Wahawk Insider

28/10/2024

Consider contributing to our Donor's Choose fundraiser to help us get more equipment into the hands of our student journalists! Click the link below to read about our award-winning teams and why this equipment would make a great impact for our program.
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If you donate this week, use the promo code "LIFTOFF" to double your donation.
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https://www.donorschoose.org/project/help-student-journalists-learn-with-prof/8903522/?utm_source=dc&utm_medium=directlink&utm_campaign=project&utm_term=unknown&rf=directlink-dc-2024-10-project-unknown

19/09/2024

Jackson McNally, Benjamin Hirdler and Matko Sabic share why they returned to their alma mater after graduating in 2015.
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To read more, click the link below or visit wahawkinsider.com
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Reporting by Layla Shannon

Two of West’s favorite staff members, who knew they graduated from here too?! Mr. McNally and Mr. Hirdler are West High alumni and came back to teach after college! Jackson McNally is the assistant coach on the boys’ swim team and he teaches U.S. history. He graduated from the University of Iowa...

19/09/2024

Waterloo Wahawks Beat the East High Trojans for the 12th Consecutive Year. West High beats the Trojans with a final score of 19-6 on August 30.
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To read more, click the link below or visit wahawkinsider.com
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Reporting by Kaylynn Crawford and Jacy Gomez

On August 30, The West High football team defeated the East High Trojans 19-6 making this year’s game the 12 consecutive win for the Wahawks. The winning streak started in the 2013-2014 football season when West beat East 28-0 on Oct. 3, 2013. Since then, the Wahawks have been victorious when faci...

19/09/2024

West High Senior, Darreon Sykes is a seventeen-year-old entrepreneur who has created his own hair braiding business.
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Click the link below to read more!
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Reporting by Karma Goodson

Darreon Sykes started his braiding business two and a half years ago when he was unable to find a braider for his sister.

26/03/2024

Congratulations to the 2024 Iowa Journalist of the Year: Alisyn Parkhurst, Waterloo West High School, Nicole Goodman, adviser.
Parkhurst advances to JEA Journalist of the Year competition. JEA Journalist of the Year winner will be announced April 6 at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Kansas City. Wahawk Insider Waterloo West High Yearbook Waterloo West High School Waterloo Community School District Iowa High School Press Association

19/02/2024

HUGE celebration! Today the Iowa High School Press Association announced the 2024 Iowa Journalist of the Year and our very own Ali Parkhurst won!! Read the article below to read what the IHSPA Judging committee had to say and to checkout Ali's portfolio.

Waterloo West High’s Ali Parkhurst has been named Iowa’s High School Journalist of the Year. She earns $500 and has the opportunity to represent Iowa in the National Journalist of the Year contest. Parkhurst serves as the Sports & News Editor for Waterloo West’s student newspaper, Wahawk Insid...

13/02/2024

Big congratulations to our reporter, Ali Parkhurst, for her feature article titled “Brewing Success” getting accepted and published by Best of SNO!
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At time of publishing, 9,570 stories have been submitted around the country this academic year and 1415 have been accepted.
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To read Ali's article, check it out here: https://bestofsno.com/67732/features/brewing-success/

11/01/2024

SCHEDULE UPDATE FOR 1/11
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Students will attend periods 1-8 with a normal bell schedule, final exams will take place during the normal period times.
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SEE YOU TOMORROW WAHAWKS

19/11/2023

While the girls basketball team had some key players graduate at the end of last season, head coach Dr. Anthony Pappas has high hopes for the 2023-24 team this year. This year will be full of “coaching a whole new set of players, improving, and showing people that we’re gonna work hard and become a good team,” says Pappas.
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Reporting by Daisy Williams
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To read more, visit wahawkinsider.com or click the link below:

While the girls basketball team had some key players graduate at the end of last season, head coach Dr. Anthony Pappas has high hopes for the 2023-24 team. This year will be full of “coaching a whole new set of players, improving, and showing people that we’re gonna work hard and become a good t...

17/11/2023

Receiving credit for their work is becoming an increasingly harder issue for photographers as the media progresses. Many photographers and journalists are finding it difficult for people to credit their work and not recognizing the effort and hard work it takes to upload, sort, edit and publish photos. The industry has a standard expectation that is to credit your photographers, but society is slacking in doing their part.
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To read more, click the link in bio or visit Wahawkinsider.com
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Reporting by Lucy Prescott

16/11/2023

Big congratulations to our reporter, Ali Parkhurst, for her feature article titled “Finding Comfort Behind The Camera” getting accepted and published by Best of SNO!
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At time of publishing, 4,122 stories have been submitted around the country this academic year and 678 have been accepted.
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To read Ali's article, check it out here: https://bestofsno.com/65394/features/finding-comfort-behind-the-camera/

16/11/2023

As the 2023-24 winter sports season approaches, all eyes are turning to our boys basketball team as they seem to be starting the season with a clean Slate. Ending the 2022-23 season with a substate defeat against West Des Moines Valley also came with additional losses for the team. As 2023 graduates Si’Marion Anderson and Keishaun Pendleton committed to Western Iowa Tech Community College, the Wahawks lost two of their strong athletes.
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Reporting by Ali Parkhurst
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To read more, click the link below:

As the 2023-24 winter sports season approaches, all eyes are turning to our boys basketball team as they seem to be starting the season with a clean Slate. Ending the 2022-23 season with a substate defeat against West Des Moines Valley also came with additional losses for the team. As 2023 graduates...

16/11/2023

Following an expedition, the Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna has been ‘rediscovered’ and many new discoveries were made.
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Belonging to the Tachyglossidae family, the long lost Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna has been seen for the first time since its documentation in 1961. Named after Sir David Attenborough, this specific variation of echidna is one of the five remaining monotremes, monotremes being egg laying mammals.
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Reporting by Tyler Hall
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To read more, click the link below:

Belonging to the Tachyglossidae family, the long lost Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna has been seen for the first time since its documentation in 1961. Named after Sir David Attenborough, this specific variation of echidna is one of the five remaining monotremes, monotremes being egg laying mam...

14/11/2023

About the Podcast: Wahawk Sports Corner is the podcast for your inside view of Waterloo West High athletics. On this podcast, we talk to many coaches and players about their season or upcoming season.

About the Episode: On today’s episode of Wahawk Sports Corner, I had the privilege to talk with first time state qualifier for diving, Francesca Dehl. We talked about her path to becoming a diver, athletic career in high school, inspiration, and much more.
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Reporting by Seayea Joseph
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To listen to the episode, click the link below:

About the Podcast: Wahawk Sports Corner is the podcast for your inside view of Waterloo West High athletics. On this podcast, we talk to many coaches and players about their season or upcoming season. About the Episode: On today’s episode of Wahawk Sports Corner, I had the privilege to talk with f...

14/11/2023

Senior Talan Nelson, typically seen in his maroon and white overalls, has earned a permanent front row spot at all the Wahawk athletic events. As a student section leader, Nelson brings energy to the crowd and gets the students in the stands on their feet. Nelson missed only one football game, and was seen at nearly every volleyball match this season. Recently Nelson has been seen with more than just school spirit. In the past few months, a camera has hung from his neck alongside his overalls.
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Reporting by Ali Parkhurst
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To read more, click the link below:

Senior Talan Nelson, typically seen in his maroon and white overalls, has earned a permanent front row spot at all the Wahawk athletic events. As a student section leader, Nelson brings energy to the crowd and gets the students in the stands on their feet. Nelson missed only one football game, and w...

09/11/2023

What is the meaning behind the “Roman Empire” trend? The Roman Empire trend started with an Instagram Reel posted by , saying that women would be surprised at how often men think about the Romans, but has escaped the ‘social media bubble’ and flooded into everyday conversation.

After the trend initially blew up on Instagram, it started to spill onto TikTok as people began asking their friends and significant others what their Roman Empire was. People have started to use the term “Roman Empire” to describe things that they find themselves thinking about very frequently.
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Reporting by Kaylynn Crawford
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To read more, click the link below:

What is the meaning behind the “Roman Empire” trend? The Roman Empire trend started with an Instagram Reel posted by , saying that women would be surprised at how often men think about the Romans, but has escaped the ‘social media bubble’ and flooded into everyday conversation. ...

09/11/2023

Sophomores Ester Shin and Rana Teke are West High’s two violinists that made it into the Iowa All-State orchestra after auditioning on October 21. In addition to the two sophomores accepted, freshman Jaxon Thoms was selected as an alternate for the band.
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Reporting by Ally Knight
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To read more, click the link below:

Sophomores Ester Shin and Rana Teke are West High’s two violinists that made it into the Iowa All-State orchestra after auditioning on October 21 at Hampton-Dumont-CAL. At this site, 17 schools participated in the audition process. In addition to the two sophomores accepted, freshman Jaxon Thoms w...

09/11/2023

About the Podcast: Wahawk Sports Corner is the podcast for your inside view of Waterloo West High athletics. On this podcast, we talk to many coaches and players about their season or upcoming season.

About the Episode: On today’s episode of Wahawk Sports Corner, I had the privilege to talk with two-time swim state qualifier Irma Mujic. We talked about her love for the sport, inspiration, and so much more.
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Reporting by Seayea Joseph
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To listen to the episode, click the link below:

About the Podcast: Wahawk Sports Corner is the podcast for your inside view of Waterloo West High athletics. On this podcast, we talk to many coaches and players about their season or upcoming season. About the Episode: On today’s episode of Wahawk Sports Corner, I had the privilege to talk with t...

09/11/2023

There is no denying the upcoming rise of women in sports. We can find examples of this in sports such as basketball and volleyball where they have broken several attendance records by holding their games in their college’s football stadiums.

On October 14th the Iowa women’s basketball team broke the NCAA attendance record for a single game with 55,646 people in attendance. On a different side of the sports world, the Nebraska volleyball team broke the world record for attendance at any women’s sporting event with 91,648 people.
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Reporting by Jacy Gomez
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To read more, click the link below:

There is no denying the upcoming rise of women in sports. We can find examples of this in sports such as basketball and volleyball where they have broken several attendance records by holding their games in their college’s football stadiums. On October 14th the Iowa women’s basketball team broke...

07/11/2023

Following the resignation of Cliff Berinobis, the school district was in search to replace the position. On October 26 2023, Derrick Slater or ‘Coach Slate’ was announced as the new Head Coach for the boys varsity basketball team.

Though he is taking on a new position for the 2023-24 season, Slater is not a new face to the basketball team. Slater was formally the Head Coach of the boys sophomore basketball team before moving to being an Assistant Coach for boys varsity basketball team during the 2022-23 season.
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Reporting by Ali Parkhurst
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To read more, click the link below:

Following the resignation of Cliff Berinobis, the school district was in search to replace the position. On October 26 2023, Derrick Slater or ‘Coach Slate’ was announced as the new Head Coach for the boys varsity basketball team. Though he is taking on a new position for the 2023-24 season, Sla...

07/11/2023

Assistant Coach for the boys basketball team, Jarred Johnston, had the idea to create a game where staff members at West High would be able to play in a basketball game against West High seniors. “I worked at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids. Every year we would do a Staff v. Student basketball game, students and staff always had a lot of fun. I wanted to bring something to the West that would be fun and bring people together,” he says.
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Reporting by Ali Parkhurst
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To read more, click the link below:

Assistant Coach for the boys basketball team, Jarred Johnston, had the idea to create a game where staff members at West High would be able to play in a basketball game against West High seniors. “I worked at McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids. Every year we would do a Staff v. Student basketb...

03/11/2023

03/11/2023

On Saturday, October 28, West High Student Senate hosted a Trunk or Treat event which consisted of collecting donated canned foods and money for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank’s Student Food Drive. Even though it wasn’t the warmest, everyone still had a warm welcome for all the trick or treaters.
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Reporting by Lily Taber
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To read more, click the link below:

On Saturday, October 28, West High Student Senate hosted a Trunk or Treat event which consisted of collecting donated canned foods and money for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank’s Student Food Drive. Even though it wasn’t the warmest, everyone still had a warm welcome for all the trick or treaters. ...

03/11/2023

Although this situation has recently been brought up in the occurring war in Gaza, the Israel and Palestine conflict has been happening for years without the publicity it has now. Each passing day, the war in Gaza becomes more destructive with terror from both sides of Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces.
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Reporting by Fernanda Jimenez-Crudo
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To read more, click the link below:

Although this situation has recently been brought up in the occurring war in Gaza, the Israel and Palestine conflict has been happening for years without the publicity it has now. Each passing day, the war in Gaza becomes more destructive with terror from both sides of Hamas and the Israel Defense F...

03/11/2023

The Wahawk Speech and Theater department has been preparing their show, “The Bugs” a Greek comedy written by Don Zolidis and directed by William Dawson and Benjamin Hirdler. A cast of originally 28 students has dwindled down to 21 members. As the cast and crew approach their first bow, they have started to get increasingly worried about how their show will turn out.
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Reporting by Kaylynn Crawford
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To read more, click the link below:

Will the sudden change in performance dates make this the final curtain call for the West High Speech and Theater department?