Author, former West teacher’s work comes full circle
Laurence Walker, Reporter
May 31, 2019
When West first opened its doors to students in 1959-1960, an entire school of educators were hired and became West’s first teachers. On Friday, May 24 one of the first wave of West teachers, 86-year-old English teacher and author Jon Ripslinger visited West. He came to talk to the yearbook staff a...
A need for an updated grade
Sarah Bernick, reporter
May 29, 2019
As the end of the school year begins to creep in, so do final grades for high school students. An intense amount of stress on teachers and students starts to loom over everyone’s heads due to the rush of getting assignments in and completed. Teachers, parents, and students use Parent Portal to locate gra...
West is best
Sophia Iniguez, Reporter
April 5, 2019
Davenport West High School is much more than just a school, it's a place where students make memories, come together with friends, and join activities and clubs that they will never forget. With more than 1,600 students in the Falcon nation, there is diversity in classes, clubs, and sports teams that ma...
Falcons and foreign language
Laurence Walker and Thomas Yates
April 3, 2019
Hola! Hallo! Bonjour! Davenport West offers three language programs and a classical languages course. Ask any foreign language teacher or student, and they’d say that language is an important part of life, and that learning a new language is beneficial to anyone. In fact, West offers more college ...
Surreal surnames
Sarah Bernick, Reporter
March 29, 2019
Something we’ve all seen, something we all hear, something we all struggle to pronounce… Last names are part of a title that every person has, whether we like them or not. We’ve all seen our names in the yearbook, or on the attendance list, but have you ever looked at someone else's last name and...
Powering through senioritis: the end is in sight
Kelly Snawerdt, Print Editor
March 28, 2019
It’s finally that time of year again. Spring is a time of new beginnings, sunshine, later sunsets, beautiful flowers blooming, and the dreaded spread of senioritis. With scholarship deadlines approaching, less time to work before college begins in the fall, and endless thoughts about what life has in...
50 years and counting
Kate Kealey, Editor in Chief
March 27, 2019
50 years of grading papers. 50 years of finals. 50 years of watching kids grow. 50 years of kindness and hard work. 50 years with generations of students preparing them for what’s to come. This has been the everyday life of language arts teacher Pat Sheehey for the last 50 years of teaching at Davenpor...
Changes in West High’s vocal music program
Laurence Walker, Reporter
March 25, 2019
At the end of the 2018 school year, West’s vocal music program lost both of its directors, Colleen Schloemer and Tyler Finley. This year there are new directors, Laura Engels and Nick Andersen, and with these new directors come new changes to the department. “I have changed the format of Dinner Theat...
Lockers: useful or useless?
Thomas Yates, Reporter
March 23, 2019
The bell rings to announce the end of first block. You don’t need your heavy textbook for the rest of the day, but it’s just light enough that you don’t mind if you have to carry it. The question stands: do you go out of your way to put the textbook in your locker, or do you just deal with it and...
FlexiSched: Flexible or not?
Thomas Yates, Reporter
March 19, 2019
It’s Monday afternoon, the bell just rang to dismiss you from your third block class, and you’re on your way to advisory. This is your time to schedule yourself for the week: surely you could have done it any time from Friday after school to now, but you always wait until advisory on Monday to cho...
Powerlifting record setter
Thomas Yates, Reporter
March 5, 2019
Squatting down over the barbell, sophomore Carter Bruce tightly grips his hands around the cold metal. His fingers tighten around the grate-skinned grip of the bar as he stands, his entire body shaking as he pulls the weight against the force of gravity. Sweat pours down his face as he slowly comes to ...
The West High way
Tyler Newman, Reporter
March 4, 2019
West students have heard it before, the reminder of what it means to be a Falcon-- that is, the West High way. ‘We win. We engage. We are safe. We teach’ are the core values that each student and staff member are able to achieve every day at West High School. Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS)...
