Heartbeat bill threatens women’s rights
Kate Kealey, Editor in Chief
June 3, 2019
Recently many states including Iowa have tried to pass the Heartbeat Bill. Don’t let the title fool you, this bill was designed by a party of white men intending to strip women of basic reproductive rights. The bill makes it illegal for any woman living in that state to receive an abortion after th...
Author, former West teacher’s work comes full circle
Laurence Walker, Reporter
May 31, 2019
Filed under Features, Showcase
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
Filed under Features, Showcase
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...
Senior Falcon festival
Joseph Potts, reporter
May 24, 2019
An annual picnic for graduating students was held on May 22 at the Mississippi Fairgrounds as way for seniors to get together one last time before graduation. The senior picnic has been a long running, approximately 30 years, tradition for the school. “I think it would probably go back around ...
Red-tailed hawk rescue at West
Joseph Heirigs, Reporter
May 24, 2019
Update: Animal Family Vet Center checked the red-tailed hawk out and stated that nothing was broken. The raptor was thin and had been eaten up by gnats and will be visiting a raptor center to get healthy before being released into the wild. WHSToday.com will update as further information is acquired. ...
Surfing through West’s Charity Week
Cameron Wilson, reporter
May 22, 2019
Filed under Multimedia, News, Photos, Showcase
Once a year West has a Charity Week run by Student Senate to provide for those in need. The $3, 415 dollars raised from this year’s event goes to West’s own Falcon’s Nest. The Falcon’s Nest provides essential needs for more than 1,000 people and their families social studie...
Thoughtful theatre
Joseph Potts, Reporter
May 15, 2019
West students produced the 59th annual West High variety show on May 10 in the auditorium. Preparations for the variety show began the first week of May. Senior Lily Hancock says that they started late this year and pulled the show together in one week. The variety show is directed by show choir...
The world could end tomorrow…
Cameron Wilson, Reporter
May 10, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinion, Showcase
People are selfish; it’s a part of who we are. Naturally humans will worry about problems in their lives that affect how they operate and how they appear to others. This can and usually does lead to people putting themselves at the center of their universe subconsciously, or sometimes ev...
Mississippi flooding crashes over West
Laurence Walker, Reporter
May 9, 2019
On Tuesday, April 30, the levee that has been up for over a month holding the record high flooding from the Mississippi river broke, and crashed over downtown Davenport. According to KWQC, the river levels reached 22.64 feet on Thursday, May 2, surpassing the previous record of 21.63 feet set in 199...
Sweeping attendance issues out the door
Sophia Iniguez, Reporter
April 25, 2019
The administrators at West have launched a new effort to help keep students in their classrooms and out of the halls. This method is called the lockout system. The lockout system was used this year to prevent late and tardy students. Administrators, teachers, and students are all affected by this new po...
Saving lives one drop at a time
Sarah Bernick, Reporter
April 19, 2019
West hosted its first blood drive since Sept.on Thursday, April 18. Due to snow day cancellations, West was not able to host two of their four annual blood drives. By collecting an estimated total of 80 pints, the amount of blood taken in could potentially save 240 people. “We host blood drives wit...
Quality of life or quality of security?
Laurence Walker, Reporter
April 19, 2019
Approaching West’s doors near the YMCA entrance, it’s not uncommon to see groups of people peering through the windows, knocking on the doors, or calling friends. The doors near the Y entrance, or the Y doors, are almost always locked, leaving some students confused as to why. “I used to go i...
Adviser
Alissa Hansen teaches language arts and journalism, and she advises the Beak 'n' Eye newspaper and the WHS Today website. She is married to an engineer and has three children: Rhys, Ellis and June. Sh...
