looms in our future, the threat of it ever-constant in our minds. And for good reason. These days, the need for a college education in the workplace grows with our increasing globalized economy, and the rush to apply to schools has never been...
Club connection: UNICEF
Jessica Doyle, Reporter
September 16, 2017
Steven Yuan ‘19 had volunteered at the Veterans Affairs Hospital during past summers, but felt there was a lack of volunteering from other students. “There are a lot of people at school who I feel would like to volunteer, but they don´t know how to or they don’t have the resources or they d...
Teachers out of temporaries
Jessica Doyle, Reporter
September 14, 2017
While the opening of Liberty High School has definitely had an impact on the West High student population, the staff size has decreased as well. This has resulted in empty classrooms, allowing many teachers who once taught in the temporary classrooms outside of West to move into the building. Three m...
The trip of a lifetime
Fenna Semken, Online Editor-in-Chief
September 13, 2017
Riding through canoes in the Amazon rainforest, hiking through the Andes Mountains and deep sea snorkeling with stingrays are not typical summer activities in Iowa. But for a group of West High students and teachers, these experiences were not out of the ordinary. Every other year, West High ...
International literacy day
Sophie Stephens, Online Feature Editor
September 9, 2017
As a high school student, especially at an academics-based school like West High, it can be hard to imagine not being able to read or write by the time you graduate--but for 19% of the US population, that’s the case. According to the Washington Post, the United States is only ranked 7th in the world for literacy rates--a great ranking despite having few organizations or movements in the US ...
Helping Haiti
Jessica Doyle, Reporter
May 29, 2017
Science teacher Jenifer Secrist describes herself as service-minded, but up until recently, she hadn’t taken an interest in mission work. In the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a Haitian student of Secrist, whose family still resided in Haiti, sought out her support. The student’s grandmother ...
West’s twitter savages share advice
Asha Irani, Videographer
May 24, 2017
Filed under Feature, Profiles, Showcase
West Side Story: When did you make your Twitter account? Maddee Whitehead '17: I made my account in 7th grade. I thought I had a lot of funny tweets but looking back, they were super cringe worthy. Ethan Seylar '18: I first made my Twitter account way back in 2012, but I didn't really start getting...
Donnie Binegar: the embodiment of West
Ethan Goers, Videographer and Sports Correspondent
May 23, 2017
Filed under Feature, Profiles, Showcase
As years go by, West high has continued to change. The ninth grade wing was added, the music wing was added, principals have come and gone and left impacts on those around us. Many of the people walking the hallways today weren’t around for all of these events, but custodian, Donnie Binegar, remembers all o...
Hired
Cameron Cook and Katie Fuhrmeister
May 18, 2017
Filed under Feature, Profiles, Showcase
Most seniors leave high school just to go back to learning for another four years. But not every graduate takes their talent to a University immediately–or ever. West Side Story interviewed four students with three different reasons for taking the road less traveled: working after high school. The Mu...
Effectiveness of sexual assault education for high school students questioned
Fenna Semken, Online Editor-In-Chief
May 3, 2017
Effectiveness of sexual assault education for high school students questionedFenna SemkenAttempts to educate students about sexual assault in a high school setting sometimes lack effectiveness, revealed by interviews with teachers, administrators and high school students from 18 Iowa school districts, in...
The Changing Climate
April 23, 2017
Filed under Feature, Showcase, Video, Video
With climate change being one of the most talked about issues of our time, what really is it? And how do young people today get involved in the fight against climate change?
Leah makes it up
Sadie Rhomberg, Reporter
April 17, 2017
Filed under Profiles, Showcase
Video by Kristina Rosebrook For many people, doing their makeup is a somewhat meaningless part of their everyday routine, but for junior Leah Brownsberger, it means much more. Brownsberger was always relatively artistic, but she didn’t know she could use her face as a canvas to express her creati...
Videographer
Eman Elsheikh is a senior at West High. It is her first year on staff and she is a Broadcast videographer. When she's not working on videos, Eman watches K-Dramas and cries about college applications.