The News Archive

If we don’t talk about it, we can pretend it doesn’t happen.

A Discussion of the Kavanaugh Hearings and Student News Engagement

Testimony Before the School Safety Working Group

In distilling so much of the high school experience to standardized testing and decreased rigor, I believe we are selling students — and Kentucky’s entire education enterprise — short.

There is no possible justification for what he did. There is no way to comfort the families or the students or the teachers. But there is also no justification for planting the seed that autism is the reason for this guy’s actions.

In Kentucky, the average counselor had a 453 student caseload in the 2014–2015 academic year, 203 students above the national recommendation.

One of the most engaging issues we explored was what it means to have an effective teacher.

The impact of incarceration on Kentucky students

A Classroom of Ghosts - How community violence takes a silent toll on students in school.

Our school is located in a semi-rural area in Central Kentucky. With about 950 students and 53 teachers, West Jessamine Middle is considered large for a Kentucky middle school.

From rural Kentucky to Wellesley College, Amanda Wahlstedt’s journey is proof that resilience and voice can shatter expectations. In this deeply personal reflection, she reclaims her story and urges others to speak up—even when it’s scary—to break cycles of silence and redefine what success looks like

One teacher’s belief—and a single piece of candy—sparked a transformation in a struggling child’s life. In this powerful story, Grace Raber shares how education, encouragement, and a stable environment helped her rise from poverty and neglect to become a top student and fierce advocate for Kentucky’s youth.

Every summer, millions of children quietly slip behind—not because they’re lazy, but because opportunity isn’t equally shared. “Summer slide” hits hardest for low-income students, widening achievement gaps that last a lifetime. This article shines a light on how those days away from school can determine a child’s future.

In a warehouse of wonders off Versailles Road, Newton’s Attic empowers Kentucky kids to turn imagination into innovation—whether it’s launching drones, building jet-powered bikes, or wiring pinball machines from scratch. With affordable summer camps and endless tools at their fingertips, students discover that success isn’t about grades—it’s about daring to build what others only dream.

Annie Stauffer recounts her unforgettable journey with the U.S. Youth Futsal National Team in Costa Rica, where stepping onto the court abroad became a powerful lesson in culture, confidence, and connection.

Dhiren Walkley, a senior at Fern Creek High, shares his journey from a refugee camp to Kentucky classrooms—opening up about language barriers, finding belonging, and the unwavering drive for a better future through education.

Logan Ziegler takes us inside the high-stakes world of college admissions, exposing how a single standardized test score can derail dreams, deepen inequality, and overshadow real student potential. His call? Rethink the score-first mentality—and let the full picture speak louder than a number.

Eighth grader Sadie Bograd highlights the deep funding disparities in Kentucky’s schools and urges reform to ensure every student—regardless of zip code—receives a fair and adequate education.

A former student reflects on how AP Literature teacher Mrs. Ayres transformed their view of reading, sparked confidence, and became a lifelong source of support through both academic and personal challenges.

Aly honors her AP Literature teacher, Mrs. Kirwan, whose wisdom, warmth, and whimsical approach—like assigning students tree identities—left a lasting imprint not only on her academics, but on how she experiences life itself.