Author Archives

This is Cole Schnell’s third year on ECHO staff. Last year, he was the junior editor advertising/business manager his sophomore year and he made several contributions while taking journalism class his freshman year.

• Former teacher placed on 5-year probation for sexual contact with student

  By Cole Schnell on April 4, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Former English teacher David Mendelson pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a student, a Class D felony, and was placed on five-years probation on March 29. Mendelson was sentenced to four years of incarceration, but the sentence was suspended and… Read More ›

• Burchett removed from Chelsea Center

  By Cole Schnell on March 28, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Julie Burchett would not be returning as the Chelsea Center coordinator next year as of Thursday, March 14. “It was a shock…a total surprise,” Burchett said. Burchett said her contract ends at the end of the year, so she will… Read More ›

• Podcast makes depression hilarious

  By Cole Schnell on February 14, 2019 • ( 0 )

  

  Depression is hilarious, at least to John Moe and some of the comedians and celebrities who come on to his podcast, “The Hilarious World of Depression.” Every episode starts with Moe asking the guest(s), “Do you think depression is funny?”… Read More ›

• Dr. Matthew Irvin to become principal

  By Cole Schnell on April 27, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Editor-in-Chief Dominic Grosvenor Contributing Writer Dr. Matthew Irwin will become the new principal for the 2018-19 school year. Irwin said he wants to be principal to have “an impact on a larger scale.” Irwin is currently the associate principal of Lafayette High School of the Rockwood School District.

• Photo of the Week: Student marches for gun legislation

  By Cole Schnell on April 26, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

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• Slideshow: Students protest against gun violence at MO Attorney General’s office

  By Cole Schnell on April 20, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Editor-in-Chief Photos by Cole Schnell See also: Breaking News: Students protest at the MO Attorney General’s office Visit Our Sponsors

• Breaking News: Students protest at the MO Attorney General’s office

  By Cole Schnell on April 20, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Editor-in-Chief Students protest against gun violence in front of MO Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley’s office. The organizer, Student Demand Action, chose this date because today marks the 19th anniversary of Columbine High School Shooting…. Read More ›

• Willie’s Comic by Cole Schnell

  By Cole Schnell on April 9, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor Visit Our Sponsors

• Students, staff, moms take action after MSD shooting

  By Cole Schnell on March 30, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor Ashli Wagner Video Editor Three-hundred-nineteen students that teachers recorded on attendance walked-out to protest gun control on Wednesday, March 14. The topic of gun control is again in the limelight after another mass shooting, this time… Read More ›

• Op-ed: ‘Trump Bump’ doesn’t improve wages

  By Cole Schnell on March 17, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor Whitehouse.gov released a statement titled, “Tax Cuts and Reforms are Helping American Workers and Businesses” on Jan. 31. The statement contains a list of examples from eight different newspapers of how the “Trump Bump” is “trickling… Read More ›

• Breaking News: Students walkout for gun control, one month after MSD shooting

  By Cole Schnell on March 14, 2018 • ( 1 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor Students gathered on Selma Avenue at the beginning of third hour “to protest the lack of gun control measures at the local, state and federal levels,” as written in a graphic advertising the protest. One month… Read More ›

• School continues its combat against segregation

  By Cole Schnell on January 31, 2018 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor In 1956 after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, ruling, Douglass High School was closed, and resident black students started at Webster Groves High School in the fall. Simone Cunningham, academic lab teacher and… Read More ›

• Willie’s Comic by Cole Schnell

  By Cole Schnell on November 23, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor                     Visit Our Sponsors

• Green’s new novel fails to meet expectations

  By Cole Schnell on November 7, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor   “Turtles All the Way Down” by John Green, author of “The Fault in Our Stars,” is thoughtful, but disoriented. The book’s front-flap is misleading. The book is very little about a 16-year-old girl, Aza, trying… Read More ›

• Op-ed: Sports should count as PE credit

  By Cole Schnell on October 24, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Junior Editor Riley Mullgardt Print Editor Picture someone who has been taking every AP class that Webster offers, has played two Varsity sports and has over 50 hours volunteering. Despite all these things, this student athlete must still… Read More ›

• Students recommend involvement despite challenges

  By Cole Schnell on April 25, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager WGHS wants its students to be involved as stated as the “I” for involvement in the school’s acronym “RRISE.”  Some students really take this to heart and become very involved. Junior Jennifer Egley is a cheerleader… Read More ›

• Willie’s Comic by Cole Schnell

  By Cole Schnell on April 6, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager

• Drama department performs ‘Rabbit Hole’

  By Cole Schnell on February 3, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell                                                                             … Read More ›

• Most people set up for failed resolutions

  By Cole Schnell on February 1, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager Many people have made a New Year’s resolutions by now, and about 36 percent of those people have failed. In five months over 50 percent will fail if the trend does not change from previous years…. Read More ›

• Branch is new WGHS literary magazine

  By Cole Schnell on January 23, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager New literary magazine, The Branch, was released its first issue on Nov. 1. WGHS has had other literary magazines like Reflections, which ended in 2012. The Allwrite interns are trying to revive Reflections with The Branch,… Read More ›

• Student wins award at Lindenwood art show

  By Cole Schnell on January 10, 2017 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager Senior Stephen Welling won second best ceramic for a ceramic polar bear at the Lindenwood University Young Artists and their Teachers High School Art Show. This year is the 20th year that WGHS has participated. Lindenwood… Read More ›

• ECHO staff, friends fail Escape Room

  By Cole Schnell on October 28, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Business/Ads Manager Four students and a teacher died earlier this month in a bombing at England’s National Bank. On Sunday, four Webster Groves High School students and a teacher were tested to the death when my fellow students… Read More ›

• Hixson teacher takes administration position

  By Cole Schnell on October 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer Dr. Greg Fick taught social studies or world culture at Hixson for the past eight years before he came to the high school as its administrative intern. Dr. Fick graduated with a doctorate in educational leadership… Read More ›

• Slideshow: Class of 2016 graduates

  By Cole Schnell on June 1, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Class of 2016 graduation ceremony took on Moss field at 6:30 p.m. on May 20. Photos by Cole Schnell.

• ‘Religious Freedom’ or ‘LGBT’ bill passes Senate, goes to House for approval

  By Cole Schnell on April 20, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer After a 39-hour filibuster by the Democratic senators, Missouri Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 39 or “anti-LGBT bill” on March 10. The bill is currently in the House. The Missouri Republicans (about 75 percent of the Senate)… Read More ›

• Two spots open on school board with three candidates running

  By Cole Schnell on April 1, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer Greg Frazier Contributing Writer Three individuals are in the running for two spots in the WGHS school board. Joel Oliver, who served on the board for three years, Steven Loher, serving a total of 6 years… Read More ›

• Slideshow: Authors speak at school-wide festival

  By Cole Schnell on March 8, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Caroline Fellows Web/Video Editor Photos by Cole Schnell All Write Festival was Feb. 22-26, and for its second year it brought authors, comedians and songwriters to speak at the high school. According to English teacher Steve Leftridge, about 17-18 writers… Read More ›

• 100 wins for Clark: Principal to guest coach basketball game

  By Cole Schnell on February 10, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer Dr. Jon Clark was the head coach of the Rolla High School for the 1992-1996 school years. He left coaching in 1996: leaving his record at 99 wins. Now this Thursday, Clark returns to the sidelines… Read More ›

• Search begins for new superintendent

  By Cole Schnell on December 17, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer Superintendent Sarah Riss announced her retirement on April 13. The search for a new superintendent started in early November. Riss will leave the district at the end on 15-16 school year after her fifth year as… Read More ›

• Slideshow: WGHS celebrates spirit at Turkey Day assembly

  By Cole Schnell on December 8, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  WGHS’s Turkey Day assembly was Nov. 25, during seventh hour in Roberts Gym. Photos by Cole Schnell

• WGHS has Spirit Week Wednesday off for the first time

  By Cole Schnell on November 18, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer WGHS has a two-day Spirit Week for the first time: going to have the Wednesday of Spirit Week off. KWHS has had the Wednesday of Spirit Week off for the last fourteen years. WGHS has Wednesday… Read More ›

• Slideshow: Thespians to bring ‘Hamlet’ to high school

  By Cole Schnell on October 5, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare will be performed by Webster Groves Drama Department on Oct. 22-24 in the auditorium. See Also: Drama Dept. to perform “Hamlet.”

• Rasnic teaches ‘independent learners’

  By Cole Schnell on October 3, 2015 • ( 0 )

  

  Cole Schnell Contributing Writer Beth Rasnic, academic lab teacher said, “Be independent learners.” Rasnic doesn’t want her students to be consumed with homework and school work, but to be involved and independent learners in and out of school. Rasnic, a… Read More ›