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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
Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online

Jasmine is a senior and this is her third year on staff. Other than journalism, she cheers for the Wildcats on the varsity sideline cheer team and Senior Class Board. As the Online Editor last year, she ran the online CATalyst newspaper as well as the Instagram account. During this time, she submitted stories for awards while resigning or posting on the website. She enjoys meeting new people and learning their stories. Padilla hopes to major in journalism or criminal justice after high school. 

All content by Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
Seniors Dana Summers, Olivia Petersen, Carli Houfek, Jaya VanAckeren and Megan Forst pose together on the turf field with their college shirts representing where they will attend. "I will forever be grateful for my time at Millard West," Houfek said. "I am excited to start a new chapter, but will definitely miss my friends."

Rising to the occasion

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
May 21, 2021

No Place for H8

Madelyn Christiansen and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
May 19, 2021
Madeline Unger Dances to the Millard West Fight Song at a football game performed by the school's band. "What I look forward to the most as a Scarlet is being a part of the program's first year getting back into competing at UDA College Nationals. I also am so excited to perform at football games in Memorial Stadium."

What dreams are made of

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
May 12, 2021
Alumni Laura Ferguson Foral receives her plaque for being induced into The Hall of Fame.

Honoring the past

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
May 5, 2021
The Class of 2021 gathered in the gym to celebrate their prom.

A night to remember

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor-in-Chief
May 3, 2021

Wildcat Connect

Madelyn Christiansen and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
April 21, 2021
This displays a blank bracket that students filled out with the different categories representing the groups of animals displayed in the tournament.

Mammal Madness in the animal kingdom

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
April 5, 2021
The Education Academy sits together in the Library watching the keynote speaker, Paul Timms through Zoom.

Rising above the competition

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
March 29, 2021
The varsity Competition cheer team poses in front of a banner they created to resemble the Disney feel that they typically would get at an in-person competition.

Stuntin’ on the competition

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
March 25, 2021
Grace Baker teaches this class to students to work at their own pace to gain credits for classes that they had previously failed. This program has existed in Millard at Keith Lutz Horizon High School and in some form at MS, but it has been broadened into the rest of the high schools here in Millard,” Grace Baker said. “We decided to do this in the district in response to the remote learning that has been happening because of the pandemic.”

Getting students back on track

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
March 11, 2021
With various State qualifiers in the 2019 season, the track team hopes to improve their individual times and points to benefit the team as a whole.

SPRINGing into action

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
March 8, 2021
The varsity Dance team placed first in the Hip-Hop division and 3rd in Jazz. The varsity Dance team placed first in the Hip-Hop division and 3rd in Jazz.

Cats take over State

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 25, 2021
Due to COVID and students learning remotely, teachers had to set up scheduled times to create the students schedules through Zoom meetings.

Registering for the future

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 25, 2021
The Wildcats beat Lincoln East 60-57 on Saturday, January 30th, improving their record to 12-3.

Wildcat Basketball

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 23, 2021
"I'm voting because I think that everyone's vote matters. One extra vote might have the power to make a difference."

Ben Vanrooyan

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 22, 2021
"I'm voting because I don't think the current government is doing a good job. I care strongly about climate change."

Tanner Klahn

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 22, 2021
"I'm voting because it's my first year that I can. I feel like it's our right as a citizen to vote."

Erica Michel

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 22, 2021
"Because I'm 18, I can now do something to have my voice heard. That's why I want to take the action to vote."

Grace Schiemann

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 22, 2021
"I'm voting because there are a lot of problems in America. I think there should be free healthcare, more gun restriction and more focus on the BLM movement."

Aiden Berggren

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
February 22, 2021
"I'm thankful to be able to vote in this election specifically because I neither agree or respect our government situation. We need something new and neither are perfect choices, but there is a lesser of two evils in this election."

Mae Killeen

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
February 22, 2021

Donations fur the dogs

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Jenna Reynolds
February 2, 2021
Rohwer PE students stand together showing off their Wildcat apparel.

Future Wildcats

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
January 14, 2021
This is the group picture of the Theatre department attending the festival last year.

Tweaking theater traditions

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
December 18, 2020
Teachers across the district can get tested on three separate occasions, each week until Winter break. They are able to get a Surveillance test, with results in a few hours. ”Regular contact tracing was getting more difficult because of the overall number of cases in the area,” Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Kevin J. Chick said. “Surveillance Testing would give us a more realistic look at asymptomatic carriers of the virus.”

Testing the odds

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
December 10, 2020
The club members sit in Wildcat 1 cutting out and coloring the shoes for the teachers. "Since we went remote for the two days before Thanksgiving, our NHS meeting for that Tuesday was cancelled," NHS Sponsor, Delanie Shult said. "We only meet twice a month, so Student Council and German Club took over coloring and making the shoes for each staff member. While NHS is attaching pieces of candy to the shoes and organizing them to be put into teachers' mailboxes on Monday, December 7."

Shoes for St. Nick

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
December 3, 2020
The varsity team strikes their first pose in their Tumbling, Non-Building routine. For their first competition of the season being completely virtual, the girls look forward to hopefully being able to compete in person. “I think it makes it a little harder to get a feel for what a comp day is really like, especially for the freshman,” senior Delaney Cutler said. “Luckily on the showcase night, we had a good amount of people in the crowd yelling with us which really helped us out.”

Shout for your team

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
November 19, 2020
In the play, “Matt and Ben” focus on the writing of their screenplay. The two deal with their difficulties throughout their friendship during the writing of “Good Will Hunting.” “My favorite part of the show is getting to play around with the dynamic between the two characters,” senior Anna Blumenthal said. “They are two very different people, and so as an actor, I needed to convey that message to the audience.”

Matt and Ben take the stage

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
November 12, 2020
During the cheer clinic, the girls set aside time to work on motions as well as jumps. The cheerleaders stood at the front of the gym with a mic to demo materials they were being taught. “It was important for us to still be able to offer this opportunity to kids,” cheer coach Stefani Lane said. “We have a group of kids that love and look forward to coming every year. We are really happy that we still got to do it, even if it was on a smaller scale.”

A spook-tacular time

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
November 4, 2020

Why do you vote?

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
October 30, 2020
The Class of 2021 came together to do the mask tie dye event in the Commons. Students went to various tables to create their colorful masks. “I thought the turnout was a perfect amount,” senior Lily Dame said. “Even though we did not have a lot of seniors, it was nice

An event tie dye for

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
October 28, 2020
The wall in front of the library honors Hispanics throughout history. Many different Latinos/as are displayed along with their stories and accomplishments. “As a Latina, when creating the posters of important people for Hispanic and Latino Americans, I found it to help me better my sense of connection to my community,” senior Delaney Akins said.”While researching, I found figures who helped stand up to racial injustices and overall help progress American society forward.”

Honoring Hispanic Heritage

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
October 13, 2020

Cupcake cart

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Dominic Humm, Garrett Wilcoxen, and Mila Dell Apa
October 2, 2020
The Athletic Leadership academy meets once every month to build upon their goal to elevate the culture. During these sessions, various companies including STRIV visit to help work on leadership skills.

Elevating the culture

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
September 23, 2020
Seniors (from left to right) Josie Maw, Kody Horrocks and Ahnysia Jackson watch the Cabaret. During this time members of the department viewed the completed compilation of students’ videos. “I am super happy that this event was still able to happen,” senior Drama Club Historian Kody Horrocks said. “This gave us hope that this year could still have many opportunities for us even if they aren’t “normal.’’’

Students display talents on screen

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
September 10, 2020
The Iced Honey Vanilla Coffee pictured by the store front in Legacy. The drink was the perfect blend of the two flavors.

Brewing up a good time

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Editor-in-Chief Catalyst Online
September 4, 2020
All three squads practice their band chant with the UCA staff evaluating them. After their performance, the teams were awarded with blue and gold ribbons to award them for their knowledge of the material. “I really liked our chant this summer,” junior Brenna Matthews said. “It involved a lot of fun motions that are different from our traditional cheer motions.”

There’s no place like home

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Staff Reporter
August 27, 2020
The girls soccer team hung up 13 posters honoring all of their seniors and their dedication to the sport.

An unexpected goodbye

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
May 7, 2020
Tomm Bigler and his date, Mae Killeen keep social distancing while taking pictures to recreate their prom night.

A PROM-ising night

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
April 29, 2020
Junior, Nasser Nabulsi defends the Westside Warriors from the goal by trying to reverse the ball with the help of midfielder alum Trevor Green.

[Photo] The future of high school sports

Cody Bennett, Sports Director | Executive Striv Producer
April 19, 2020
Due to cheer tryouts being delayed as well as practices, the coaches have been posting dances and cheers, along with conditioning on the Band app to keep the girls ready for the season to start. "I think the preparation we are giving the girls now, will be beneficial to them when its time to tryout," Chastain said. "We're touching base multiple times a week, they have material to learn, workouts to complete, and little daily activities to keep them on the right track." With the pandemic still continuing, tryouts could be delayed until June.

Cheering through a pandemic

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online editor
April 15, 2020
Le Peep extended their hours around this pandemic by having a morning shift 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., as well as a night shift from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. “Sales at my legacy location have been going well with strictly sticking to takeout orders,”Le Peep employee senior Madaline Vojslavek said. “Overall business isn’t as strong as we would want it going into April, but with the situation and with what we have, we aren’t doing too bad.”

Driving thru COVID-19

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
April 3, 2020

Painting projects

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Michelle Zhang
March 12, 2020

Thrifting in Omaha

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Olivia Oeth
March 5, 2020

Swimming towards state

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Miguel Paredes Reyes
February 25, 2020
This movie was the continuation of a fan-favorite movie: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. The original film was released in August of 2018 and was created based on the book series by Jenny Han.

P.S. This is just another Rom-Com

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
February 19, 2020

Musical Valentines

Natalie Eljamal and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
February 19, 2020

Meet the Wildcats: Who is most likely to? (Part 2)

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Michelle Zhang
February 7, 2020
The Circle is a new reality TV show where players can be whoever they want to be in order to win it all.

Hidden behind “The Circle”

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
February 6, 2020

eLearning explained

Elizabeth Hahn and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
February 5, 2020

Meet the Wildcats: Who is most likely to?

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Michelle Zhang
January 30, 2020

Premiere before competition

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Natalie Eljamal
January 24, 2020
Daughters at the dance lined up to get ready to take turns going under the limo stick. The team wanted to have this be another fun way to get all of the girls involved. “I found the limbo part of the night to be really enjoyable,” senior Jessica Plummer said. “Seeing all of the girls have a blast was great to see.”

An unforgettable night

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
January 14, 2020
Show Choir Premiere

Show Choir Premiere

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
January 14, 2020
Members of Student Council participate in spirit week in hopes of spreading on school spirit.

Spreading holiday cheer one day at a time

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
December 20, 2019
The Jonas Brothers tour had lots of lights and special effects that helped the overall effect of the show.

A trip down memory lane

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
December 12, 2019

Meet the Wildcats: Episode 1 – Name Santa’s reindeer

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Michelle Zhang
December 6, 2019
The Millard West Varsity Cheer team poses with their division winner banner along with their first place trophy.

Get wild for the Cats

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
November 26, 2019
Millard West Unified Bowling team bowls in various lanes and competes to knock down the most pins.

Leave it all at the lane

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
November 17, 2019

New kids on the block

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Olivia Oeth
November 8, 2019
Millard West journalists pose in UNL with their awards they had won that day.

Kicking off contest season

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
November 4, 2019
Sophomore running back Chase Hultman ran the ball for a 16 yard touchdown. The Wildcats had been working all season to get to this point, the playoffs.

[Photo] The Wildcats take over the Navigators

Garrett Wilcoxen, Staff Reporter
October 31, 2019
Baseball player, Preston Menicucci helps pass out candy to students.

Reeder Door Dash

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
October 30, 2019

How to save a life

Natalie Eljamal and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
October 8, 2019

Unified Softball Hype Video

Olivia Oeth and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
September 25, 2019
Post Malones new album was released this year and all of the songs included on the album have been in the top 100 songs.

Why is hollywood bleeding?

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Online Editor
September 20, 2019

Le Smash

Elizabeth Hahn and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
September 12, 2019

Hall of Fame Induction

Kaitlyn Willard, Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, and Olivia Oeth
September 5, 2019
Senior, Dalys Beanum committed to South Dakota State over the summer.

Officially becoming a jackrabbit

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Staff reporter
August 29, 2019

Freshmen Day

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Tenley Wright
August 26, 2019

Spring Sports Pep Rally

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Tenley Wright
May 28, 2019

Class of 2019

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Natalie Eljamal
May 22, 2019

Senior shares love for jazz music

Natalie Eljamal and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
May 16, 2019
The Act (of murder)

The Act (of murder)

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Staff Writer
May 10, 2019

Campbell Macy Feature

Natalie Eljamal and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
May 1, 2019
Senior Daniel Zapata and mother Karen Zapata

Varsity Boys Soccer Senior Night 4.26.19

Natalie Eljamal and Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla
April 30, 2019

Player of the Week: Andrew Hall

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Natalie Eljamal
April 24, 2019

KUWTK: Tommy’s Car Wash

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Kiersten Watkins
April 17, 2019

Meet your 2019 Prom Royalty Candidates

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Kiersten Watkins
April 5, 2019

Spring Sports Setbacks

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla and Kiersten Watkins
April 5, 2019
Millard West Boys Soccer vs Westside 3.28.19

Millard West Boys Soccer vs Westside 3.28.19

Jasmine Hermosillo-Padilla, Staff Writer
April 1, 2019
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