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The student news site of Davenport West High School

WHS Today

The student news site of Davenport West High School

WHS Today

Mary has a big personality and a lot of love for her students and swimmers.

From West to the South

Lanora Sprague, Reporter May 25, 2023

Yee-Haw! Mary Mandel’s moving to Texas. Mandel is a self contained special education teacher and head girls swim coach here at West High School and she’s been teaching for seven  years. She has made...

“The confidence he had in us, it just made us have more confidence in ourselves to go out there and do the best we can,” said Mitchell.

Leaving an Impact

Lucy Bernick, Reporter May 25, 2023

Coaches and teachers can leave a special impact on the kids that they coach and teach which is exactly what Coach Krusey did during his time at West. Krusey is a special education and behavior disorder...

“She’s pretty laid back as a teacher. She’ll help you with anything you just go through with questions. She teaches really well, like, if you aren’t understanding things she’ll like to come over and explain it to you and everything,” Fellner said.

Gosse leaves the Nest

Makenna Burt, Reporter May 25, 2023

West after 12 years 12 years, 2,160 school days, 12,960 hours of classes, plus countless hours of preparation and grading outside of the school day; that's how long math teacher Mrs. Gosse has spent teaching...

“I think this years golf season will be fun and we have a pretty good team,” senior Clare Lotspeich said.

“Par”fect Meet

Makenna Burt, Reporter April 12, 2023

Staring at the top of the hill looking at a small hole 338 yards away, with one goal to put that ball in the hole in the least amount of shots. That’s how the West girls golf teams first meet started...

Ms. Gascho and Ms. Bross  participating in one of their many outburst of hallway shenanigans. This is  common occurance in the math hallway.

Westy Besties

Lanora Sprague, Reporter April 4, 2023

Have you ever been on your way to class and been stopped by two teachers dancing and singing in the math hall? There are many teacher friends around the school, but Ms. Gascho and Ms. Bross are the most...

West students get hands on with preparing tree saplings to be planted. Living Lands and Waters informs students on the native trees to our environment, as well as the process of growing the saplings.

Trees on; air pollution gone

Lucy Bernick, Reporter March 31, 2023

While around 42 million trees are getting cut down worldwide every day, Living Lands and Waters is offsetting that with having West students bag tree saplings to keep air quality efficient, and soil erosion...

Central was one of the schools that was targeted. Tensions have been high ever since that call around Davenport.

Swat Scares

Jimmy Hepler, Reporter March 31, 2023

Many students around Iowa at the beginning of a Tuesday morning were rudely awakened by the threat of an active shooter at their school. Fearful and confused, many got called out by their parents, some...

“I love being so involved at West, it can be a lot to handle at times but ultimately its fun. I have met so many people and created so many memories in each activity I’m involved in,” Westerhof said.

A Balancing Act

Makenna Burt, Reporter March 30, 2023

Three sports, two clubs, and a 4.0 GPA, that’s a dedicated student. With being so involved the balance between academics and extracurriculars is a difficult one. Junior Sydney Westerhof has that balancing...

Angele Hill ‘23 sits with her Chromebook. Hill applied to many colleges this year, none of which were in Iowa. “Obviously a lot of people here go to like UNI or Iowa…so, it was [scary],” Hill said.

What Next?

Morgan Ware, Print Editor March 29, 2023

The dreaded question of ‘what will I do after high school?’ looms high over the heads of many Falcons. As the 22-23 school year winds to a close, seniors are having to make serious decisions. If, where,...

The Davenport West band is packed up ready for spring break. They took a bus and went to Florida.

A Needed Break

Makenna Burt, Reporter March 20, 2023

As March comes around, most students and staff are wanting a break from school. Luckily the schools get one, known as spring break. Some students or staff take this as an opportunity to take a vacation....

Falcon Friends join up with the West Connection Show Choir to learn a dance.

Can’t spell West without WE

Lanora Sprague, Reporter March 10, 2023

Inclusivity. It’s a big word with a lot of meaning, but what does it look like? West high school works to include special education students in lots of different activities around school. The Falcon...

Nic Stone standing in the West Library in front of her book display. The library has these books for any student or staff to check out.

Stone’s story

Lucy Bernick, Reporter March 9, 2023

With the motivation of beating the other Davenport schools, the students of West came through with the most registrations of the Davenport public library reading tracker. To reward this accomplishment,...

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