Lamplighter Media Productions

While the Common Application can seem scary, these tips can help reduce stress.

A Guide for Your College Application Adventure

October 29, 2020

If high school is a long winding adventure full of quests, companions, and beasts named summatives, then the final boss at the end of the line must be college applications. As a senior, I’ll play the role of the wise old wizard who tells you that you’re the chosen one and that you’re destined for great accomplishments. Tip #1: When fighting the big bad enemy at the end of an adventure, always remember...

Encouraging all of Dunbar's 2,000 students to wear masks properly would be difficult, even with a hybrid model.

Why I Do NOT Want to Go Back to School

October 19, 2020

It seems as though whenever you flip through the news on TV, there is a story filled with students who are ready to get back in the classroom. But what about those who are not? Logically speaking, getting over 2,000 teenagers to follow the safety guidelines seems like an impossible task, considering it was difficult enough to keep students off their phones or wearing a lanyard during the school ...

Although it's often used as a joke, OCD is a serious disorder that impacts many people's lives.

Why Saying “I’m So OCD” is Problematic

October 19, 2020

“Oh my gosh, I’m so OCD!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a relative, friend, or stranger say these words after color coding their notes, organizing a packet of Skittles by color, or straightening up papers on their desk. It is almost as frustrating to hear other people throw around the acronym for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder without thinking about it as it is experiencing true OCD every day. While I can’t confirm that these are not symptoms of others’ ...

I’m Ready to Go Back to School

October 8, 2020

Whether or not schools should return to in-person education or continue with virtual learning has been a significant controversy among students in recent weeks. At this point in the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of students at Dunbar is a major concern. However, many still want to stay at home until the COVID-19 incidence rate goes down. Other students at Dunbar have formed their own op...

After using practice books like these to prepare for the ACT, students were disappointed to realize they weren't getting the test they'd expected.

The ACT Lied To Us

October 5, 2020

Earlier this year the American College Testing, or ACT, announced they would be changing their exam to be more flexible for students. The changes would allow individuals to retake specific sections of the test and would create an online version of the standardized test by September. These new method would benefit students for reasons including the timing and locations of the tests. For instance, those who have trouble keeping their...

We’ll use the time taken away from Breonna Taylor to make sure this never happens again.

I Don’t Know If I’ll Ever Trust Our Justice System Again

September 30, 2020

Since the beginning of this year, countless names have reached every corner of the world, summoning support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Jacob Blake and so many other innocent lives taken because of a genetic trait: their race. However, none of these names have literally hit so close to home as that of fellow Kentuckian Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed in her ...

This Mississippi community wanted Ginsburg to know just how much she mattered to them.

The Legacy of a Living Legend: Our Champion For Women’s Rights Passes On

September 20, 2020

At approximately 7:49 p.m. on Friday night, a PLD Lamplighter editorial board member sent us a message that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away due to complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer. I gasped, turned to my mother and older sister, and told them the news. My sister could only think of “the utter devastation in not being able to take the moment to be sad and ...

Lamplighter’s Promise to Our Community

September 16, 2020

We’re entering a school year during extraordinary times. As a community, we’re experiencing a deadly pandemic and powerful protests against police brutality and racial injustice. We’ve witnessed epidemiological and natural disasters, and demands for electoral and social change. These are all stories that demand our attention. These are all stories that demand good journalism. So before PLD La...

The proposed change would alter Dunbar's longstanding A/B block schedule.

Dunbar Considers 4×4 Schedule

July 29, 2020

The abrupt transition to online learning in March was a hectic one: teachers choosing between seemingly dozens of online platforms, administrators scrambling to put together some kind of schedule, everyone adrift in the chaos that marked the arrival of COVID-19. Now, as schools around the country consider a virtual return to school, administrators are more prepared. On July 23, the Fayette C...

Protesters gathered outside Lexington Courthouse before marching down Main Street.

Lexington Protests against Racism and Police Brutality

June 4, 2020

The world is in the midst of history in the making. Americans and others across the globe are collectively using their voices to attempt to right the wrongs that have persisted for centuries. Time and time again in America, black people are murdered by police at an exponentially higher rate than whites, and for much lower stakes. The most recent of these deaths sparked the current outrage. On Ma...

Students had to use laptops like this one to take their AP tests, a change from recent years.

AP Testing Gone Awry

May 28, 2020

Between asking my family to stop streaming Netflix while I tested and arguing with my friends about College Board conspiracy theories, AP testing this year was thoroughly confusing and inefficient. My WiFi problems and College Board discussions aside, countless AP students this year were negatively impacted by the new online testing procedures. After the COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread s...

I didn’t know that the last day of my high school career was just that...the last day.

Not How I’d Hoped This Would End

April 26, 2020

If I’m being honest, I’ve shed many tears over the loss of the most significant moments of high school graduations: I will not be able to walk across that stage with my head held high, I will not be able to shake hands and give hugs to those who helped me along the way, and I will not be able to grab my diploma or move my tassel. It's heartbreaking. Typically, the last three months of high sch...