The lights are dim as she steps onto the stage. She takes a deep breath, taking a couple moments to focus on her breathing and get in the right mentality. As the music fills the auditorium, she forgets…

“You’re not my daughter.”

Those words ring in my head over and over again, each time with an extra sting to them. My hands shake and I feel a sharp pain in my heart as tears cloud my vision. I…

He sits on his bed with a pencil in hand, a piece of paper in front of him and headphones over his ears. He listens to the rhythm of the music, tuning out every other sound as thoughts race through his…

Another doctor’s visit. I sit on the bed, hearing the paper crinkle under me as I try to get comfortable. The unpleasant sterile smell infiltrates my nose as my eyes wander to the outer space-themed…

He’s got a routine.

Like most other head orchestra directors, Bill Zauner begins every day by tuning the violins and cellos, as well as leading students in warm-up exercises. However, his life…

An ordinary day in her life smells like paint and charcoal. Ah yes, the sweet scent of creativity and self-expression. Some people depend on their morning coffee for a sense of stability. To her, art is…

It’s Monday morning. For the majority of people, mornings are accompanied by the frantic clatter of alarms. Those people reach over in desperate attempts to stop the god-awful ringing. Five more minutes….

My friend found out.
“You’re gay? Cool, now I have a gay best friend.”
She’s known me for years but minimized me to just the gay friend.
I’m more than that.

A random guy talked to me…

Sweat drips down his neck as he attempts to catch his breath. He isn’t going to give up. Not now, not ever. He has trained for this marathon for years, and he isn’t going to let his hard work be for…

This story was originally published on Farmers’ Harvest on November 7, 2019.

His voice lowers, then rises again during rehearsals. Tongue twisters allow him to work his voice so he can perform to the best of his ability. The walls of foam lock in the sound and he feels at peace,…

It was a sticky, hot Independence Day in 1992. Inside a garage that evening were two brothers with a hobby. A pastime which should have been nothing more than that, merely just a way to keep themselves…

Twelve years. Twelve years is the time it took to arrive at this destination. What began as a mere pastime is now the center of her world. The blood, sweat, tears and countless hours of practice are all…

Halftime: the moment every drill team dancer counts down to in excitement.Friday night football games are known for their intense rivalries, raging crowds and overpriced concessions, but for senior Farmerette…

It’s halftime.

She makes her way over to the podium, finds her place and waits. This is it. For the next few minutes, she carries an important task: keeping the band in time.

Under the bright lights…

Odd, overdramatic and just plain weird sums up Ryan Murphy’s newest original series on Netflix, “The Politician.” After producing TV classics such as “Glee” and “American Horror Story,” Murphy…

Every year, 16 teachers from around the nation are nominated for the National Life Changer Award, an annual award that recognizes teachers for their hard work. By going to the website, anyone can nominate…

Lesbians can only be extremely masculine or feminine. 

Gay men can only be flamboyant.

Bisexual characters are unfaithful.

Transgender characters don’t have any other personality traits.

…

One of the first things I do after I wake up, whether in the morning or after a nap, is check my phone. The evening of Saturday, Aug. 31 was no different, other than the flood of notifications on my screen.
…

The sound of people cheering in the stands seems distant. He focuses on the quarterback, waiting for the ball to be thrown his way. The eighth-grade wide receiver watches as the ball leaves the quarterback’s…

A large collection of records on the walls and Elvis Presley posters bring life to what would otherwise be another dull, pale-colored U.S. history classroom, but it isn’t the vinyl and the Elvis paraphernalia,…

The sun sets slowly in the background as the Fighting Farmer baseball team lines up together on the field, brought out by head baseball coach Mike Campbell. The opposing team, the Hebron Hawks, is…

Sitting in front of his mirror, his left hand reaches out for the small tube of concealer and the other goes for a soft brush. He starts off by applying dots of concealer on his face, carefully blending…

Lewisville Soup is a new community event created by art teacher Nicole Franczvai. The main idea of Lewisville Soup is to bring people together to share their ideas on how to create a better environment…

I sat on my front porch, hands in my lap as my legs swung back and forth. I could feel the sweat running down my forehead due to the Texas sun radiating on my face and body but I didn’t care.

I let…

Becoming a future farmer

A Future Farmers of America (FFA) member walks into the barn and is instantly met with the sounds of pigs squealing. He makes his way to the pig pen where he sees six…

She sits in her living room, glasses resting on her nose as she watches television. Multiple news reports flash across the screen, focusing on the 2016 presidential election. With that comes the topic…

He moves his fingers gracefully across the piano while feeling the rhythm through his veins. The audience awes at his perfect execution of the song. He stands up from his piano and bows to the crowd with…

This story was originally published on Farmers’ Harvest on November 28, 2018.

Bright lights. People speaking loudly. Plates and silverware clattering. There’s too much occuring around her. Eyes going in and out of focus, a dizzy feeling overtakes her; everything begins to become…

Night To Shine is a yearly prom put together for special needs members of the community and is hosted by hundreds of churches from around the globe for approximately 100,000 guests. This year’s annual…

Streatz & Beatz is a new food truck that was implemented into all LISD high school campuses. The plan was brought up as of last year and implemented this fall with the goal of providing students a…

No tattoos. No piercings. No colored hair.

These are words you always see or hear.

You see it in the manual under the dress code section of your new job or school.

You hear it at school, work…

He sits in his garden, individually picking daisies from the damp soil, creating a crown of flowers in his ruffled hair. To him, flowers mean feminine and feminine feels right. Content and distracted,…

After a 27-21 win against Hebron High School at Max Goldsmith stadium on Friday, Nov. 2, the Fighting Farmer football team secured a spot in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. The victory on…

After being a fan of the blog “Humans of New York,” a collection of stories from individuals found on the streets in New York City, English teacher Madelyn Johnson was inspired by 2018 alumna Marissa…

The sound of the bell breaks the silence, signaling the beginning of the sparring match. Two teenage boys stride toward each other, gloved hands protecting their faces. Powerful strikes are thrown and…

The sound of her heart pounding reaches her ears as she walks into a room full of kids ready to audition. She receives her name tag with her audition number and waits 15 agonizing minutes for her name…

A group of students dressed in firefighter uniforms stands outside as the instructor calls two of them over. One of the students carries an ax and the other carries a Halligan bar, which is placed in the…

The sound of plastic cups being slammed onto tables echo throughout a large room filled with determined cup stackers. Senior Sarah Raptis is taken aback by all of the competition gathered at the 2018 AAU…