The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst

Menu
Annabelle Harshbarger

Annabelle Harshbarger, Online Editor

Annabelle is a senior and is returning for her third year on the CATalyst staff. She enjoys writing opinion and news stories as well as filming and editing broadcasts. This year Annabelle is looking forward to finding new stories to share with Millard West students. Outside of journalism she enjoys reading, hanging out with her friends and anything outside.

All content by Annabelle Harshbarger
Sophomore Logan Moseley works to create a graphic for the STRIV TV live stream. The graphics are important to the live stream as they provide stats and information about the players.

STRIVing for success

October 12, 2021
The Oktoberfest display in the hallway set up by German club members shows off a unique holiday celebrated in Germany. The display not only gave a visual representation of the holiday but also stated facts to give more information. “We want to spark interest in our German programs and expand students’ knowledge of the world outside our country,” German teacher Andrea Turner said. “And we want to share some fun and create community with the rest of the school. Many students at West have family connections to Germany.”

A week in Germany

October 12, 2021
Homecoming spirit week 2021

Homecoming spirit week 2021

October 1, 2021

The new Millard mural

September 30, 2021

Meet the 2021-22 HOCO Candidates

September 21, 2021
As STEM Academy students start off the year junior Grace Tsogbevi works to learn the basics of design. The academy utilizes many different software programs to give students a hands-on experience. “We have been working with the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software to start to learn the basics of design,” Tsogbevi said. “I am most excited to learn more about the program and be able to shape things and work off the program a little bit.”

New opportunities in STEM

September 10, 2021

New year, new staff

August 25, 2021

sNEAKY sNAKE

May 19, 2021
Millard West alumni Joseph Drwal and Sophie Hill prepare to film Unified Talks, a collaboration between Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools and Nickelodeon. The video will be used in Unified Classroom to teach grades K-12 about how to be an inclusive leader. “I hope that the youth who see this recognize that they have the power to spark change and lead within their school or community,” Hill said. “Everyone brings different skills to the table and has the potential to be a great leader. Its their job to step up and advocate for what they believe in.”

Unity, inclusion and “SpongeBob”

May 7, 2021
Junior Michael Boehm tosses his trash bag into the dumpsters after spending time cleaning up the campus. “I think it is immensely important to celebrate Earth month at West because it gives us time to focus on the planet for at least a month out of the year,” Boehm said. “If we are able to keep the momentum from Earth Month going forward, it can launch into a whole year of celebrating our planet by keeping it clean and habitable. It becomes a domino effect of one upstanding student inspiring another student to save our planet.”

One piece at a time

May 5, 2021

The future of education

April 28, 2021

Meet the 2021 Prom Candidates

April 15, 2021
The COVID-19 vaccine is a crucial component as the nation works toward normalcy. As Nebraska goes into phase two of the vaccination protocol some Millard West students are eligible to receive the vaccine. And as pharmaceutical companies continue clinical trials the vaccine will hopefully be available to all students.

The beginning of the end

April 2, 2021
Raising the bar

Raising the bar

March 29, 2021

West celebrates Women’s History Month

March 18, 2021
The fight for 15

The fight for 15

March 10, 2021

Clowning around

March 4, 2021

Black History month celebrated at West

February 25, 2021

Calc 3 students learn through innovative software

January 29, 2021
The Prom shows a high school student as she navigates being lesbian in a conservative town. **/5

The girls, the gays and “The Prom”

January 19, 2021
Senior Luke Skrabal filmed his video for All-State, with the changes this year, he had no do-overs.

All state all star

January 6, 2021
As we enter the holiday season it is important to learn about and include all holiday celebrations.

Diversity during the holidays

December 10, 2020

Building a foundation

December 9, 2020

3Cs PSA

November 19, 2020
The Millard West Forensics team gets hyped up for their first meet of the 2020-21 competition season. Although the team did not get to attend the meets in person they still worked hard to prepare for their first virtual meet. “Preparing for the first competition of the season was definitely different than any other year,” Cavalier said. “Instead of practicing looking at an audience I had to get used to looking at one focal point.”

Competing in a pandemic

November 12, 2020

Among Us takes over

November 5, 2020

Meet the 2020-21 HOCO Candidates

October 28, 2020
8 Passengers is a popular YouTube family. The Frankes post videos centered around their 6 children and have gained almost 2.5 million subscribers. The family has been called out by multiple Youtube and TikTok creators for using their children for clickbait and showing neglect in their videos.

A new age of child stars

October 13, 2020

Sanitary solutions

October 9, 2020
Junior Zachary Neesen and volunteers work to paint the room numbers used during fire drills on the sidewalks outside of Millard West high school. “On the day of the project, I assigned areas for the volunteers and gave them the needed supplies,” Neesen said. “Then during the project, I checked in with my volunteers repeatedly and offered any help I could.”

Painting the path

October 7, 2020
This infographic talks about ways to safely throw a party during a pandemic.

Pandemic Parties

October 5, 2020
Cars lined up and distanced from each other at the new outdoor venue in Denmark show another way people can safely enjoy live music. People at the concert are able to connect to a private FM radio station so that they can hear the performer in their car.

The future of live music

September 14, 2020

Students learning remotely

September 10, 2020
Three easy ways to keep yourself and the community healthy and help to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Wearing a mask, not a difficult task

September 2, 2020
Sophomore Emmi Gilbert works to repair her gravel bike. She has been working towards becoming a bike mechanic and has been learning to repair while in quarantine. Gilbert hopes to soon turn her passion for cycling into business repairing bikes for people in Omaha.

At home hobbies

April 17, 2020
With remote learning in full swing, sophomore Ava Fisher is able to continue her learning from home. “Remote learning has overall made me a more organized and responsible student,” Fisher said. “Although it is hard to stay motivated when not in a traditional classroom setting.” Students are working hard to have a successful school day from the comfort of their homes.

A new way of learning

April 10, 2020
Junior Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla poses in front of a background at the Arnold Clark studio. Hermosillo-Padilla has been modeling for Arnold Clark since she was little and hopes to continue her career with them. “I have taken pictures with them since I was little for cheer,” Hermosillo-Padilla said. “I plan on doing more modeling with them in the future.

Strike a pose

March 9, 2020
This graphic shows the countries with an abundant amount of reported cases of the virus.

COVID-19 in Omaha

March 6, 2020

H+ performance

February 27, 2020

Giving back to save a life

February 20, 2020
Spanish teacher and soccer coach, Juan Agurrie poses in an indoor soccer complex for his club team in the United States. He played indoor professional soccer for the Witchita Wings, in Witchita Kansas. “When I first moved to the United States in 1991 the soccer league was much less developed than it is now,” Aguirre said. “Back then soccer was just starting the develop”

From field to classroom

February 12, 2020
Sophomore Eva Gould performs their exhibition show. Uptowns theme of this years show is the goddess of vegetation and the wild. “My favorite part of the day was our exhibition performance,” Gould said. “ It can be stressful performing in front of so many people but is still enjoy it.”

Show choir showdown

January 31, 2020

PSA Hallway Etiquette

January 24, 2020
This infographic talks about the measures taken to ensure vaccine safety. Before vaccines can be released to the public extensive clinical trials take place. All vaccinations are tested and approved by the FDA and vaccine manufacturers.

Truth about vaccines

January 16, 2020
This info-graphic shows three popular forms of renewable energy and how they are harnessed.

Energy of the future

December 20, 2019
Freshman Ellie Gorman rehearses with American Midwest Ballet for their production of The Nutcracker. Gorman has been dancing for a majority of her life but began dancing with AMB one year ago. Throughout that year she has improved greatly and learned new skills. “Dancing with AMB has taught me so much,” Gorman said. “The most important thing is patience. AMB helped me understand that I am not the only one performing so I have to wait patiently”

Nuts about ballet

December 13, 2019
During the Kindness Retreat, Reagan Elementary fourth graders learned about the importance of kindness through a day of singing, dancing and fun. “The fourth graders are able to easily learn about such an important topic through activities, games, and group discussions,” Vontz said. At the end of the day I am positive each fourth graders left with more kindness in there heart and eager to help others.”

Teaching kindness

December 10, 2019
Adults and children alike volunteer their time at the Open Door Mission to help prepare and serve food. The Mission serves over 3,500 meals daily, and this would not be possible without the generous volunteers.

The importance of volunteering

November 26, 2019

Unified in Speech

November 14, 2019
When scrolling through Brandy Melvilles website the thing that stands out most is that lack of diversity. All the models look the same, they range from a 22’ to 24’ waist and 5’7- 5’9.

One Size Fits Small

November 8, 2019

German Exchange program returns for a second year

November 1, 2019
Junior Trey Frazier donated blood on Friday. This is Frazier’s third time donating for the HOSA blood drive. “I donate blood because I want to help people who need it,” Frazire said. “I also really enjoy it.”

The Gift of Life

October 11, 2019

WIG performs on the field

October 2, 2019

Getting the job done

September 26, 2019

2019-2020 Homecoming Royalty

September 18, 2019

Fall pep rally (August 30, 2019)

September 5, 2019
At her second meet of the season Sophomore Peyton Busteed benches 110 pounds. At the Central High School meet she placed fifth and lifted a total of 568 pounds. “Bench press is the lift I need to improve on the most,” Busteed said. “I have been working really hard and I am starting to improve more and more each week”

Heavy Lifting

September 5, 2019
Sophomore Addison Smith, her younger sister and Cassy Milward pose in front of the Arc de Triomphe, on of the most famous monuments in Paris.

A Trip to Remember

August 27, 2019
Load More Stories
Activate Search
Home
Annabelle Harshbarger