Still Not Heard
By Olivia Doyle and Abigail Wheatley
May 30, 2019
On April 18, we published “No Seat at the Roundtable,” in response to being denied entry into an open meeting with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in Lexington. In the words of some news organizations, the piece did go “viral,” reaching audiences all around the world in a short amount of time....
La Salle Students Should Be Able to Opt Out of Going to School Mass
By Nick Slugg, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory
May 29, 2019
With daily prayer, religious studies classes, and the occasional liturgy, La Salle has a prominent Catholic presence. Despite this, according to Ms. Katie Allen, the Admissions Director, approximately 39% of students at La Salle (278 students) do not identify as Catholic. When I first came to La Salle...
We need excused absences for civic engagement
By Elisabeth Snyder, George Mason High School
May 29, 2019
In the year since a shooter killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, students have increasingly taken on the role of advocates. Mason now has a Students Demand Action club. We had a walk-out and a chalk-out. Mason students attended the DC March for Our Lives. As the focus of this studen...
How To Have A Civil Political Conversation
By Abigail Gallen, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
May 24, 2019
We don't know how to talk to each other anymore. It's as if the opposing arguments are standing on opposite cliffs, with an enormous valley separating the two. All we can do is yell; and even then, we can't hear each other. Democrat versus Republican. Liberal versus conservative, and everywhere in...
Go ask your mom
By Olivia Silvey, Kirkwood High School
May 24, 2019
We were in the car driving back from one of my weekly therapy sessions, and my mom started talking about Suzan, her best friend at the time. She took a deep breath and said she had to tell me something. “Suzan and I… are dating,” she said. “I knew it! I knew it!” (because I had, in...
The science behind spoilers
By Sarah Danielson, Pleasant Valley High School
May 24, 2019
From movies to books, spoilers have been occurring in society for years. However, with the recent release of “Avengers: Endgame,” students at Pleasant Valley have heard this term more than ever. In the past week, students could hardly get through a class without a spoiling close-call; or even...
Entertainment, Publications and Promos Have Been Romanticizing Unhealthy Relationships for Years [Opinion]
![Entertainment, Publications and Promos Have Been Romanticizing Unhealthy Relationships for Years [Opinion]](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMGL9115-2-e1556684301756-475x317.jpg)
By Sydney Ellison, Francis Howell North High School
May 24, 2019
Relationships. They help define us. They can shape our lives and change us into the people we will become. But how can we form these relationships to help us grow if the media encompassing us is luring us in a different direction? The truth is, we can’t. At least not yet. Growing up as ...
Friendship: an underappreciated necessity
By Natalie Dunlap, West High School
May 16, 2019
I started sophomore year without many friends. Most people in my close friend group had been split up because of new district lines or because of families moving away. A few months into sophomore year I started coming out of my shell. Instead of just sticking with people I knew, I pushed myself to...
Quit being cold
By Editorial Board, George Mason High School
May 15, 2019
Yes, it’s cold. Yes, it’s snowing. Yes, it’s slippery. No, this does not give you an excuse to be obnoxious, rude, and blatantly disrespectful. Considering we’ve only had one full day of school in the past week, it’s hard for us to believe that students are so outraged with our superintendent,...
Underclassmen awards ceremony creates feeling of unimportance
By Ellie Albin, Fishers High School
May 15, 2019
I have never been invited to the underclassmen awards ceremony, but it has shaped my educational and emotional experience more than any other event since I entered high school. Last week, an envelope from FHS arrived at my house. Even as a junior, I still get a little excited when I see something deliv...
Sophomores: The awkward middle child of high school
By Sarah Lambert, George Mason High School
May 15, 2019
Freshmen are annoying. Juniors act cooler than they really are. Seniors are on top. And sophomores... are kind of just there. Freshmen are new to the school. They still have middle school tendencies and are trying too hard to be a “high schooler.” They are the youngest child. The naive kid trying...
Thoughts on prom (from a senior who hates social events)
By Emily D'Amico, Saint Stephen's Episcopal School
May 15, 2019
I've done the math and there've been ten dances that the school's hosted since my freshman year, plus last year's winter "informal" event, making that that a total of eleven social events hosted by Saint Stephen's. I've been to two. I'm a person who easily gets anxious in large crowds with lots...
HSE School Board should protect LGBTQ+ students, staff from discrimination
By Katie Wiseman, Fishers High School
May 15, 2019
Every student is entitled to an education, every person is entitled to the opportunity of equal employment, and every person is entitled to receive respect regardless of race, religion, etc. There are students and staff who are currently not being protected by our nondiscrimination policy. The HSE School Board voted on Wednesday, April 24 against adding ...
Sincerely, the hockey fan
By Aryauna Thompson, Canyon High School
May 15, 2019
Howdy, My name is Aryauna Thompson. For those of you who do not know me, I am generally recognized for my academics, writing, musical participation or quiet and agreeable personality. Note: nowhere above is sports fan listed. That is about to change. I know what you’re thinking. I’m from the ...
Editorial: Brandy Melville couldn’t care less about the average female
By Editorial Staff, Carlmont High School
May 14, 2019
In an age where young girls and women are more vocal than ever, there's an area for them to speak up once again: the clothing industry. This is nothing new. Change is already in progress due to women urging companies to represent different types of women in their most real forms. Some brands have...
I’m Muslim — do I possess the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
By Hatim Saifee, Lynbrook High School
May 14, 2019
“All terrorists are Muslim, but not all Muslims are terrorists.” It’s not uncommon for me to hear this sentence in public or online. Ten words that encapsulate the views of today’s global population regarding Muslims. Terrorists, “jihadists,” ISIS — all these words have now become synonymous...
It Affects Us, Too
By Kendel Barber, North Allegheny Senior High School
May 14, 2019
Frequently throughout the halls of a high school, when the topic of politics comes up, I hear students say “I don’t care.” Now, I definitely hear adults say this, too, but it is much more common for young people to spit out this phrase commonly. It seems as though most teenagers do not have any...
Coming to terms with my natural body image
By Shravya Mahesh, Coppell High School
May 14, 2019
If you were to meet me for the first time, the first thing you would probably notice is how skinny I am. At least, this is what my numerous acquaintances, classmates, friends and family members seem to have immediately noticed. I cannot count how many times I have heard someone exclaim how thin...
The Power of the Resume
By Connor Foran, North Allegheny Senior High School
May 9, 2019
Teachers, if you're looking for an effective hitman, hire a high school student who is flunking your AP class and offer them an A in that class in exchange for their work. It would be done within an hour with no evidence to show for it. Hyperbole? Of course, but not without a grain of truth. Recently,...
“Hands up, don’t shoot” belongs to the Black Lives Matter Movement
By Khanya Dalton, Walt Whitman High School
May 9, 2019
“Hands up, don’t shoot.” This slogan, along with the accompanying gesture of raising one’s hands above his or her head, became one of the core symbols of the Black Lives Matter Movement after unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO, in August 2014. ...
Why I took a break from social media
By Aditi Gujaran, Walt Whitman High School
May 6, 2019
On New Year’s Eve of sixth grade, I decided to put my new Instagram account to use: @xoxosoccerluver2002. With steady hands and dim lighting, I posted a pixelated photo of my giant Albert Einstein poster. The grain made his hair look like a palm tree fresh off of Florida’s finest beach. I didn’t...
An order of depression with a side of courage? Hold the stigma
By Suad Adam, South High School
May 5, 2019
“Wa kibiirtaay. Quraan saar aa ubaahantahay” (You’re acting up. You need to be prayed upon). This is a phrase that I often hear from the older generation whenever I choose to express our feelings hardships in life. Mental health in many Somali households has been stigmatized. It’s thought that ...
OPINION: Congress should end Tax Day stress
By Alex Rozar, Lafayette High School
May 4, 2019
April 15, the federal government’s designated due date for income tax returns. For many, the buildup to Tax Day can be stressful, time-consuming and costly. And now that it’s over, we can all take a sigh of relief. But what if I told you it didn’t have to be this way? For the majority of Americans, there’s no reason at all why the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) couldn’t automatically file taxes—it already has the...
Why Being Polite Isn’t Always a Good Thing
By Taila Lee and Chloe Postlewaite
May 3, 2019
The following story by Taila Lee and Chloe Postlewaite will be broadcast on KQED for Youth Takeover week in late April 2019, where students from high schools in the Bay Area share their stories. Woodside juniors and Paw Print reporters Chloe Postlewaite and Taila Lee describe an uncomfortable experience...
“Those poor kids in Africa”
By Thomas Birmingham, Kirkwood High School
May 2, 2019
The first time I remember hearing it was in fifth grade. “Those poor kids in Africa.” When the Student Council leaders at my Catholic school said those words, they were presenting the latest school-wide service project to my class: raising $1,000 to send food provisions to a small town in...
Hold for Liftoff, We Don’t Have The Money: NASA’s Budget
By Riley Hull, Sage Creek High School
April 29, 2019
Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has looked to the stars for guidance, for inspiration, for a boundary. Now, in our modern age, the heavens are not the end-all-be-all. Armstrong's famous walk on the moon in ‘69; the Hubble telescope sending stunning images; other-worldly explorers...
No Seat at the Roundtable
By Olivia Doyle and Abigail Wheatley
April 28, 2019
When we, members of PLD Lamplighter’s Editorial Board, arrived at the Bluegrass Community Technical College Newtown Pike campus to cover the roundtable discussion on education hosted by Governor Matt Bevin featuring the Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, we were told we could not enter. A man we...
FCCPS lifer forced to return to India
By Niharika Singhvi, George Mason High School
April 28, 2019
Junior Niharika Singhvi, has attended Falls Church City Public Schools since 2006. In April of 2018, her parents’ work visas expired, and she was forced to return to India. This February, she arrived back at Mason. Singhvi and her family’s experience is a result of the Department of Homeland Security’s in...
Opinion: Colleges shouldn’t define success through a number
By Gianna Somrak, Mayfield High School
April 23, 2019
The student rushes in through the front door, completely forgetting to have the usual ‘how was your day, honey?’ conversation with his/her waiting parent. The student dashes to their bedroom, leaps to the nearby computer and powers the device on to seek the answer he/she has been awaiting for months....
Opinion: Pornography is the Pedestal on which Rape Culture Stands
By Caché Goracke, Olathe West High School
April 22, 2019
Beaten, tied up, and viciously raped, consistently for nine months, Elizabeth Smart told CNN and many other news sites “pornography made [her] life a living hell.” Her captor would come to her excited and “amped up” with porn magazines. He would show her the pages and say that they were going...