Articles celebrating academic excellence in Lawrence and Douglas County, KS.
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Lawrence Youth of the Year winner to be selected at community ceremony
Three candidates will give speeches Thursday in front of family, friends and community members, and one will be selected as the 2024 Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence Youth of the Year.
Lawrence writer, Baldwin City poet win 2024 Langston Hughes Creative Writing awards
Fiction writer Kimberlee Bethany Bonura and poet Darwin Michener-Rutledge have been named the 2024 Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award recipients.
Free State High School brings home hardware from debate state championship
For the third straight year, Free State High School took home a trophy from the four-speaker debate state championship, adding to their status as one of the best speech and debate schools in the country.
Free State High School senior achieves highest national speech and debate honor
Sophie Racy, Free State High School senior, has earned the National Speech and Debate Association’s highest honor, and she’s the state’s first three-time qualifier for the Tournament of Champions.
Students at 2 Lawrence schools are finalists in the Battle of the Brains
Groups of students at Hillcrest Elementary and at Free State High School each have a chance to see their vision for a new exhibit at Science City brought to life as finalists in the ”Battle of the Brains” contest.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
K-State professor earns national award for dedication to improving Indigenous education
An assistant professor of education leadership at K-State and a citizen of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma earned a national human rights education award for work to improve Indigenous education.
Chris Vleisides
KU graduate students earn Truman Foundation scholarships
KU graduate students Marcela Paiva Veliz and Pere DeRoy have each earned a $5,000 scholarship that recognizes the late President Harry S. Truman’s goal of promoting public service and international peace.
Lawrence Schools Foundation seeks nominations for annual award for dedicated educators
The Lawrence Schools Foundation is looking for nominations for a big annual award given to teachers, staff members and paraeducators who go above and beyond.
KU pharmacy student, Free State High graduate selected as finalist for Rhodes Scholarship
Sivani Badrivenkata, a KU senior from Lawrence, has been nominated for a prestigious scholarship that would pay for her to study abroad at the University of Oxford in England.
Renowned trumpeter and Lawrence school district band teacher earn Lied Center honors
The Lied Center has named Terence Blanchard, Grammy Award-winning composer and trumpeter, and Melissa Smith, assistant director of bands at Free State High School and West Middle School, as this season’s IMPACT Award winners.
KU’s Black Alumni Network to honor 18 innovators and emerging leaders during homecoming week
The KU Black Alumni Network will soon honor 11 leaders and innovators, as well as seven young alumni who are showing promise as emerging leaders.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Gardens across Lawrence school district allow students to learn by growing
There’s now a blooming garden at every school site in the Lawrence school district, and students are learning how to grow food inside and outside of classroom settings.
KU doctoral candidates earn Fulbright-Hays awards to conduct research abroad
Two KU doctoral candidates have earned prestigious honors and awards that will allow them to conduct research in South America.
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8 Lawrence students named as National Merit semifinalists
Eight students from three Lawrence high schools have achieved National Merit semifinalist status.
Lawrence Lions Alumni Association announces 2023 Hall of Honor inductees
The Lawrence Lions Alumni Association has announced a civil rights activist, a teacher and a musician as the 2023 Hall of Honor inductees.




