West High's Journey: Celebrating a Year of Growth, Achievements

This year West High school has witnessed many moments of this years events. These are not just events, these are moments in time where people felt like themselves, alive, and living life. Moments should be talked about and remembered forever.

August was a bright start to a shining view of an amazing year to come, 10 great new faculty members joined the Trojan Army, guidance advised students on obtaining scholarships and helped students stay on track in their high school careers, and lastly new schedule changes were announced.

September was a busy month for the Trojan nation. Here's the highlight of September. Scholarships began opening up along with college touring. Mr. Reeds criminal justice class put on drunk goggles and ride a bike around cones.

Over 100 seniors paid $50 to paint their parking spots which was a record breaking number of senior participation. Landefeld noted that “Together, the senior class this year and last year have raised a total of 5,670 dollars to Isaiah House.”

Mr. Saul also brought his physics class out to shoot bottle rockets. The class was covering the standard fall time, and how each projectile traveled. The students had two weeks to work on the rockets.

West story staff thanked the West High Bus Drivers The West Side Story staff came together on Friday, Sept. 13 to personally hand-deliver each bus driver a thank-you card and a piece of candy from 2:10 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. as recognition for their service. They also gave the bus drivers unique cards to all the drivers.

And to finish off the September recap a big congratulations, to the Fall Homecoming Court 2024. students voted who would be on the 2024 homecoming court.

October was a festive month and festive means that West High showed their school spirit for this month. On October fourth, Ellie Mitchelle was crowned homecoming queen of 2024 with Charlie Dewald as her escort. Rolling over to the Thompson Boling Arena where Jelly Rolls performs at. His opening song was “I Am Not Okay”. The West High football team made a comeback and ended the season with the victory. In the same time frame, West High also crowned Bricyn Grudger as Mr. Homecoming King. The Roan Scholars Leadership Program gave West High an opportunity to be granted a scholarship.

November for the West High Trojans was very eventful. Here is a recap of the month of November for West High School. Firstly, West High students vote in a mockery of the presidential election. An email was sent out to 122 students. The candidates were similar to the candidates of the Presidential Election of 2024. 60.7% of students voted for Donald J. Trump, while 24.6% voted for Kamala Harris.

Mrs. Sherry Skeen was voted Teacher of the Year for the 2024-2025 school year. The entire staff of West High votes for teacher of the year. Skeen is extremely involved in the community. Skeen also teaches at Walter State. 

In November, West High does their annual Food Drive, where students would bring in food that was sent to central services to help fill boxes for families who may not have enough food for the holiday.

Mr. Richard Hawkins digital electronic class installed LED lights around the DE store window. Also on November 11th, 2024 the Code Force Coding and Robotics Club went to Murfreesboro TN and competed in the Robot Drone League competition and brought home the Autonomous Award for autonomous robot and drone programming. 

West High Cross Country participates in state. On Nov. 8, three members of the cross country team competed in Hendersonville, TN or the TSSAA state meet. The students were Zachary Henry, Andee Fitzgerald, and Kennedie Couch.

On Nov 21, West High practiced the importance of recycling by collecting recyclable material in the building. Mr. Sabella Sauceman is the advisor of the recycling project and continues to encourage all students to participate in recycling. Recycling boxes or trash cans were put outside classroom doors on the morning of collection, and students would pick them up during TNN every other Thursday.

During the Thanksgiving drive, students donated over $1,200 worth of food boxes to Central Services. On Nov. 22, 56 boxes of food were prepared and loaded on a truck in addition to money donated. That was enough to feed 84 families this Thanksgiving.

December 2024 was a month full of positive change and transition into 2025. There were many successes and reasons for celebration. The Beta State competition felt a great impact from West’s wins as students placed in 22 out of 59 of the competitions/divisions. These qualifiers are headed to Nationals this summer in Orlando, which is just right around the corner. 

The winner for Hamblen County district teacher of the year was announced in December. With her hard work, dedication, and community engagement, Mrs. Sherry Skeen was awarded this title. She entered this competitive process after winning the votes of teacher of the year. This was a major win for West High.

Christmas cheer flooded the month of December, and West helped spread the Christmas spirit. The art teachers came together and put beautiful festive decorations on the cafeteria windows, and it wasn’t an easy task. There was also a holiday movie night hosted by West, where they played “Home Alone” in the auditorium. They sold many different snacks and drinks that went towards funding. To end it off, they announced the winners of the ugly sweater contest and the first place winner was given a 25 dollar gift card. 

January brought new things to West High with a fresh start to 2025. Construction of West High’s newest addition, Books and Beans, was active in the month of January thanks to Mr. Clark’s CTE construction class. West High choir was a part of all four choirs at the conference at Lee University, This conference was held on Nov. 21- 22, 2024. West High School’s band participated in a conference to determine who was going to compete in All East and All State. Jan. 25, Junior, Brady Ehret, won the award for the Robotic Drone league competition that took place at ETSU in Johnson City, Tennessee. Career Connect had a meeting on January 30, about the essential skills needed in the work environment. Career connect has meetings once every month in Davin Hatfield’s room.

February was an extremely eventful month at West High. At the beginning of February the CTE students placed second in the Battle of the Build competition. The students built a picnic table, smoker, and trailer. The Wrestling team won the district championship for the first time in 17 years, in early February. Mr. David Tripuka explained to West Side Story Staff how his classes use hydroponics to fertilize plants. This is only a fraction of the things that one learns in his Greenhouse management class. Homecoming also took place in February. One of the spirit week days was pajama day and many West High students participated. There was also a Homecoming student teacher basketball game and a pep rally. At the pep rally boys on the homecoming court did meet the court with their escorts. Then on February 11, 2025 Gavin Price won Homecoming King. After Homecoming, incoming freshmen registered for classes, and got to take tours of the school. The Student Council hosted the Valentines Formal in February. Books and Beans opened in the West High Library. Books and Beans is a coffee shop where students can purchase snacks and drinks. Students can also purchase lunch at Books and Beans. 

Mid February continued to have a packed schedule, especially for seniors. Near the end of the month, multiple Spring sports began, like tennis, track and field, soccer, and baseball. Seniors voted for their class Senior Superlatives on February 3rd, the results releasing on the 21st. Starting with Charlie Dewald and Ellie Mitchell receiving the “Best all around award.” Next, seniors voted Aidan Hitesman and Maggie June Stepp the “class clowns” out of everyone. “Most spirited” going to Isabella Plaas and Braden Polk and Tyler Swanson and Abigail Snider receiving “Most likely to brighten your day.” Will Holt and Olivia Epps getting “Social butterfly,” Harsh Patel and Addison McGuffin got voted “Most likely to be a millionaire,” and “Biggest flirt” given to Bereket Evans and Tamera Hurst. By majority vote, “Coolest car” was rewarded to Corey Holtman and Molly Livesay, “Biggest glow up” to Jace Collake and Anna Sutton, “Worst case of senioritis” to Leticia Gama Dos Santos and Luke Lindsey, and “Most likely to travel the world” to Corbin Abate and Alexandra Swann. Finally, “Most talented” was given to Isabella Picardi and Jacob Bass, “Most likely to go pro” to John Micheal Rosen and Aubrie Messer, “Best dressed” won by Louis West and AnaMarie Molzon, and lastly, “Most likely to be late to graduation” to Juan Gallardo and Briony Bunsic.

March was a fantastic month for wins and competitions! Senior superlatives who were chosen for this year in different categories were announced. Bereket Evans and Tamarea Hurst were voted biggest flirt. The male selected for the “Coolest Car” senior superlative is Corey Holtmann, and the female selected was Molly Livesay. Seniors Anna Sutton and Jace Collake were voted as the seniors who had the best glow-up. Addison McGuffin and Harsh Patel were voted for “Most Likely to Become a Millionaire” among their senior class of 2025. Students voted for Best All-Around are Charles Dewald and Elaina Mitchell. Seniors Louis West and Ana Molzon were voted best dressed by their peers. The West Civics Bowl team attended Courthouse competitions in Greeneville, TN. West High students shined at the DECA conference. Zachary Henry placed fifth in Automotive Services, Gavin Mitchell placed second in Principles of Business Management and Administration, Harsh Patel placed second in Retail Merchandising, Marvin Velasquez placed fifth in Principles of Finance, and Jesica Esteban placed fourth in Principles of Marketing. West Side Story staff won the Best Overall High School Newspaper in TN for the second year in a row with an All Tennessee rating! Adriana Hernandez-Mazariegos also received third place in the state for her headline Hola Lakeway helps victims affected by Helene. She participated in a service project one weekend and wrote this award-winning title on Hola Lakeway.

April has been a busy month with the start of spring, and West activities are back in full swing. At the beginning of the month, we had the Talent Show, where Carlos Granados Perez and Isaiah Fanney took first place. Throughout the month, the health classes were very active, hosting the annual Medic Blood Drive, Teddy Bear Care Day, and a phlebotomy skills class. The Fine Arts program also had a lot going on, from the Fine Arts Gala to their production of Jersey Boys.  Also, West HOSA and FBLA competed at the State Leadership Conference. West athletics were also very busy with the tennis team playing many matches and track competing against many rival schools.