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The student-run news site of Lawrence Free State High School

Free Press Online

The student-run news site of Lawrence Free State High School

Free Press Online

The student-run news site of Lawrence Free State High School

Free Press Online

News

Senior Lily Otter smiles while performing on stage at an improvisation show. Otter and her fellow teammates prepared for the festival by using their shows in the black box theatre as a learning experience

NEWS: Kansas Thespian Festival

Lilly Wall January 19, 2023

The competitive improvisation [improv] team traveled to Wichita and took first place at the Kansas Thespian Festival Jan. 5-7. Additionally, the theatre department extended their success, receiving a Gold...

News Brief:  Futures Planning Committee Proposes Budget Cuts

News Brief: Futures Planning Committee Proposes Budget Cuts

Natasha Torkzaban, Lilly Wall, and Cici Hunter January 18, 2023

In an attempt to bridge the budget gap of $9.6 million, the USD 497 Futures Planning Committee (FPC) is deciding on a series of proposed cuts. The main objectives are to achieve competitive wages for...

The halls are often full of students who use the hallway as a way to avoid class. Students do use these flex spaces for educational purposes these spaces are also a prime spot to hangout when avoiding class.

NEWS: Attendance Issues Plague School

Alicia Narum December 12, 2022

While many students realize that skipping class isn’t always in their best interest, a poll from @fsjournalism’s Instagram s tory displayed 61% of 492 students have skipped. Skipping school can...

NEWS BRIEF: Midterm Elections

NEWS BRIEF: Midterm Elections

Natasha Torkzaban and Lilly Wall November 9, 2022

Yesterday, the Kansas midterms and Douglas County city commissioner election took place, with two constitutional amendments also on the ballot. .  For the City Commissioner election, all in-person...

Senior Captain, Ming Da Zhang, steps onto the bus for the team’s trip to Gardner-Edgerton. Although the Varsity Boys Soccer team did not play until 7pm, they had to conform to the difficult agenda of bus routes, leaving at 1pm. With over five hours of downtime before playing, student-athletes have to find productive ways to spend their time.

NEWS: Bus Schedule Forces Teams to Leave Early

Ember Klein October 31, 2022

During the fall sports season, buses have been forced to leave early due to the Lawrence Public  Schools bus driver shortage, leading teams to leave up to five hours prior to competition time and miss...

NEWS: Coaches "Blindsided" By Increasing Facility Rental Fees

NEWS: Coaches “Blindsided” By Increasing Facility Rental Fees

Natasha Torkzaban and Allison Mayhew October 28, 2022

As the district reviews facility rental fees, sports teams may now have to pay the district the same fees charged to outside groups for their summer workouts and camps, in accordance with a new fee...

Percocet, oxycodone, and THC cartridges are some of the most common drugs unknowingly laced with fentanyl.

NEWS: Lawrence Battles with the Fentanyl Crisis

Stella Mosier October 27, 2022

According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], Kansas saw over 600 overdose deaths reported due to fentanyl in Kansas in Sept. 2021; a 48% increase.      Fentanyl is a synthetic...

Photo courtesy of Sophie Racy

NEWS: Debate Ranked in National Poll

Ember Klein October 17, 2022

Coming off a strong state performance last year as well as multiple Tournament of Champion bids, senior AJ Persinger and junior Sophie Racy are currently ranked sixth in the National Coaches Poll as of...

University of Kansas football fans gather on Memorial Campanile for ESPN College Gameday.

NEWS: College GameDay Comes to Lawrence

Greyson Heiman October 9, 2022

Following Kansas University’s dominant 5-0 start to the season, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network [ESPN] chose KU to be the host “College GameDay” before their game against Texas Christian...

Helping senior Talyn Nichols, social studies teacher Blake Swenson juggles the workload of a teacher. With recent budget concerns, Swenson stayed frozen at step 4 on the salary schedule rather than moving to step 6 to increase his base pay this year.

NEWS: Teachers Juggle Pay Freezes, Increased Class Sizes, and Workload

Alicia Narum October 6, 2022

While any job has its own set of challenges, a poll from the nation’s largest teachers union said 55% of teachers are hoping to leave education earlier than planned. Locally, since the start of the...

NEWS: FS Earns 14 National Merit Semifinalists, Tied for Most in Kansas

NEWS: FS Earns 14 National Merit Semifinalists, Tied for Most in Kansas

Lilly Wall October 4, 2022

Earlier this month, 14 seniors at Free State were identified as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. This astounding achievement recognizes some of the top academically talented students...

NEWS: New Year, New Advisor: Wells Fills StuCo Role

NEWS: New Year, New Advisor: Wells Fills StuCo Role

Maura Langland September 30, 2022

This year physical education teacher, Sara Wells, is stepping into the position of Student Council [StuCo] advisor after last year's advisor stepped down. Over the summer Wells volunteered for the position...

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