Author: Will Bennett, Staff Writer
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Bennett reflects…again
On Tuesday, May 24 I finally attended my first Leesville women’s soccer game. It was with a solemn feeling that it occurred to me I attended my final athletic event at Marshal L. Hamilton…
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The rise and fall of a legend
When Will Bennett was a young staff writer of sixteen, everything came so easily for him. News articles, features, editorials, and sport spotlights would flow from his elegant fingers into the computer for his…
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Water for Elephants : simply smashing
When my girlfriend first told me we were going to see Water For Elephants, a film directed by Francis Lawrence, needless to say I was less than enthusiastic. However, led by a superb cast…
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Cubs choir: the life, the legend, the legacy
At Leesville Road Elementary School, few things were available to set students above the norm. While many children were watching cartoons, trading Pokemon cards, or simply passing the days away in the woods, a…
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Smart snubs State
On April 3,I wrote an article in an attempt to coax North Carolina State University to hire Shaka Smart as quickly as possible. On April 4 Debbie Yow, Athletic Director of State, gave Smart…
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Wendt saves the day!
“It was a big spider… but my shoe is bigger.” These were the words that would etch Jonathan Wendt, senior, into Leesville’s history as the biggest hero of all time. The day started ordinarily…
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Bennett attempts to understand freshmen once again
When we last met, I informed my loyal readers that I had sworn off writing about freshmen. Their immature antics baffled me, their awkwardness confounded me, and above all else, their innocence infuriated me.…
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Pope joins LRHS staff
On February 28, Robert Pope joined the ranks of the Leesville Road administration staff. Pope was hired to replace Mrs.Jackson, who left in December. Pope is the second administrator hired under principal Scott Lyons…
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Pride routs Falcons
The Leesville Road Pride dominated the Green Hope Falcons 19-2 on March 3. The Pride got an excellent showing from the entire lineup and was assisted by the inept Green Hope fielding. The Falcons…
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Last US WWI veteran passes away in sleep
On February 27, Frank Buckles passed away peacefully in the night at the age of 110. Buckles was the last American World War I veteran, and one of the three last World War I…
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Freshmen anger senior staff writer, cause fight, resolution, learning experience, success!
Dear Readers, As many of you may know, I usually write my column about freshmen. That was, of course, until I had to give presentations to their classes. It all started when my newspaper…
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Big Brother saves young lives
Oscar is trapped in a vicious cycle that it is not likely he will overcome. He lives in a poverty stricken area with no positive male influence in his life. This is a path…
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Leesville’s best kept secret
It is not uncommon to see students strutting up and down the stairs of Leesville Road High School empty-handed, complaining of menial, tedious tasks and boredom. There is an easy remedy to this problem,…
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Bieber fever makes me sick!
Bieber Fever just took a turn for the worse. Justin Bieber announced the filming of his first and hopefully only movie Never Say Never. In the preview for the film, Bieber states that even…
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ACC football: worst of the worst
Woe is to the ACC. After yet another sub par year of football, many critics began to wonder if it is truly deserving of the “Power Conference” title and their automatic BCS berth. After…
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Holiday spirit envelops, embraces, incapacitates, stuns, petrifies, overwhelms Leesville
As December comes to an end as it does every year, the Great Yuletide embraced the Leesville Road students and staff. Walking through the halls, it is not uncommon to see students clad in…
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Raking rocks!
It was approximately ten degrees outside on December 13, and I was precisely where I wanted to be – sipping hot chocolate under a wool blanket. That was however, until my entire world came…
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Library offers lots of learning
Oddly enough, the biggest room in Leesville Road High School is one of the most neglected. This aforementioned labyrinth of books and computers is more commonly known as the media center. As I pushed…
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Tar Heels athletics struggle
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. For basketball juggernaut North Carolina, that adage could never be more true. After stumbling twice in three days, the reeling number-eight team in the country was…
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Golden joins administrative staff
On November 15, Sherri Golden joined the ranks of the other administrators to fill the gap left by Germaine Jackson, who is leaving in December. Golden will oversee discipline problems for students with last…
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Pride prepares for playoff tests
If the Pride is to make a deep playoff run this year, they will have to start by preparing for one of their toughest challenges of the season Friday, November 12. Game time is…
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Media specialists work hard
Oddly enough, the biggest room in Leesville Road High School is one of the most neglected. This aforementioned labyrinth of books and computers is more commonly known as the media center. As I pushed…
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Eating lunch with the freshmen: an experience
I found myself in a situation I hadn’t been trapped in since my sophomore year. All around me, hundreds of people were screaming, immersing me in their infernal racket from all directions. I was…
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Pride prepares for Cougars
When the Leesville Varsity football team travels to Wake Forest to take on the Cougars on November 5, the game will be much more than a matter of Pride. In fact, after the Cougars…
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Mistakes: a coming-of-age experience
There are very few things throughout life that we don’t grow out of. As we progress, virtually everything, such as tricycles, shoes and even living at home, become things of the past. However, one…
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School water fountains an epic failure
In Leesville Road High School, there are only two constants: The first is that on any given day, Mrs. Jackson will bust a girl for a dress code violation. The second is that no…
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Rain jackets: scourge of the earth
Rain jackets are everything wrong with society in this modern age. Consider for a moment that citizens need a specially fibered jacket to outlast the elements. I remember back in the golden days of…
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A look into the lives of freshmen: the Will Bennett experience
It was a nightmare. Tiny bodies filled the entire lobby, frantically screeching every which way, searching for any sort of direction. As I sat there, I thought to myself that the only thing separating…
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A day in the life of Will Bennett: a personal account
Today was the second day of my life that I truly enjoyed. The day started out normal enough: I broke free from the chains of my four-month relationship that had tryingly tied me down.…
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A day in the life of a freshman
Andrew Goff wanders the halls every day invisible, virtually unknown. Many students wonder, is he a ghost? Perhaps a lost soul trying to find his way. In reality, Goff, like many other students, is…
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Pride pounds Patriots
The Leesville Pride dominated the eighth ranked Pinecrest Patriots on August 31 to improve their overall record to 3-0-1. This win comes just days after consecutive victories over seventh ranked Laney and second ranked…
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Wicked is wicked!
As I sat in the Durham Performing Arts Center on Saturday May 1, there was no where I wanted to be less. DPAC was in the middle of showing their production of Wicked, which…
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Students paid for grades
Across the United States, pilot programs are in the works that will experiment with paying children to excel in school. This program has stirred up controversy; in fact the man that designed it, Roland…
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Bennett’s famous last words
As I sit here to record the last article of my junior year, I have a few regrets dwelling upon my stained psyche. The initial regrets are on the subject of effort. Effort is…
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Afternoon in June takes different approach to stardom
Most kids go through their entire childhood without the faintest clue of what their true passion in life really is. A fortunate, select few students at Leesville Road High have known what their ambitions…
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Whiskey found as alternative, renewable energy source
When people imagine downing a pint of whiskey, their logic is typically not to save energy. Ironically, thanks to a new innovation by an independently-owned distillery in Scotland, that is exactly what drinkers around…
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NFL Draft Provides Surprises
Before the NFL draft, Jimmy Clausen’s future could not have looked brighter. The former standout quarterback from Notre Dame had just skipped his final season of eligibility to pursue his dreams in the NFL…
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Dunham shaves head for cancer research
It is a universally-known fact that even the thought of a monumentally different styled haircut is enough to make a girl worry. However, on April 14, Elise Dunham, freshman, took her haircut to an…
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Ending diversity causes problems
As the age old adage goes: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” As made clear by their recent actions, the Wake County school board believed the current busing system in place since 2000…
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“It Won’t Happen to Me” seminar successful
Lauren Winborne of Georgia is not your average woman. After losing both her senior prom date and a college boyfriend to fatal car accidents, she dedicated her life to speaking to teen students about…
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Ted’s Montana Grill impresses
As I wandered into Ted’s Montana Grill, I had no idea what to expect. I’d discovered the location purely by chance, overhearing two strangers at Triangle Town Center rave about the quality of their…
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Dean Dome speaks for itself
I am dying. Although it was not a long life, I was born in 1986, all 24 of my years were full of action. Legends such as Jerry Stackhouse, Antawn Jamison, and Vince Carter…
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Surprise! Facebook lowers intelligence
Shocking news: spending all your time on the computer instead of focusing on studies directly correlates with receiving lower grades in school. According to Wired.com, students that use the popular social networking site Facebook…
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Ohno helps Americans win Olympics
Whether it was a stroke of luck or simply fate, Apollo Ohno tied Bonnie Blair for the most Winter Olympic medals won by an American on February 14. Heading into the final lap of…
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Water bottles: more harmful than you think
Welcome to a world where millions of Americans choose to spend thousands of dollars yearly on something they can acquire absolutely free, a world where Americans litter the landscape with 30 million tons of…
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Del Burns set to retire
When North Carolina’s new school board ran on the platform of change, the voters had no idea just how much they were in store for. After over 30 years of service in Wake County,…
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Area Teams Fall Short
North Carolina’s area sports teams all have one thing in common: they fell far short of expectations. The Panthers, the Hurricanes, and the Tar Heels were all on the cusp of greatness before things…
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Pridgen wins Teacher of the Year
Coach Susan Pridgen won this year’s Leesville Road High School Teacher of the Year award. “It’s an honor to be named [Teacher of the year]” said Pridgen. She was nominated by the fellow teachers…
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Iran: The Next Nuclear Power?
The end of the world may be a lot closer than the Mayans ever guessed. Only this time, it will not be because of some environmental disaster, and it will certainly not be an…
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New Cartoons a Waste of Time
On December 8, America celebrated the anniversary of E.C. Segar, the cartoonist who created Popeye the Sailor. That cartoon, along with other classics such as Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, and The…