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The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
A volunteer at the Celebration of Nations Japanese booth paints a guests name in black ink. Free of charge, every booth had something to offer just like this one, ranging from snacks to artwork. “We wanted children to learn about other cultures and countries not of their own origin,” Black Elk Spanish Teacher Sarah Valasek said. “We wanted families to feel valued and we want all of our students to be represented at this event. Moving forward, our hope and our goal is to make sure every single background and country of origin is represented from a booth, a dance or a food throughout the event.”

The world will live as one

Sam Whittaker, Staff Reporter
April 18, 2022
Seniors Kaitlyn Neid and Bethany Folk sing a rendition of “Wonder” from ‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’. The event allowed students to showcase their unique talents and abilities. “I think the Best of West gave students the chance to see talents from kids all around the school,” senior and contestant Kaitlyn Neid said. “Since Millard West is such a big school, kids don’t often get to see kids outside of their activities. So it was fun to see people outside of things that I’m involved with and see what they could do.”

Showcasing the best at West

Kaden Roth, Catalyst Online Editor-in-Chief
April 14, 2022
Millard Education Academy students attend the Educators Rising State Conference at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. At the event, students competed, attended breakout sessions and networked with other students and vendors. “My favorite part was speaking at the opening ceremony,” senior Hope Belcastro said. “I got to use my gavel and that was really fun. I also loved just seeing all the members from different parts of the state.”

Educators Rising above the competition

Morgan Weir, Editor-in-Chief
April 1, 2022
Senior Raimee Seal performs her Informative speech at the showcase. She was thrilled about how successful the showcase turned out to be. “I felt very proud of my peers and I was happy to have had a successful season,” Seal said. “We accomplished a lot this year, especially coming off of a COVID season last year, so it was truly amazing to see what everyone had achieved.”

Showcasing their talents

Camille O'Neill, Sports Director
March 31, 2022
The DECA team poses for a photo before the competition begins on March 17. 12 students will be representing Millard West at the national competition in Atlanta. “The team has been preparing for the State competition leading back all the way to the beginning of the year,” DECA president senior Natanael Ray said. “ Through events like the First-Timers Competition and our own internal practice competition, members have been getting used to the structure of what a competitive DECA event looks like.”

Leading the competition

Camille O'Neill, Sports Director
March 25, 2022
Standing on the sideline of a Nebraska football game, Husker Scarlet Caroline Unger cheers on the Huskers. Unger has been a part of the Scarlets for all of her years at UNL and has danced for all of her life. “As a Husker Scarlet I learned the skill of balancing responsibilities, I determine my priorities, make lists and work hard to get everything done well,” Unger said. “I am so excited to be back at my alma mater dance team where I get to lead amazing girls on an elite team that I could not be more proud of to be a part of.”

Dancing into something new

Riley Kramolisch, Staff Reporter
March 23, 2022
Signing Off

Signing Off

Samantha Vojslavek, Feature Story Editor
March 23, 2022
During her Yearbook class, senior Kaitlin Reynolds was surprised by her advisor with the title of 2022 Nebraska Student Journalist of the Year. After spending three years working toward this moment, Reynolds reflects on her past and looks toward her bright future. “I am hoping that being the Nebraska Student Journalist of the Year will help me to get involved right away in college,” Reynolds said. “I think that by having it on my resume it will open doors for me to join publications in the future.”

A JOYous occasion

Quinn Burton, Staff Reporter
March 18, 2022
Education academy students work in class to prepare for the end of the semester. First and second-year students in the academy work in the ACP classroom to develop their lesson plan design and execution. “Both the first and second years do this internship but it looks different for each. Every week on Tuesday for nine weeks, you visit the ACP classroom during the academy. When you’re a first-year, you get paired with one buddy. You eventually write and perform a lesson plan working on something they may need help in. As a second-year, you alternate between the three ACP classes. You work with all the students instead of just one.”

Learning through experience

Kaden Roth, Online Editor-in-Chief
March 15, 2022
The library put up their blind date with a book display for the month of February. The table presented a creative opportunity to get more of the Millard West community engaged with reading.“It was very interesting that the first few days of the display being up, we had groups of students gather at the table all together,” teacher librarian Mindy Jorgensen said. “It was really nice to see numerous students interested at the same time, all talking about the books and giving each other advice on which one to pick. It also cleared out our table on the first afternoon. I think we had 14 books go out after school the first day we put out the display. All the students who stopped at the table seemed interested and very willing to give one of the books a try, even though it was sight unseen, with only a few details to go by to make their choice.”

Blind date with a book

Kaden Roth, Catalyst Online Editor-in-Chief
March 8, 2022
Comedy out of this world

Comedy out of this world

Riley Kramolisch, Staff Reporter
March 8, 2022
Health Science Academy students practice their emergency medical skills in class. The EMT class, taken by seniors, teaches them about everything from taking vital signs to delivering babies. “In my academy class to prepare, we have not only learned the textbook content material, but we spend half of the class working on skills like taking vital signs, transporting patients and setting up airway management,” senior Gwyneth Stocker said. “We also, multiple times a week, do scenarios where someone is a patient, and we are told what happened and their injuries so we can practice going through different assessments and working in a real situation.”

Riding along to a future in emergency medicine

Morgan Weir, Editor-in-Chief
March 4, 2022
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