2017-2018 Staff
Kara Wagenknecht
Photographer
This is Kara's first year on staff and she couldn't be more excited. In her free time she enjoys taking photos, playing with her dogs and hanging out with her friends. Kara is currently a sophomore and a photographer on staff.
See Kara Wagenknecht's profile
Allie Schmitt-Morris
Photographer
This is Allie's first year on staff and she's super excited. She started taking photos a few years ago for fun. Allie is a Sophmore and loves to take photos of sports. ...
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Megan Boland
Designer
Megan is a junior this year at West High and this is her first year being a part of West Side Story as a designer. ...
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Sadie Rhomberg
Reporter
Sadie is a junior at West High and is a reporter for the West Side Story. ...
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Kristina Rosebrook
Videographer
Kristina Rosebrook is a sophomore at West High, and this is her first year on staff. She is a videographer, but likes to write creatively in her free time. Kristina also likes pugs, an assortment of quality music and tennis. ...
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Crystal Kim
Designer & Ad Representative
Crystal is currently a sophomore at West and she is stoked for her first year on staff! ...
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Alyson Kuennen
Photographer, Ad Representative
This is Alyson's junior year at West, and first year on staff. She is a photographer for the web, as well as an ads representative for the West Side Story as a whole. ...
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Samalya Thenuwara
Digital Feature Editor and Feature Producer
Samalya Thenuwara is in her third year of attending West High School and in her first year of being a part of the West Side Story staff. ...
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Mary Vander Weg
Reporter
Mary Vander Weg is a sophomore at West, and it is her first year on staff. ...
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Deniz Ince
Reporter
Deniz is a sophomore in her first year on West Side Story as a reporter. At West, she is a member of the girls cross country and track and field teams. She is a lover of desserts, dogs and dancing. ...
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Lauren Katz
Copy Editor
Lauren is a junior this year at West, this being her first year on West Side Story staff. When Lauren isn't swimming or playing tennis, she can be found in the library cuddled with Louise Penny's latest Chief Inspector Gamache book. ...
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Angie Zirbes
Artist
Angie is a junior at West and a newbie (first year !) on staff. She is a future Disney/Pixar artist who loves art (typical), music, being outside, chacos, Kylo Ren, and large rabbits. You can often find her in her natural habitat of the art room, painting ...
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Grace Christopher
Videographer
Grace is a sophomore and this is her first year as a member on staff. She is a videographer and reporter. Besides being a member of newspaper Grace enjoys volunteering and participating in the theatre program. ...
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Anjali Huynh
Reporter
Anjali is a sophomore reporter in her first year on WSS staff. In addition to being a part of WSS, she is a band geek with a mild Java obsession and an undying love for food and travel. ...
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Ian Prescott
Reporter
Ian is a sophomore working as one of the distribution managers, and as a reporter. This is his first year on staff. Like many he enjoys long walks on the beach and sarcasm. Though his main interests are writing and art. ...
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Jessica Doyle
Reporter
Jessica Doyle is a sophomore at West High and this is her first year on staff. She's super pumped to be working as a reporter for West Side Story. ...
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Olivia Dachtler
Photographer
Olivia Dachtler is a West High sophomore and this will be her first year on the West Side Story staff. She can almost always be found in Downtown Iowa City trying new restaurants and taking photos. ...
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Harry Westergaard
Reporter
Harry is a Sophomore at West High. This is his first year writing on staff as a film columnist and he is looking forward to putting his love of cinema to work for West Side Story. He enjoys many different types of media in spare time, including movies, boo...
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Reagan Hart
Reporter
Reagan is a junior. This is her first year as part of the West Side Story staff. She is also part of the Trojan marching band, and loves performing with her saxophone named Kenny. ...
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George Liu
Reporter
George is a sophomore who has just joined the West Side Story staff this year. When he is not writing stories or tweaking wsspaper.com, he is most likely studying for a random college admission exam or building the WSS android app. &...
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Jenna Zeng
Designer
Jenna Zeng is a sophomore this year at West and this is her first year on staff as a designer. When she's not at school or doing homework, you can find her swimming at the pool, playing piano, or attempting to bake, even though it usually ends up in a disa...
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Will Conrad
Reporter
Will Conrad is a sophomore and this is his first year on staff. In addition to newspaper he is also involved in cross country, track, and showchoir. ...
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Pareen Mhatre
Photographer & Ad Representative
Pareen Mhatre is a junior, and she is a photographer and ad representative for the West Side Story. This is her first year being on staff. She is involved in extra curricular activities, such as J.E.T.S. and policy debate. In her free time, she enjoys watc...
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Ethan Goers
Reporter
Ethan is a Junior, who will be enjoying his first year on the West Side Story staff! When he's not studying for tests while listening to classic rock, you can find him running cross country, playing video games, or getting 52 oz slushees from "Kum n Go" wi...
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Tyler Thomasson
Designer
Tyler is a junior at West and this is his first time designing for the West Side Story. Besides being a WSS staff member, he is involved in show choir and theatre. He looks forward to working hard and having a creatively fulfilling year. ...
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Emma Brustkern
Entertainment Editor (Print)
Emma is a junior and this is her first year on West Side Story Staff. In her free time, she is a member of crew for both Theatre West and West High show choir. She also enjoys petting her cats and making awful puns.
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Teresa Knecht
Photographer
Teresa is a Photographer. Teresa Knecht is a junior at West High. It is her first year on staff and she is a photographer. She enjoys Fenna Semken's homemade pasta. ...
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Ellie Gretter
Writer
Ellie is a sophomore and is a writer in her first year on staff. She does track and cross country in her free time (which is actually a lot more fun than you'd think)....
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Fenna Semken
Online Editor-in-Chief
Fenna Semken is a senior at West High. It is her third year on staff and she is Online Editor-In-Chief this year. When she isn't working on the website, Fenna enjoys taking long hikes at Macbride, listening to live music on Friday nights, and going on road tri...
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Catherine Ju
Design Editor
Catherine (pronounced Katherine or Kathryn) is a junior here at West High School. This is her first year as design editor, and second year on staff. ...
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Nina Elkadi
Print News Editor
This is Nina's second year as the print news editor. When she isn't seeking out a story she loves kayaking, biking and jamming out with her friends....
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Wingel Xue
Designer
Wingel is a junior and has been a designer for the West Side Story for two years. ...
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Junhee Lee
Business Manager, Print Copy Editor, Designer & Reporter
Junhee is a junior this year at West and this is his second year on staff. He'd like to suggest to the reader to go to the homepage (wsspaper.com) instead of reading this bio. ...
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Prateek Raikwar
Print profiles editor
Prateek Raikwar is a junior at West and in his second year on staff. ...
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Shawn Thacker
Writer
Shawn is a sophomore and reporter on the West Side Story. He enjoys drinking espresso on rainy days and traveling to new places around the world....
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Mason Wang
Web developer/videographer
Mason is the coolest person you will ever meet. He's a junior on his second year on staff, and does some nice videos and helps the website function. If you want, he can make you a WSS subscriber. Don't spam him at: mwanger32@gmail.com. Are...
See Mason Wang's profile